Here are my tips on how to respond to photos of yourself that you don’t like because trust me - it happens to ALL of us!

IN THE MOMENT:

Just let it go!

Ok, ok - I know you may say that it’s not that simple and I hear you, but hear me out.

Honestly, something that’s helped me the most in recent years is to stop taking it so seriously. IT’S REALLY NOT THAT DEEP!

It’s JUST a photo! When I see a ‘bad’ photo of myself I try to just laugh it off. Whatever! You’re not gonna win every time!

It’s important to remember that the photos you see online from models/influencers are edited, they often have countless filters and could possibly be one out of 500 takes (I saw one influencer on TikTok reveal that it’s normal for her to take 1000 photos to get the shot FYI!). 

Remind yourself that you can always try again tomorrow and most importantly you should focus on LIVING in the moment.

Imagine this, you’re on holiday and you see the most gorgeous sunset. You instantly want a photo in front of it but you just can’t seem to take a ‘nice’ photo of yourself.

Here you have two options.

1) You allow this ‘bad’ photo to ruin your night, you feel self-conscious for the rest of the day and it puts you in a terrible mood.

2) You see this as an opportunity to put your phone away, APPRECIATE the beautiful sunset, remind yourself that there is nothing wrong with YOU (it was merely a poor photography attempt) and you move on with your life!

It really can be that simple!

Find the best lighting/angles 

Now, if you really DO want a nice photo - remember lighting/angles are half the battle. When I see a ‘bad’ pic of myself, I usually blame it on either of these two factors! Think: “Mehh..shitty lighting!” rather than “AH, I look so gross!”. 

This instantly removes the blame from being on YOU/your appearance and simply diverts it to an external factor. Easy, ey?!

Find yourself a hype person

It also helps if your camera person doubles as a HYPE person! Ask them to give you directions and corrections to improve the pics. 

Even better, be YOUR OWN hype women! 

Most importantly, have fun with it! Take LOTS of pics consecutively while you move - you’re bound to get one pic that you love!

Be kind to yourself 

Watch your language! You might automatically respond to every photo by scanning for what’s WRONG with it. This affects how you view yourself and your mood!

You might feel deflated and want to give up on taking a nice pic. Next time: Promise you’ll scan immediately for something you actually like about the pic, even the smallest thing like oh my skin looks glowing there or my smile looks really genuine or this outfit is fire. 

You might be thinking - that’s easy for someone to say when half the time the pics are decent…but what about me, I basically hate ALL the photos of myself! But remind yourself - there’s likely nothing wrong with the photos, it’s your view of yourself which needs fixing. 

I’d recommend beginning to shift the narrative around how you view yourself - sit in front of a mirror. Face yourself. Notice how you look. Notice flaws. Notice things that you’re ok with. Notice things actually don’t mind, maybe things you even like! Cultivate a kinder view of self. 

I know sometimes people think - is that really how I look IRL? Like when you see yourself in the mirror and you might even feel confident but then a photo of you 5 minutes later makes your confidence come crashing down.

First off - remember even how close the lens is to your face can make a huge difference!

Also for those with body dysmorphia - brain scans actually show that you fixate on specific details vs the entire face - distorting how you actually look.

If you struggle with this - it’s likely what you see in that photo isn’t even what others see. In this instance, it is definitely worth getting help through therapy.

LONG-TERM:

For a long-term solution on how to stop hating EVERY pic you see of yourself - check out Body Love Academy course.

It’s my body image course that helps you feel at peace with your body (even when you take a ‘bad’ pic of yourself). This course has nothing to do with changing your body, it’s all about changing how you FEEL about your body.

I can’t promise you that you will always love how you look, but I can promise you that with work you can learn to ACCEPT how you look.

This, for me, was also a vital element of stopping my binge eating. The moment I stopped constantly trying to change my body was the moment I was able to finally heal my relationship with food and ultimately stop binging!

So there you have it, my top tips on dealing with ‘bad’ photos of yourself.

The most important takeaway from this should be - allow yourself to HAVE FUN being photographed!

Yes, you’re not always going to LOVE every photo of yourself. But remember, there are many other factors at play here (think: lighting, angles, composition etc!).

Additionally, remind yourself that the first reaction to seeing the photo MATTERS! We all know it can affect your mood (sometimes for the rest of the day), so make sure to find AT LEAST one good thing about every photo you take of yourself!

And finally, remember that future-you will NOT look back at these photos with a critical glance. All you will see will be your beautiful smile, how happy you look, how amazing your skin is and just how healthy and young you look!

So promise me something - don’t delete all the ‘bad’ pictures of yourself. Just close the app and don’t look at them again. One day you will only see beauty in these photos and you will thank past you for saving them!

Lots of Love,

Bríd