Why I Don’t Share Before-and-After Photos of my clients
I posted transformation photos before, showcasing people who achieved lower body fat and higher muscle mass, which I know is always going to be a goal for many people—and that’s fine.
The before-and-after photos are an easy sell. People buy into them without asking questions like, "Does this person actually align with me?" or "Where will I be in 2 years’’ time if I follow these approaches?"
Generally, the more fat loss in a shorter period, the more celebration there is in society. “25kg in 12 weeks, good on you.” But most people can achieve extremes for a short period of time before rebounding and ending up with more work to do on themselves—and feeling worse, because they’ve attached their worth to a lower level of body fat. People with all-or-nothing tendencies do this all the time. They lose fat but haven’t addressed any of the internal work, so they rebound to where they were.
A lot of people come to coaches with high levels of body dissatisfaction. They feel not good enough because of the body they’re in. The biggest mindset shift they can make is realising their body doesn’t define their worth. Yet everything they do reinforces the opposite.
If a lot of your worth is attached to your body, you should expect to feel more fear, guilt, and shame after eating the foods you enjoy. Because your worth depends on it. That’s a lot of pressure to eat well and is the biggest risk factor for a poor relationship with food.
On the other hand, someone who is accepting of their body and doesn’t invest as much value in appearance will much more effortlessly do the things they want with their nutrition and enjoy it, because they don’t feel all this turbulence after eating certain foods.
I'm not the "anti-diet" kind of guy in fact I think that’s nonsense as well, especially because I'm pretty close to a six-pack myself—it would feel a bit like, "Well, you wouldn’t know how it feels to people who have more weight." I get it. It’s nice to have lower body fat and more muscle. But if you need it, that’s a problem that doesn’t get fixed by a calorie deficit alone. Once you lose the fat, you’ll feel fearful and anxious trying to sustain it.
I have invested more worth into my appearance at certain points in my life, and I understand how it affects people—and how it affected me.
Do you really want a sense of worth that’s so fragile? That when you have a holiday, eat more, and have a few drinks, you instantly feel not good enough or less than? Rather than being able to fully enjoy those experiences without all the fear, guilt, anxiety, and shame?
Self-objectification is when a person views themselves primarily as an object to be looked at or evaluated based on physical appearance. And sometimes online coaches objectify clients by plastering them all over their Instagram. I don’t think that’s ethically right, personally.
Here are some signs you might struggle with self-objectification:
Constantly monitoring your appearance
Comparing your body a lot to others
Over-emphasis on appearance
Disconnection from your body, ignoring hunger and fullness cues
Feeling inadequate when others appear to meet a physical standard you don’t feel you meet
I help people feel emotionally, physically, and mentally better in themselves, and as a result, a lot of their body compositions change in the process—without all the negatives attached.
Now, there are going to be lads reading this thinking, "I don’t really do that.''
Lads and women are different. Lads might feel less masculine or confident because of their body and it makes them feel not good enough. Women, on the other hand, might feel the pressure to be attractive to be good enough.
But here's the thing: You can work on changing your body—whether you want to lose fat, gain muscle, or improve your overall health—without attaching your worth to the outcome. My aim is to help you reach your goals in a way that feels empowering, sustainable, and free from guilt or shame. We can work toward your desired physique while also focusing on your emotional and mental health.
This is just one reason why I believe transformation photos can feed into the insecurities we have about our bodies. Once upon a time, I was guilty of it.
Reflection Questions:
How much of your worth is tied to your appearance?
How does the idea of “perfection” in your body impact your daily choices, relationships, and mental health?
When you look at others, do you compare yourself in a way that makes you feel less than, or do you find inspiration in their journey?
How does tracking body weight, progress photos, or obsessing over your appearance affect your self-esteem and mindset?
What would it feel like to disconnect your self-worth from your physical appearance and focus on how your body feels and functions instead?
How can you shift your mindset to focus more on self-respect, health, and mental well-being rather than perfection in appearance?