We’re worth so much more than how our bodies look

As "New Year Shreds" and "Holiday Transformation Promises" start flooding your fyp, it's time for my annual reminder:

Progress pictures used for marketing are just marketing.
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Glorifying progress pictures means that we’re automatically establishing aesthetics as our main goal at the gym. We’re saying that how you look is much more important than how you feel and how you move, but there’s no way to see these factors in a picture.

If a progress picture you take for you is helpful- cool. But don't look at other people's on the internet as a baseline, a how-to, or a success story to convince you of a diet plan.

To take it a step further - progress pictures have some inherent flaws:

1️⃣ These pictures were taken ONE hour apart and look vastly different. Progress pics are usually taken on someone’s worst day and best day. Is this an accurate representation of the “transformation”?

2️⃣ I had a huge meal before the first picture and had just finished working out after the second picture.

3️⃣ I (obviously) was relaxed in the first picture and flexed in my second picture.

4️⃣ By placing stock in progress pictures, we’re assuming that once we hit the picture on the right, we’re done. We’re setting ourselves up for short term fitness rather than long term sustainable health.

5️⃣ We’re worth so much more than how our bodies look. We can achieve more if we set up rolling goals that encourage us to move and feel better. It’s the mature approach as opposed to the easy, low-hanging fruit approach.

I’ll stand by my hesitation to use progress pictures as advertising for Pridefit. Fitness companies built on these “transformations” are harmful, unethical, and misleading. I’m so grateful that Pridefit athletes prioritize moving and feeling better over looking better.