Life in the Before Picture: The Body You Hate is the One Someone Else Is Desperately Trying to Love

Bringing best friend energy to my relationship with my body

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Today, I am being kind to my body.

This is the reminder I recite when I’m tempted to do otherwise. I’m taking it a day at a time. I’m a big advocate for self-love and body positivity, but I recently had an uncomfortable experience that has been making it challenging to love myself well. A friend posted a before and after picture of her weight loss progress. She looks amazing. But the before picture she posted is how I look now. The body she’s celebrating no longer living in is the same type that I am desperately trying to love.

I wasn’t angry with her for posting it. I’m proud that she’s making progress toward her goals. But my goal stopped being about weight loss some time ago. I decided that instead of fighting perimenopause and the side effects of a life-saving medication, I would instead learn to fight the cultural conditioning that targets all women.

I would learn to love my body at every size.

I’ve been many different sizes over the years. My sister recently sent me a photo of us during our adolescence, and I marveled at how thin I once was…