Today, someone I follow on Instagram was talking about how she isn’t taking a before photo and weighing herself like she usually does at the beginning of the year. She said that today’s version of herself shouldn’t be a “Before”. She wants Future Her to be kind to Present Her. It gave me a lot to think about as someone who always takes those pictures and sets those goals. It seems like I’m always focused on what I can look like instead of loving myself the way I am. Hmmm….

I feel that a lot of the restarts at the new year are really damaging to our overall wellbeing as people, because a lot of times the ability to do things such as to be more fit etc are really affected by phases in our lives or moments throughout the year where we have more time to focus. If you want true balance and to get where you need to be in everything, you have follow the natural flow and not arbitrary about the timeline! Most things are absolutely not suited to the winter months, especially forcing your body to give up its hibernation weight! I do really appreciate this sentiment though in terms of loving one's self and, of course, of removing that arbitrary pressure.

This is such a great reminder to love the skin that we are in. Great way to put it. Thank you for sharing this.

Aww. This is such a great take. It's hard to love our own bodies but we'll get there.

I have a contrarian view…While I do agree that everyone should be comfortable in their own skin, I think there are degrees of applicability here. If you are obese or dangerously overweight (which is a higher mortality risk), you should definitely NOT be thinking this way. Also, there is a fine line between genuinely coming to terms with/loving your own body and just simply “giving up because this is easier”. This is because getting to that mental point of physical acceptance is quite a large hurdle. If you do not like your body type, you’re not going to one day wake up and be totally fine with it - that’s just not how this works. Anecdotally, the people who I’ve seen overcome this are those that successfully stick to their health goals in a sustainable manner; however this is antithetical to the mentality you’re mentioning. The way I see it, there’s essentially two ways to get comfortable with your body: (1) you dedicate and prioritize your health until you reach your goals; or (2) you convince yourself that you are fine the way you are.

I just went to a team dinner and there were several moms and a coach (male) sitting at a table. Coach was eating. One mom ate only a salad and 3 meatballs, 2 moms did not eat, and one who cooked the whole dinner ate just a salad. I did not make any New Year’s resolutions or get on any fancy diets. Instead I enjoyed the meal that included a roll made from scratch, meatballs made from scratch and the pasta. Is this what life becomes when you reach a certain age you can’t even eat anymore? And why is it women doing this? It just made me think about life and enjoyment.

I think there's a fine line between taking care of yourself and feeling comfortable in your skin. I think self care is about taking care of your body type, and just being the best version of you. There's some obligation to be as healthy as we can for our own sake's really

Loving and accepting oneself is a very important thing. But we have to be reminded that just because we accept who we are we have to accept the flaws that can be corrected too. Like you know you are gaining so much weight that it's taking a toll on your health. You accept that you are obese but in order to prove that you love yourself you need to do something about how to keep yourself healthy too. Loving yourself means taking care of it too.

I agree. Not everybody knows how triggering "before" photos can be to some people. I think it'll be a lot better if you just decide to listen to your body and how it feels. It puts a lot less pressure on how it looks and not having to base it by how much less your belly protrudes or arms jiggle.

I love this. Sometimes we forgot how we can be our own harshest critics, so always remember to be kind to yourself. You're supposed to be uplifting yourself, not competing with.

I never thought of it that way before. It used to give me such an ick looking at my before photos. I didn't realize I was actually hating on the person who mustered all the willingness to start the journey I'm in now. This is such a beautiful way to put it.

I adore this sentiment. You are allowed to love the body you are in now without having to hate on the person you were several inches and pounds ago. You can love yourself enough to accept who you are in every phase and still want to change and become a stronger and healthier version.

While on the topic of beginning health journeys, let me just add that you don't have to wait around for the start of the year, the month, the week, or at a specific hour, for you to get up and go. There's absolutely nothing wrong with starting your journey on a Tuesday, the 11th, at 9:03 AM. The best time is always now.

I never really thought of it that way. But it makes perfect sense. We always insist that we see ourselves as someone better than who we are today that we forget to realize that who we are now is someone our past selves have always wanted.

This is such a nice thing to read as I embark on the new year. This year I really want to focus more on my entire wellbeing, not just physical. I want this year to be a year full of healing.

This meant a lot to me. I have always struggled with my weight and how I see my body. This is the kind of body positivity I'd like to have on my journey towards unconditional self-love.

May I know this person's name? I'm kind of been trying to create a positive space for me on Instagram and that includes following the right people so I can be surrounded by positive energy.

I really really love this perspective. I never really had enough of an open mind to realize this. But I'm glad I bumped into this at the perfect moment. Thanks for sharing this here, OP!

I like that kind of mindset. I admit that I often compare before and after photos to track my progress. But I think setting a goal is good too. Just don't let it pressure you too much.