Before and after Articles and News

Mom shares underwear pics to show how she learned to love her body after three kids.

"Love makes you fat," she wrote.

via Mum on the Run / Instagram

It's amazing how much positive change we can create in our lives if we just allow ourselves to do so. Embracing new responsibilities and values is a big part of growing older, as is rethinking how and why we admire ourselves.

Laura Mazza, who goes by the name The Mum on the Run on social media and her blog, posted a powerful photo of how having three children changed how she values herself and her body.

She posted a revealing before-and-after photos on social media and expressed how going from a rail-thin girl with a "high belly button" and "protruding bones" made her feel more valuable when she was younger. She also expressed how difficult it was to accept her new body after having three children.

But eventually she learned not only to accept her new body but love it for all its incredible accomplishments.

Her comments on her Facebook post of the same photo, which has since been deleted, are a wonderful window into the mind of a mother as she looks to her past while embracing the present.

"I remember people asking me what my exercise routine was," she wrote about the picture of her younger self. "They admired me. I admired me! I bought a whole new wardrobe. I was so proud. I showed off my body."

Then, she reflected on the photo of herself now. "Stretch marks. A droopy belly button. Thicker, not many bones protruding, but more dimples that represent cellulite," she wrote.

But Mazza eventually changed how she perceives her new body by appreciating all of the blessings it has given her. "I have achieved more with this body, than I have with my old body," she wrote. I've eaten more good foods. I've lived more, I've given more, I've enjoyed more. I've made life. This body, THIS body should be celebrated and admired."

She ended her post with a great tongue-and-cheek-observation: "Love makes you fat."

Here's the whole post.

via Mum on the Run / Facebook

Her post wasn't just therapeutic for herself, it inspired countless mothers who've had the same experience.

via The Mum on the Run / Facebook

They thought her post was courageous.

via The Mum on the Run / Facebook

Some mothers could really relate.

via The Mum on the Run / Facebook

Mazza also made really important point on her Instagram post about how her self-perception will influence her daughter's. "What would I say to my daughter?" she asked. "That she is only as good as the number on the scales?"

From Your Site Articles

Everyone loves before-and-after glacier pics. But do you know what comes after the after?

Watching a mighty glacier recede before your eyes can be stunning.

The Mendenhall Glacier receded about 1,800 feet between 2007 and 2015. Images from James Balog via AP.

To see something so huge rendered so ephemeral in just a simple pair of images.

Switzerland's Stein Glacier lost about 1,800 feet between 2006 and 2015.

These before-and-after shots serve as powerful reminders of climate change.

The Trift Glacier in Switzerland lost nearly three-quarters of a mile between 2006 and 2015. Images from James Balog via AP and Matt Kennedy via AP.

Warmer weather has been shrinking glaciers around the world, from the Himalayas to the American West. These latest images are part of a set released by the Geological Society of America.

But they don't show the whole story.

What happens after the "after" photo?

When glaciers melt, that water runs into streams and rivers. But here's the thing: It matters when the water moves into streams and rivers.

Glaciers work like icy time machines. In many areas, glaciers and mountaintop snowpack trap winter precipitation that would have otherwise ended up flowing downstream, eventually to the ocean. They then release it during the warmer, drier summer, helping even out river levels year-round.

But as glaciers shrink, that time machine winds down. Rivers and lakes can't depend on that meltwater.

Ross Lake in northern Washington. In 2001, little rain and a light snowpack caused water levels to drop (top). The photo above is the lake at normal water level. Photos by David McNew/Newsmakers/Getty Images and Zengame/Flickr.

This is a major worry in many areas, such as in the Himalayas and the many highly populated countries their glaciers feed, but in America too. In the Pacific Northwest, declining snowpack might starve the mighty Columbia River.

Shrinking rivers have their own after-effects.

We depend on rivers for much more than just drinking water. Hydroelectric dams provide 70% of the Pacific Northwest's electricity. They feed agricultural projects and provide a habitat for salmon, trout, and other creatures. We play in them and on them. All of these things could be affected.

We still have the power to head off negative changes. Transitioning to cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar means fewer climate-affecting emissions, while more judicious water usage could help head off the worst effects.

So the next time you see one of these amazing before-and-afters, remember it's only the start of the story.

The Sólheimajökull Glacier in Iceland retreated more than 2,000 feet between 2007 and 2015. Images from James Balog via AP.

before and after

Mom shares underwear pics to show how she learned to love her body after three kids.

"Love makes you fat," she wrote.

It's amazing how much positive change we can create in our lives if we just allow ourselves to do so. Embracing new responsibilities and values is a big part of growing older, as is rethinking how and why we admire ourselves.

Everyone loves before-and-after glacier pics. But do you know what comes after the after?

Watching a mighty glacier recede before your eyes can be stunning.

To see something so huge rendered so ephemeral in just a simple pair of images.

These before-and-after shots serve as powerful reminders of climate change.

But they don't show the whole story.

Shrinking rivers have their own after-effects.

So the next time you see one of these amazing before-and-afters, remember it's only the start of the story.

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