“If you love yourself, why are you changing yourself?” I got asked this question recently. Let me be clear, it is because I love myself that I choose to change myself. It’s because I love myself that I move towards growth. It’s why I show up for myself with honesty, intention and compassion. It’s why I reflect, why I heal, why I challnege old patterns and unhealthy habits and why I make decisions that I believe will honor the life I want to live. After losing over 200lbs I was left with loose skin that no amount of time, strength training or fasting could remove… no matter what people who have never experienced this like to tell me. My surgeries are not about vanity, they’re about freedom. About comfort. About getting to fully experience the life I worked so hard to gain. About feeling at home in my body. And about getting to see what my body might have looked and felt like had I never taken it for granted for so long. It is because I love myself that I lost weight and gained health. It is because I love myself that I am removing the loose skin from my body and getting my lipedema treated. I don’t believe self love and self improvement are opposites. You can love yourself and change yourself. That doesn’t mean you don’t accept yourself and it doesn’t mean you don’t think you’re enough as you are, it means you’ve seen where your life can improve and you want to work towards that vision for your future. Make no mistake, I’ve never loved myself more. Not because I’m smaller. Not because my loose skin is gone. Because I know what I want for my life and out of life and I intentionally move toward that with each decision I make. 💜 Thank you @modernplasticsurgery for helping me feeling more at home in my body! And thank you @Advanced Lipedema Treatment program at @The Roxbury Institute for taking such good care of me! 🤗 #DrShawnMoshrefi #ALTProgram #Partner #brachioplasty #beforeandafter *All surgeries come with risks and everyone has to decide what the best option for them is. - @leahhopehealth