When friends scroll too far on my Instagram, they come across the photos of then. They often gasp, asking if that’s really me. Maybe they’ll say a joke or tease the incessant hashtags — #summergirl. Maybe they’ll frown or look slightly uncomfortable. They never really say what they’re thinking, what we’re all thinking. Instead, it’ll be something like, “Wow, you look really different!”
I do. I’m likely twenty-five kilograms heavier. I have to guess, as I haven’t owned a weigh scale in over five years. If I get weighed for a doctor’s appointment, I ask them not to share the number with me.