I once heard someone say, “I’m so sick of people taking pictures of themselves at the gym. Like we get it, you work out.”

Although this comment wasn’t directed towards me, it stuck with me for some time because I actually liked taking gym selfies myself. And like any other self-conscious person would, I stopped taking pictures of my proudly sweaty, happy, post-workout self (okay sometimes I’d quickly take one when no one was looking, but still).

I kept wondering what was so bad about it? It’s perfectly normal to take pictures of ourselves when we’re feeling good in any other circumstance, so how come this one came off as annoying? Eventually I dismissed the comment and decided to take those gym selfies again. I had some really good reasons as to why it was okay to take gym selfies. And, in case you’re in the same boat as I once was, here are those reasons: it’ll keep you accountable, it’ll get others motivated, and it’ll feel good to just look back at those photos and think, “Hell yeah, I killed that workout (or, hey, at least I went today).”

Gym selfies will keep you accountable because it’s a way of “checking in” -- one sweaty photo equals one day down. Gym selfies will also get others motivated. Whenever I post my post-workout pictures on Snapchat, I have friends send me Snaps saying “That selfie motivated me to go to the gym too,” and there’s no feeling quite like knowing that I’ve motivated someone else. The same goes for when I see someone else’s gym selfie -- it gets me motivated, and I feel super thankful for their photo. Gym selfies are nice to look back on because it’ll remind you of what a great workout session you had and make you want to push yourself the next time around too.

So, do you really want to take that gym selfie? If not, good for you. If so, just do it. It can seem a bit embarrassing to take selfies in public, but there’s nothing to be ashamed of when you’re taking a good gym selfie -- you earned it. You deserve to take that sexy (okay it’s honestly probably not that sexy), sweaty picture.