You Are Not a Before Picture: 2022’s bestselling inspirational new guide to help you tackle diet culture, finding self acceptance, and making peace with your body

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There is so much I want to do in this world. There is so much impact I want to make. And none of it has anything to do with my body. I’m almost tempted to get a tattoo of this quote as a constant reminder. Because we are here to do so much in our short lives, and none of it revolves around our bodies. So why do we dedicate so much time and energy to worrying about it?

None of us fit this ideal body because we’re not designed to. This quote is the perfect reminder that we’re not the issue, and we’re not alone in this. 5. ”Being stigmatised for your weight can be a bigger risk to your health than what you eat or what you weigh” (pg.98) This is a wonderful, well written book that has so much amazing information in it. It points out simple points and explains the manipulative psychology used in the weight loss/beauty industry, but Alex doesn't stop there. She gives a path to follow and thoughts to consider to improve your mental health and break out of the trap. When we look in the mirror, so many of us see a ‘before’ picture: the miserable person in the side-by-side shot waiting for the ‘glow-up’ (read: weight loss) that will bring true happiness. But it’s not our fault that we see our bodies as projects in need of constant work: this is just one of the beliefs that has been ingrained in us by diet culture. We have been taught to view ourselves as a collection of ‘problem’ areas for which the billion-dollar diet industry holds the solutions. Additionally, I like how she has also done a bit of a history of diet culture and other elements like fat phobia etc. she has really made a great effort to break down the core of diet culture and how it permeates through all levels of society, and the overall message of how we can break free from it.Overall, I loved the book. I was sad to finish it! I genuinely feel like it’s changed my life and my whole outlook on appearance and weight. I also listened to the audiobook of this book and it is read by Alex - and is done phenomenally. If you can't read books, try listening to it. This book really helps with breaking down diet culture, why the "body positivity" movement isn't necessarily great, but finding food freedom is. I could almost guarantee there will be at least a few chapters that resonate. It certainly did with me None of these things will make you happy, at least not for long. Because as Alex says, happiness isn’t something we can discover, it’s something already within ourselves. Your situation does not determine your happiness, you do. On some level, happiness is a choice. And it can be made far more difficult by mental health struggles or toxic influences, but we will never find it outside of ourselves.

Your guide to staying entertained, from live shows and outdoor fun to the newest in museums, movies, TV, books, dining, and more. As women, we’re always made to take up less space. Be thinner, be quieter, be more agreeable. At its core, diet culture is about making women smaller and meeker in the world. We deserve as much space as any man. We deserve to be accepted with loud voices and big bodies. As I sit here on the beach looking over at my children (8, 5 & 1yrs old) happily playing on our summer holiday, I have tears hiding behind my sunglasses. This book has changed my life for the future. I so wish I had this book so many years before. Because I’m sad at the amount of time/years I have wasted thinking and feeling like I am not good enough for those around me, I’m sad because I have wasted the most valuable years with my children being embarrassed by this body of mine that society lead me to believe wasn’t good enough or normal enough! This book has made me realise I AM ENOUGH!! This book has given my children their Mummy the confidence to be ME! No longer will I sit in the shadows and watch on, no longer will I refuse to be in pictures and opt to take them instead, one day all my children will have of me is pictures and I will not give them the heartbreak of not having these memories to treasure because I’d grew up believing I wasn’t good enough. It’s so engraved into my mind that I know it will take time but this is the start of the rest of my life, I feel a weight has been lifted and I cannot thank Alex enough for writing this book, You truly have saved my life from misery and self loathing. I hope you see this Alex because from the bottom of my heart and my little children’s heart THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU X100!!!Nothing felt better than losing weight, and yet I was constantly miserable. Because I was permanently exhausted and could barely think straight. I don’t have many memories of that time, maybe just because I didn’t have the energy to even form them. Along with a history of how we've arrived at the 'thin is good, fat is bad' mentality we've been groomed to believe, Alex Light debunks the myths we've come to accept as fact. 'Skinny people can't be unhealthy', 'Fat people can't be healthy', and in general the moral issue that has become different food groups. She provides sets of healthy, reasonable, and achievable guidelines to live your best life in the natural body you were given. Her own story and battle with self-image are intertwined through all of this providing so much inspiration. We have been taught to view ourselves as a collection of 'problem' areas for which the billion-dollar diet industry holds the solutions.Step-by-step, You Are Not A Before Picture provides a framework for changing the way we view ourselves and the world around us. In the final chapter, Light says, “[Life’s] too short to live as a ‘before’ picture. You are not a ‘before’ picture…We are living, breathing, multi-faceted, talented human beings whose true beauty cannot be captured in a picture…Our bodies are merely the vessels that hold all the good stuff.” I want to be happy. I don’t want to wait for a weight or size. 10. “I had let myself go and let myself live, and it was the most powerful thing I have ever done for myself.” (pg. 211)

This is an excellent book, not only for self-help but also educational in informing how diet culture was founded and has involved over the years

9. “Happiness, I’ve come to believe, is not something that we can suddenly discover, but rather something to be uncovered within ourselves.” (pg. 150)

This book gives an outlook on what diet culture is, where it originated from and the real harm it causes. From a very young age, we are all conditioned by the diet culture message which is exaggerated through the use of social media. Alex Light makes aware the pervasiveness of diet culture and that people’s bodies are not the problem. However, just knowing this isn’t enough. Light continues in the second half of the book explaining how to improve our negative perceptions of ourselves, steps to take away from dieting and towards intuitive eating and how to find joy in exercise. No matter what your personal struggle is with weight and/or body image, I highly recommend reading this book. I learned so much and have felt inspired since the first chapter. My point of view on these matters will never be the same. Despite what we're taught, real fulfilment only really comes from making a life that is meaningful - from building precious relationships and forming connections, pursuing passions, discovering your purpose, building a sense of self and living with compassion. Having a thinner waist is not going to be your legacy.” It’s easy to feel like we’re the only ones struggling with our weight. It’s even easier to feel like we’re the problem, not the media, not society. But if only 5% of people have this ideal body type, then why are we at fault? It’s clearly not an average body, so why are we killing ourselves to get it?