Why I HATE ‘Before & Afters’…

It’s coming into spring and I have noticed the increase in the “Before & After” posts from local gyms and Personal Trainers… this really makes my blood boil, and I am a Personal Trainer. The Fitness Industry these days will have you believe that weight and weight loss is THE ONLY indication of health – that is absolute crap!

Personally, I have never been significantly overweight or obese – nor am I going to pretend I have been. I have been bigger than I am now and have done what 99.99% of women have done and jumped on the “I wanna lose XX kilos” bandwagon. In 2011, I got engaged, I had been shiftworking for quite some time at that point and I had put on weight, so of course I wanted to be a skinny bride and I joined an online program from a prominent Australian Personal Trainer. This program lasted 12 weeks and had me on approximately 1200 calories a day and exercising 6 days a week, I ended up losing 7kgs in that time, and yes for a short period of time I felt amazing. Fitting into the smaller size felt great, BUT that wasn’t enough, I wanted to lose another 4-5kg. So I continued my diet plan and kept heading to the gym 6 days a week, sometimes 7, but that’s where I plateaued and I still wasn’t happy with my body. So I started working out 2+ hours per day at the gym, sticking to my 1200cal. Still nothing. This continued for months. It affected everything, I was ruled by my food and gym. Like the last 5kgs was the key to my happiness. My relationship with food became so negative. Social outings were a nightmare! I was tired, grumpy and become a massive “carbo-phobe”. I wouldn’t eat a meal that was over 350calories. I weighed myself daily and the number would dictate my mood and inevitably my day. I changed from a commercial gym to Crossfit, because clearly I wasn’t working hard enough – right?! The positive part of this story is that I found my love for fitness, strength training and Crossfit, but it wasn’t until I found Crossfit that I realised I had actually been starving myself and I became aware of this unhealthy behaviour. I wouldn’t say I had an eating disorder, I don’t think it got that far, but I saw how easy it is to slip into these patterns. Yes I was smaller than I initially started, but I wasn’t happier, if anything I was miserable.

Today, I see that weight and size are not the only indications of health. Many of the IG models are not in fact healthy at all, there are hidden ways they keep themselves so skinny, and even if there aren’t are they happy? Are they getting all the nutrients their body needs?? Is that supplement they are promoting actually any good for them, or is it just giving them heart palpitations and pumping their bodies full of junk? Just because they are posting a photo of their nutritious meal, doesn’t mean they necessarily ate it. Just because they posted their photo of them looking amazing in a bikini, doesn’t mean they actually look like that – photoshop
and great lighting do wonders!

Mental health is a huge aspect to our overall health and I don’t believe obsessing over food, hibernating at the gym all the time, avoiding social engagements and not actually loving your own skin is promoting positive mental health.

Don’t get me wrong, some of these before and Afters are amazing and these men and women have worked their arses off for their results, but please lets talk and showcase other ways they have improved their health. For example:

Increasing sleep, and how that impacted their overall health and mood.
Increasing water intake, the reduction in migraines/headaches, improvement in skin etc.
Increasing their whole grain intake (SHOCK HORROR, YES THEY ARE CARBOHYDRATES) and the improvement on their gut health or energy
Increased Fitness, and how they can keep up with the kids, or not get puffed walking up the stairs to their office.
Increased Strength, when people can easily pick up their groceries or move their furniture

Why must we just showcase weight loss? I personally don’t want to build a career or a business in making people feel bad about themselves.

I may showcase the occasional before and after that is going to be accompanied with other positive health experiences that my clients are experiencing. I hope to one day live in a world that the other positive health effects overshadow the weight loss. Weight loss should only be the byproduct of integrating a healthier more positive lifestyle.