Ignoring Before-And-After Posts Made Me Happier

Writer Sunny Sea Gold explains how banishing transformation pics from her feed boosted her body confidence.

- Sunny Sea Gold

BEFORE-AND-AFTER IMAGES—THOSE SIDE-BY-SIDE PHOTOS meant to illustrate how a person’s physical shape has become leaner or tighter—are taking over social media. And from all the “likes” they rack up, it’s clear that many people find them worthy of applause. I’m not one of them.

As someone with a past binge-eating disorder, and the author of a book about the messed-up relationship young women have with food and body size, I’m rarely exposed to those posts. I simply refuse to follow people who are known for sharing that kind of content. Instead—along with plenty of pics of my friends’ kids and pets—I see images and inspirational messages from health-at-every size activists, plus-size fashion bloggers, and dietitians who don’t focus on weight loss. So when a before-and-after popped up in my Twitter feed a while back, I felt like I’d been hit in the gut with a brick.