BATTLE ONE: Mirror vs. Scale

Let’s go to war! You will be seeing different battles here in the BATTLE BLOG designed to debunk the myths of health and fitness. BATTLE ONE: Mirror vs. Scale! I am excited to do this battle! I want to show women that the scale is NOT the best indicator of fitness. I have been collecting pictures and permission to use those pictures of women who actually gained weight on their fitness journey and have improved their overall appearance and fitness level by building muscle. I will exclude names, but will include each woman’s advice. These are REAL women who prove muscle can up the scale but improve the body! This post will keep growing as I find women who are rockin’ the muscle so check back often!!! I may also include some dudes in this post. I hope you find someone who you can relate to in this post, someone who will inspire you! I will start with me.

Before (left) 140 pounds, after (right) 151 pounds. What is my advice? Chronic cardio can burn muscle and cause you to stall in your fitness. Don’t be afraid to lift heavy, you won’t turn into Arnold…trust me, I am honestly trying to bulk up, working out 6 days a week, lifting heavy, and I am still not even close to Arnold, so lift weights heavier than your purse please. Also, food is fuel. I eat to reach my goals, so I don’t put food into my body unless I feel it will benefit my fitness. Stay away from processed food, just eat real food. Don’t eat sugar!!! The cravings for sugar do go away, so be tough and give it time…your body will thank you! Judge your fitness by how you look in the mirror, the scale can be counter-productive to your goals if you obsess over numbers.

Before (left) 124 pounds, after (right) 130 pounds. What is her advice? Lift heavy weights and do low reps. Eat in a calorie surplus and Incorporate a high carb diet. Reverse diet to minimize fat gain. Challenge yourself and don’t obsess over the gym or the scale and trust the process.

Before (left) 77 pounds, after (right) 99 pounds. What is her advice? Don’t restrict diet…EVER, eat intuitively, and mindfully. Don’t over train, fatigue is not fun while powerlifting. Enjoy working out and crank music, have fun with other gym goers. Don’t be scared to try new weights/exercises and don’t be scared of body changes!

Before (right) 130 pounds, after (left) 136 pounds. What is her advice? Not a big deal but when you look at the picture … The left one is now, the right was few years ago well before I start lifting weight 🙂 First at all, forget the scale and focus on your feeling! Then, consistency is the key, you won’t get the results expected without patience, eat and don’t be afraid to lift heavy!

Before (left) 82 pounds, after (right) 116 pounds. What is her advice? I used to be a body weight/cardio bunny & chronic dieter. That was the result. Honestly the first 3-4 years I was kind of winging it. Got newbie gains without any real effort. The last year I’ve nailed down my caloric surplus macros & I’m on a more optimal training program with a coach and just started powerlifting in addition this month.

Before (left) 120 pounds, after (right) 138 pounds. What is her advice? Repeat after me…the scale is just a number! A number that represents your gravitational pull towards the center of the earth. It does not reflect your overall health, your well-being, your worthiness to be happy. Honestly, happiness and unhappiness can exist at any size, so please for the love french fries (half joking) – focus on things like your overall health, mental health, getting stronger, feeling better…and I promise you, the other progress you want to see will come. (And it will stay longer…bonus!) Use the scale as ONE piece of data to track your progress, but NEVER get hung up on it and love your body no matter what, because the strain of not loving your body does more harm than good (I know it’s easier said than done but practice makes perfect).

Before (left) 210 pounds, after (right) 220 pounds. What is her advice? I went from eating 1600 calories a day to eating 2500 calories a day. I went from only cardio (never losing any weight) to powerlifting. I follow a program, Wendlins 5,3,1 program. I went from hating my body while doing light lifting, afraid of being bulky with crazy cardio and just depressed because I had no results, to loving my body and doing little cardio, mostly all powerlifting and strength training with major results. I threw my scale away and now only weigh in at Complete Nutrition where I get a lot of my products so I don’t focus on weight. I focus on body fat percentage.

Before (left) 110 pounds, after (right) 122 pounds. What is her advice? I upped my calories and cut cardio.  I stopped paying attention to the scale. I trained even when I didn’t want to and was dead ass tired. But the most important thing I think is to go to the gym with a plan. Those are the people that aren’t consistent. I see so many people just wandering around saying things like “I think I’ll do back today”. Well, if you miss a day, so what? It’s not a plan so no harm no foul. But if you have an actual schedule, written down, it’s “I need to do this today”. Makes being lazy harder. When I started I also worked it in between my daughter’s swim practice. I’d drop her off and then go train. And I found something that I love to do. That makes it easier, even when the days suck. Oh and the funny thing is people always ask if I’ve lost weight.

Before (left) 125 pounds, after (right) 137 pounds. What is her advice? I treated the gym like a job I loved. So even on days I didn’t necessarily feel like it, I felt it was a necessity. I learned progress isn’t a straight line and to accept both the lows and highs. Made the journey much easier. Research everything! Don’t believe just anyone. The more you know, the more you grow. If you can, get a coach! Most valuable tool I have ever placed in my tool box. Ignore the scale, ignore the media and their “standards”. Be YOU.

Before (right) 106 pounds, after (left) 120 pounds. What is her advice? Take the BEFORE pic! The scale will lie to you. Feed your body, you need fuel! Don’t compare your journey with someone else’s. Don’t give yourself a timeline, celebrate all the small goals. Don’t be afraid to lift heavy, God didn’t make you a man, you won’t wake up looking like one by picking up a plate!

Before (left) 119 pounds, after (right) 132 pounds. What is her advice? Work with a professional. Don’t be afraid to eat more. First pic was 1200 calories, cardio only. Second pic was 1600 calories in my final week of comp prep and weight training. Don’t be afraid of weights. Women don’t typically get “bulky” and I am a great example of that. Make it a lifestyle rather than I diet. IIFYM is a God send.

Before (left) 200 pounds, after (right) 240 pounds. What is her advice? I had a severe eating disorder, but now I weigh 240# (and had a baby) and I lift religiously and eat lots, I’m way happier than I was doing excessive cardio and maybe eating 200 calories a day!

Before (left) 118 pounds, after (right) 125 pounds. What is her advice? Before picture is lots of cardio (was the tail end of losing almost 70lbs!) and 1570cal/day. After picture is macros, strength training, a physical job, and 3k cal/day. Pics are roughly 2years apart.

Before (left) 240 pounds, after (right) 260 pounds. What is her advice? If you want to truly change something about yourself you might have to change the way you see yourself. Just because you don’t like what you see, doesn’t mean you have body dysmorphia or any other mental illness. Sometimes we just need to change. Remember lifting heavy correctly builds mentality just as much as physical muscle, even if it seems hard to push through. Not everyone is going to be happy with what you do, but you should. And if you’re not, do something else. You can’t force this. On anyone. Not on yourself and not on people you know. You have to want to do it. You have to want to keep doing it.

Before (left) 170 pounds, after (right) 210 pounds. What is her advice? Keep a training journal. Being able to see where you started and where you are at is a huge motivation. Eat! Food is fuel. Don’t be afraid to fuel your body for your performance. Trust the process. Some days are good training days, some days aren’t. Sometimes life happens and you’re out of the gym for a couple weeks or you don’t hit your macros. But as long as you’re consistent, you’ll hit your goals. Set performance goals rather than scale goals. The scale is a liar. Do you! People are always going to have an opinion about your training, your body, or whatever. This isn’t about them. It’s about you.

Before (left) 148 pounds, after (right) 168 pounds. What is her advice? These are going to sound cliche, but they’re true and certainly were the main contributors to my transformation. You have to be willing to gain weight, meaning you rely more on what’s in the mirror and not what’s on the scale. Eat at least 1g of protein per lb of body weight per day. Eat at least 25g of protein every 3 waking hours. Train hard and consistently. Recover, recover, recover, especially make sure to get enough sleep.

Before (right) 120 pounds, after (left) 127 pounds. What is her advice? Cardo is not the answer. Don’t be afraid to eat. Do it for yourself. Have long term and short term goals. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t see results. Feel them. It takes time.