You know what cuts me? Seeing the comments on before and after photos of girls who have lost weight. They should be proud of their achievements, yes. Amazing results, yes. They have every right to post about their results, yes. But what was wrong with their before photo?
We are always commenting and stating how good someone looks once they have lost weight. We are always the first to acknowledge when someone looks ‘slimmer’, has ‘leaner legs’, their ‘waist looks smaller’ always feeding their insecurities that something was not right. That their body before was not good enough or perfect. That they need to stay this way in order to be accepted, in order to be loved, in order to have #bodylove and #selflove. They start to have #bodyshame Have you ever thought of the repercussions of what happens if that person put the weight back on? What happens if they go back to their before photo and they continue to look back at what they once achieved. What all the comments were. This feeds their insecurities and makes them believe they did not look good before. That they were not good enough. How do you think this plays on their minds? It can take them on a path of #mentalhealth and a continuing battle of having #bodyconfidence.
I was once there. I know exactly how it feels. You find yourself in a rut. You cannot get out. You continue to look back at after photos and wish you looked like that again. No one commented on your before photo stating how good you looked, confirming you were ‘big’ or not ‘good looking’. When you are in this place it is hard to get out. You may find you are unmotivated to train. Unmotivated to move. Unmotivated to socialise. I was too scared to go out in case people saw the real me. In case people saw my real body and what I had let it go back to. The weight I had put back on. I felt like I had failed. I felt ashamed. Anyone else know that feeling?
I can guarantee yes. But why? Why are we always feeding peoples insecurities and confirming we need to be a certain size in order to be accepted among society. Why do we feel that in order to be healthy we need to lose weight? Yes that can be the case at times, but it can also have the reverse affect. It can make someone become obsessed with this fact of losing weight and feeling they must continue to lose weight in order to be healthy? But that itself is not healthy. Too much exercise can have a negative response to the body. Instead of promoting and highlighting how amazing girls look when they’ve lost weight how about we start promoting how good they looked before also? How about we stop feeding their insecurities and start acknowledging how beautiful of a person they are. Stop defining females by their bodies. By their shape. By their curves. Because it is not doing anyone a favour. It hurts the person on the other end (without them realising) and can hurt the person who is commenting as they wish they had that body, or they had that transformation.
Enough is enough. We are all putting ourselves through unneeded pain. Unneeded misery. Unneeded sadness. A body does not define who you are. Nor should it define who you are. Accept yourself. Accept your journey. Accept your looks. #loveyourself If you have before and after photos, I am not saying you cannot put them up to share with people. You did the work you deserve the credit! But do not let this dictate your life. Do let this allow yourself to think differently about yourself or negatively about how you looked before. Just let it show what dedication can do and a healthy lifestyle can achieve. Do not put extra emphasise on it. Just let it be just that.
The next time you see a before and after photo just think about your comment. Maybe acknowledge that they looked good before it but still look good after also. Do not disregard their before photo. Allow them to see what you do. Allow them to understand that a body does not define who they are. It is just a figure. It is just a channel to get us to point A to point B.
Your soul defines you. Your personality defines you. #rawisbeautiful
Love from the Italian who loves to speak,
Lauren xo