Happiness, I’ve come to believe, is not something that we can suddenly discover, but rather something to be uncovered within ourselves. If you’re thinking about reading ‘You Are Not a Before Picture’ by Alex Light, then hop off this article and get right to it. i wish their were a bit more of their bits overall, but having that view represented at all can be so rare in a book like this.

If someone assumes your health based on how you look, it’s their mindset that needs addressing, not your body size”. Admittedly the book itself is a little repetitive, there are lots of caveats (the author frequently acknowledges her privilege), and some might find it a little too self-helpy, but I still think it’s brilliant and will be recommending it to everyone. The author’s intention was to drive the message home in as many ways as possible and help it resonate with as many people as possible. 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. And because she is deeply aware of the ways we’ve been trained to think of beauty as white, straight, and cis, she asks the reader to actively seek out content from people who are marginalized.I felt that this book was incredibly readable, with each chapter offering something different and being helpful on its own.

Here’s the sneaky thing about dieting and the human experience of having a body — we want to believe there is a way to fix how our bodies look and feel.There is so much packed into this book that I don't think I can adequately express how much great content is in this and how necessary it is to read.