Hindsight is 20/20, and in Selena Gomez’s case, looking at images of her younger self also seems to come with a much kinder lens and a dose of self-acceptance.

Gomez posted a series of throwback photos of herself in a bikini to her Instagram story Monday night, reflecting on how her body has changed over the years.

She shared a photo of herself from 2013, at age 21, wearing a zebra-print bikini.

“Today I realized I will never look like this again…” she wrote alongside the snap.

The next photo she shared was taken on another seaside romp, 10 years later. In the picture from a 2023 Cabo San Lucas getaway, the 31-year-old performer wears a high-waisted bikini.

“I’m not perfect, but I am proud to be who I am… Sometimes I forget it’s ok to be me,” she wrote.

Gomez has been in the spotlight for decades, beginning her career as a child on famed kids’ show Barney and Friends, then gaining broader recognition first as part of the Disney Channel stable, then as a musician and paparazzi magnet for her on-again, off-again relationship with Justin Bieber for several years. Now, she’s still releasing music, has a lead role on Hulu’s Only Murders In the Building, and has a makeup line, Rare Beauty. Gomez has developed a reputation for being open with fans, disclosing both a Lupus diagnosis that required a kidney transplant and chemotherapy in 2017, and a bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2018. Being in the public eye, she was aware of commentary around fluctuations in how her body looked.

She told Fast Company in October 2023 that she hit a breaking point in 2018 over criticism of her body, and remembered going to photo shoots where “none of the sample sizes were fitting, and that would make me feel embarrassed. Although how unrealistic is it to expect a normal woman’s body not to change?”

It’s not the first time she’s spoken out against the opinions some people share about her body. In April 2022, she shared a video to her TikTok stories where she joked that “I be trying to stay skinny, but I went to Jack in the Box and I got four tacos, three egg rolls, onion rings, and a spicy chicken sandwich.” But did she express regrets? Quite the opposite: “But honestly, I don’t care about my weight because people bitch about it anyway,” she continued. “‘You're too small,’ ‘you’re too big,’ ‘that doesn’t fit.’ ‘Meh meh meh meh.’ Bitch, I am perfect the way I am. Moral of the story? Bye.”

Or there’s the affirmation she shared in a March 2023 video posted on Rare Beauty’s Instagram account: “Something I wish I could tell my younger self is: Appreciate the face and the body that you have. May not look like everyone else, but you are who you are, and be proud of that.”

She told Fast Company that her candid comments and relatability deepened her connection with her fanbase.

“I’m not unattainable,” she said. “I look at someone like a Beyoncé, and I am amazed. My jaw drops. Every part of her is just impeccable, and it’s just so beautiful. I went to her show and was blown away. But I’m just not that, and that’s okay. I’m me, and I’m a little silly, but I also like being sexy and fun, and I also want to do good with the time I have here. We need goddesses like Beyoncé and Adele. But I’m just happy to be your best friend.”