Photos are just a snap shot of an exact moment in time.  Social media allows us to post pictures or “snap shots” of our lives and we get to pick which photos we want other people to see.  We choose perfect angles, perfect lighting, perfect poses and then we put a filter on the picture to make it even more appealing.

 

I recently posted a picture of myself in an unflattering moment in a deadlift right next to a much more flattering one at the top of the movement.  I wanted to share an imperfect moment of my body to show that I am not perfect and in the right second from the right angle you could even call me fat.

 

I post a lot of pictures of myself that are good angles, and hide imperfections but that is unfair. It’s not reality. We all do things like that.  We like to show how wonderful things are but we don’t show the bad stuff or the hard times.  We treat Instagram or Facebook like our personal highlight reel.

 

I want to be real. I want to tell the truth. I have struggled with body image issues my whole life and I am finally in a place where I can even post a “bad” photo without embarrassment.  In fact, I am proud of this photo. I am proud of my body, good angles and bad angles alike.  It has taken me a long time to get to this place because it is hard to see women with perfect bodies and compare myself to them.  The truth is they have bad angles too. No one is perfect and when we start celebrating our bodies for what they are capable of, and stop comparing ourselves to other people’s “snap shots” we have more time and energy to focus on things that really matter.