Take Before and After Photos
By Haley DePass
If you are on social media, you might have noticed a lot of your online friends posting about their weight loss journey. They may be posting pictures of their food, themselves on a hike, a bike ride, or at the gym, and you very well may have seen their before and after weight loss photos. Like myself, you may have been stunned by this person’s ability to post something so personal, especially in a world in which we are completely body conscious and body obsessed.
Accountability Measures
I wondered to myself though: Maybe these bold social media friends of ours are on to something in the weight loss department. By them posting their before and after pictures, especially the “before” picture, they have automatically held themselves accountable to the 100-plus followers and friends they have on their social media platforms. Let’s be honest, are you just going to post a before picture and not follow up with it? I doubt it.
There are a lot of benefits to simply just having your weight loss shots on your phone. These photos allow you to take a good look at yourself, and can actually help motivate the change. This method is probably best for the shy dieter. The old-fashion way is always great, too: Take a photo of yourself and print it out and hang it on mirrors. That way, you have a reminder of the goals you are trying to achieve.
Proper Perspective
It’s important to note here that before and after photos should be utilized for health purposes. Let’s face it, we all want to look good, but the main priority should be getting healthier. We often get caught up in the aesthetic aspects of losing weight, but there is so much more to weight loss than looking thin or gaining more muscle. We often notice in these before/after photos the extreme loss of belly fat. Stomach fat is the most dangerous place to put on weight because it is often linked to issues such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, and cancer. Therefore, when you see yourself in that before picture from a month ago, and you have noticed how much smaller your stomach is getting, start jumping for joy! Not because you’ll be beach ready by summer, but because you have just significantly decreased your chances of obtaining a life-threatening disease.
Being able to visualize your process and your progress is an amazing motivator to achieve the body you want, but it is also an amazing way to achieve a healthier lifestyle and to keep yourself accountable! So snap those mirror pics, and if you want, post them for some followers to see! Either way, start your healthier lifestyle today with the snap of a photo!
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Centennial, Colo.