You Are Not a Before Picture

An urgent, enlightening and empowering guide to disavowing diet culture and learning to make peace with our bodies, from body confidence and anti-diet advocate, Alex Light.

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.

Step-by-step, You Are Not A Before Picture provides a framework for changing the way we view ourselves and the world around us. Working with experts in the fields of psychotherapy, fitness and nutrition, Alex empowers readers to interrogate their underlying beliefs, challenge the external and internal forces that are holding us back, and finally find freedom in our bodies, for good.

Alex Light was a number 4 Sunday Times Non Fiction bestseller in the w/e June 19th 2022

Reviews

‘A timely and passionate rally against the diet industry.’ Cosmopolitan

‘You Are Not a Before Picture sets out to dismantle dangerous dieting habits and encourage self-acceptance.’ HELLO

About the author

After struggling with various eating disorders, Alex Light transformed her beauty and fashion blog into a digital safe space to help others. In doing so, she has opened up urgently needed conversations about eating disorders, weight stigma and diet culture, and she is passionate about using her platform to encourage change. Alex has a background in fashion and beauty journalism.