Ashley James shares a gallery of snaps she DIDN’T want to post on Instagram at the time as she reveals she was unhappy with how she looked

Ashley James has posted an encouraging post with a photo she didn’t really want to share online because she wasn’t happy with the way she looked at the time.

Although Ashley (37) looked beautiful and happy in the photos, she admitted she took the photos apart because she didn’t like certain parts of her body in the snaps.

Ashley candidly explained how she was criticized for her “huge” breasts, her side profile and “how pale” she looked in photos she posted to Instagram on Tuesday.

The This Morning guest star shared several snaps from holidays with her partner Tommy Andrews and their two children, Ada and Alfie.

Captioning a cute photo of herself and Ada, 17 months old, on an exotic beach, she wrote: ‘My boob looked weird hanging out.’

Ashley shared a photo from before she was pregnant with her two children and said she “can’t believe now that she wasn’t happy with her body back then.”

‘She shared a lengthy caption about why she didn’t post them at the time, saying, ‘I almost didn’t share this because I really don’t want to ever focus on ‘flaws,’ when I’ve spent so much time over the last 10 years trying to change my mindset to talk kindly about myself. To not talk unkindly about my body. I also don’t want anyone else to ever compare their body to mine.

‘But I think it’s really important to emphasize that we’re often so unkind to ourselves, and we pick ourselves apart in a way that we wouldn’t pick apart anyone else. And it makes me sad when I look through some of these photos, because I’m in all these amazing places and making amazing memories and I let my brain zoom in on my body or my face instead of just the memories and the experiences.

‘And often we look back and wonder why we didn’t like the photo. We think we look great.

‘I’ve often wondered what the psychology is behind it because I have it really bad – I’ll always hate every photo of myself until about 2 weeks later and then I think how nice it is. What’s that?

‘Although I have to say I really struggle with looking at pictures of myself breastfeeding. Not the cute ones of me feeding my babies, but just the size of my chest. I’m sure it’s no secret how much I struggle with that after years and years of shaming and comments that started when I was just 14.

‘But you know what? I’m so glad I stepped into the photos and didn’t press delete, even when I didn’t like what I saw. Because those moments are now beautiful memories of my children’s childhoods. Of my adulthood. Of life and love and adventure.

‘And often our memories become hazy and our children grow up so quickly that eventually all we are left with are photographs and memories.

‘So be kind to yourself, no matter what stage of life you’re in. And remember to have compassion for yourself if you don’t like what you see, because we’ve been raised in a world that has taught us to zoom in and see flaws so people can take advantage of our insecurities. And always, always have your picture taken.

Ashley, who uses her platform to promote positive body image, showed off her “stretched” stomach in an Instagram clip earlier this year as she spoke about the importance of body confidence.

She talked about how her figure has changed over the years since having two children and how she tries to ‘refram’ negative thoughts.

Ashley lifted up her sweater to show off her toned abs and admitted that she prefers to shower herself with positive compliments rather than negative self-talk.

She wrote: ‘My stomach got so stretched when I had babies, you can see how stretched my skin is. It will probably always look a bit like this.’

‘I always like to reframe negative thoughts and think: Wow, belly – you made Alf and Ada.

“You’re so wonderful! Look how you’ve grown and changed.”

Ashley regularly shares updates about her parenting and posted a selfie of herself breastfeeding Ada on her Instagram stories.

She wrote: ‘Slept on my chest all night. She never wants to be cuddled at night. Bit of a cold and teething.’

Ashley announced in a sweet post on Instagram last March that she had given birth to a girl, Ada.

The reality star welcomed Alfie in January 2021, just a year after she and tech professional Tommy started dating.

Ashley from Made In Chelsea was single for six years before moving in with Tommy in December 2019, after they first met ten years earlier.

Six months later, the couple discovered they were having their first child, after Tommy moved in with Ashley in London due to the coronavirus pandemic.