This Mum’s Honest Before and After Photos Are Going Viral for the Best Reasons
We are often shown a lot of before and after photo series’ on social media, usually celebrating a dramatic weight loss achievement. This is not one of those occasions.
Mum of two Lindsay Wolf recently shared a side-by-side set of photos to her Instagram account, demonstrating the opposite of what before and after photos usually show us.
Rather than looking for praise for her new post-baby body, Lindsay is doing quite the opposite.
In her viral post, Wolf explains that in the photo on the left, taken in 2014, she was someone who obsessed about her weight in unhealthy ways. Her photo on the right is Lindsay today, happily sitting in her swimsuit while sharing a healthy snack with her second child.
She writes:
2014: obsessively proving to social media that I was skinny and fit and exercising an appropriate amount for ultimate likability.
2019: happily scarfing down watermelon in a bathing suit for the simple reason that it feels good and totally okay with being photographed in the process. Usually, right pictures like this one are a traditionally toxic, diet culture-approved “before” photo – but in this case, it’s an awesome and magical “after” for me.
WHY the holy heck would I be celebrating the journey between these two photos, you might be wondering? WELLL – despite having a seemingly successful “thin bod” for over two decades, I used to wholeheartedly hate my physical frame and never felt satisfied with it (resulting in disordered eating, negative self-talk and diet pill addiction). And now, after two years of dedicated work to embrace myself as is, I wholeheartedly love every single inch of my body – even on the days when my inner shame game is strong.
HINT: love is ALWAYS stronger than shame and can be strengthened over time. Sure, there’s evidential weight gain on the right side – hello double pregnancies and a whole lotta bodily changes!! But the key difference between the two shots is this – one shows a woman who was previously obsessed with thinness and cultivating worth from her size, and the other shows a woman who is currently obsessed with wholeness and celebrating the worth that has always been inside of her, regardless of her size. No matter what the scale says, one thing is for sure – I am finally able to recognize that I am a loved and lovable human being, worthy of every single good thing in this life. And so are you.
View this post on Instagram
Well done on your journey to self love, Lindsay! Thanks for your honesty!
Source: Instagram/Lindsay Wolf
