A review by rachelfegan
You Are Not a Before Picture: How to Finally Make Peace with Your Body, for Good by Alex Light

4.0

This book explores how women’s bodies have been depicted and manipulated socially, culturally, in the media and in our minds throughout history, and how this consciously and unconsciously affects our thoughts, decision making, biases and relationships with our own and others’ bodies. It also explores diet culture, fatphobia, micro-trends, and the impact of social media. I liked that it was made up of insights from healthcare professionals, anecdotal stories from the author, and was backed by research and evidence based approaches. The book also offers practical strategies for how to shut out the noise from the media and work towards a body neutral mindset. My main take away from this book is that it has never been our bodies’ job to make us look good, but to keep us healthy, surviving, and functioning as best it can.