Many things can be taken for granted, especially when it comes to noticing the “little things” when it comes to progress. The scale only tells so much believe it or not. Letting one know if they are losing weight, gaining weight, or the most frustrating of them all; the weight is staying the same.
Even when it comes to logging workouts from a performance standpoint. People want to see progress. The numbers need to change and shift! It means something, right? A bench or deadlift has gone up, one can live with a scale that seems to be broken or giving negative feedback.
Is there anything that can be done to comfort a person on their fitness journey with warm hugs and kisses of reassurance that regardless of what the scale says (or doesn’t say)? Even on a performance level, a fudged and lackluster workout log that may or may not have the right numbers written down from workouts that have been kept sporadically for over a month now? There may even be things in your workout log that do not even pertain to working out, like a phone number or a grocery list (it’s okay it happens).
The good news is there is hope. There is an answer.
Grab your cell phone, get the timer set up or find a person who you do not care sees you half naked and start taking some progress photos!
Photos do not lie. Sure, there seems to be an art form in taking the perfect selfie. There are filters, angles, lighting to consider, but these photos are not that. These are raw, uncut, unfiltered. They are you right now! One must get to a point of acceptance to see where they are, so they know where they are going. Scale isn’t moving? Does not matter, those top 2 ab muscles are more visible than they were 2 weeks ago. Keep going! Bench has not gone up in a month? It is ok, you are starting to see separation in the pecs that were not there when you started. Keep going!
Find a place where you can take a few photos. Do a front, side, and back shot, at the same height from each viewpoint. Make sure the lighting is normal and natural. Try not to use flash on the camera because this can cause shadows which equal illusions. Take photos once every 2 weeks or monthly and track over the course of 3-4 months.
And one more thing, no selfie sticks! There is just something so non-fitness about them.
