People love before-and-after photos. They’re an easily digestible, instant story: This was me struggling → This is me thriving. But when it comes to eating disorder recovery, those images do far more harm than good — even if the intention is positive. Here’s why.

Eating disorders don’t have a specific look.

Regardless of what the media is telling you, there is no single “eating disorder body.” Most people with anorexia never become visibly emaciated. Most people with other eating disorders — binge eating disorder, bulimia, ARFID, OSFED — look exactly like anyone else. A photo tells you nothing about the person’s mental and emotional state, their diagnosis, or their suffering. But a photo can invalidate someone’s experience that “doesn’t look the part.”

Recovery doesn’t become real the minute someone looks “healthy.” The disorder doesn’t vanish because the stereotype no longer applies.

Photos reinforce the false narrative that recovery is only physical.

Eating disorders are mental illnesses with very serious physical consequences — not the other way around. And lots of those consequences aren’t even visible to the naked eye. Weight gain or weight loss might be a part of recovery, but it’s not the cure. The hardest work happens internally: untangling the thoughts, beliefs, and coping mechanisms that fuelled the disorder, and replacing them with healthier ones.

When we showcase recovery as a change in appearance, we keep the spotlight exactly where eating disorders love it: on the body.

Weight restoration isn’t the finish line.

Restoring health doesn’t magically restore peace of mind. When someone reaches a “normal” weight, they are often at their most vulnerable — suddenly without the behaviours that numbed them, suddenly faced with emotions and a body they are terrified of. This is when the real recovery work begins.

Promoting weight change as the story arc of recovery sets up false expectations. People reach that “after” photo stage and think, Why do I still feel broken? Because weight wasn’t the cause — it was a symptom. Your body was never the problem. It was your relationship with your body.

Comparison fuels the disorder.

Eating disorders thrive on comparison. Show two photos of a body and the brain will immediately start ranking: not sick enough, not recovered enough, too big, too small, better, worse. Someone will see your photos and believe their experience is invalid because they don’t look like your “before.” Someone else will panic because they gained more weight than your “after.”

Even the person posting isn’t immune: what happens if their body changes again? Do they become “less recovered”?

Acknowledging why people share before-and-after photos

Some people share before-and-after photos because they want to show that they were once in a desperate place and have now reached a healthier body. It can feel like proof that recovery is possible. But focusing on appearance alone misses the deeper work of healing — the mental, emotional, and behavioural changes that truly define recovery. Highlighting life regained, rather than just looks, shows others that recovery isn’t about hitting a number on the scale; it’s about reclaiming your life.

What to share instead

Eating disorders destroy lives, not just bodies. So, recovery should be celebrated in terms of life, not appearance:

• friendships regained
• hobbies rediscovered
• energy, joy, spontaneity
• the freedom to eat without bargaining or fear
• mental space regained
• the ability to show up to your own life again

Those are the victories that matter. Those are the markers of progress. And none of them fit neatly into a side-by-side collage.

Before-and-after photos reduce recovery to what you look like. And that is the same disordered message that got you in trouble in the first place. Recovery is about reclaiming who you are.