With 2 honest photos, woman reminds us that Instagram is not reality

The “perfect” fitness photos we see on social media don’t always tell the full story. That’s what one body-positive blogger wants to remind us with her inspiring post on “Instagram vs. real life.”

Sara Puhto, 20, recently posted two side-by-side photos of herself on Instagram. In the right photo, she’s striking a pose and standing at a diagonal angle to the camera. The left “real life” photo is more candid, with the camera directly behind her as she steps onto a rock.

Though the photos were taken minutes apart, Puhto’s proportions look completely different in the two shots, which she says is a reminder of how dramatically camera angles and posing can affect your appearance in a picture.

“If I saw the photo on the left a year ago I would've instantly thought so negatively about my body, that all my hard work from working out was nonexistent,” Puhto captioned the photos. “But the thing is is that all bodies look different. Nobody's booty looks round and peachy from all angles. Nobody's body looks the same from all angles.”

In short, a single photo can never truly capture how you look, Puhto says, so you shouldn’t be hard on yourself for how you appear in one image.

“Don't eat less or miss out on your favorite meals/drinks or over exercise to ‘look good for a holiday’ or to ‘look good in bikini photos’ because there will always be angles that are ‘unflattering’ that might make you feel bad when you see them,” she wrote. "Don't hate yourself just because of bad photos, they do not define you as a person. You look the best when you're living life to the fullest and happiest."