The dawn of social media has given rise to the illusion of transparency in the fitness industry. Unfortunately… all is not what it seems.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news… but, that ripped dude you’re following on Facebook eats more than just Pop Tarts…
…and that ‘beauty queen’ you follow on Instagram does occasionally venture away from the bathroom mirror where the lighting doesn’t cast shadows quite so eloquently on her physique.
But it’s not always the profile owner whose being illusive… sometimes it’s the viewer who is pulling the wool over their own eyes… as they choose to see what they want to see.
In this article we’ll expose the reality of;
a) How fitness selfies skew the view of a lean and healthy physique.
b) How food porn selfies create a false impression of what it takes to get ripped abs.
c) How important it is to share the emotional experience of getting ripped abs.
I’m all about ‘Keeping it real’… and I pride myself on being completely transparent… So let’s take a look at my social media profiles for a little dose of reality…
The Not-So Transparent Truth About Fitness Selfies
Other than a few of my before photos, you will be hard pressed to find unflattering pictures of me when you scan through the photos of my Facebook, Instagram, or Pintrest profiles.
…But the same could be said for my wedding album and family portraits hung around my house. It’s normal human behavior to share photos that captured us at our best.
However, I recently came to the realization that my fitness selfies may be misleading my online friends. Many of the photos I share are captured under ideal lighting conditions. I have mastered certain poses, which create the illusion of a tighter waistline. I often take pictures after a workout when I’ve got a great pump going… and I am flexing in a manner that brings out the details of my physique.
It’s a snippet in time. But it’s not a true indication of how I look during the remaining 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds of the day.
The not-so transparent truth about my fitness selfies is that I usually have to take multiple pictures before capturing a selfie worth sharing.
…And now I’m going to let you in on my latest fitness selfie secret…
Selfie Secret: Instead of taking a photo… I record a video. Then in my video editing software I extract every frame in the movie as a still image, which are milliseconds apart. From there, I select the photo which captures my physique at it’s best for a particular pose.
To give you an example, let’s take a look at some progress pics I shared on May 30, 2014…
Now let’s compare them to some frames, which were captured just a second or two before or after the above photos…
Not as impressive eh? Yet it’s the exact same lean and healthy physique.
My Fitness Selfie Motives: The thing is… I take these fitness selfies as a form of accountability… and as a way to measure my progress. I take them under the same lighting while striking the same pose… and select the best frame each time.
I also take fitness selfies, because I want my online friends to see that I walk the talk. I’m always my first customer and pride myself on documenting and sharing a transparent view of my experiences with the workouts and nutrition plans I follow… whether they are my programs or a trusted colleagues program.
I’m a man of integrity who sincerely values your trust. What you see is what you get with me. I simply don’t have it in me to pretend to be someone or something that I’m not. I believe this level of transparency is good for my business. Maybe not in the sense of making millions of dollars… but in the sense that I always seem to attract amazing customers who I can relate to on a deep level.
…and yes, it does feel nice to hear the compliments after I post a fitness selfie. I’m a highly motivated individual who doesn’t require attention or praise to strive for my true potential… but there are times when an online friend will post a compliment on my fitness selfie that totally makes my day and inspires me to step up my game.
Once or twice a year I also enjoy taking part in a professional photo shoot… capturing my physique as a work of art. It’s me at my absolute best… in peak condition… striking flattering poses under optimal lighting.
During a 60 minute session, the photographer captures hundreds of pictures. Afterward it takes them hours to sort through them all… discarding the obvious unflattering photos. Often times this process reduces the number of decent looking photos to around 20 or so. If I’m lucky I’ll end up with a dozen really HOT shots! Those are the images I share with my online friends.
Here’s some of my favorite HOT shots from my most recent photo shoot…
Here’s some images from the same photo shoot, which I found to be not-so flattering, because I don’t look as muscular and impressive as the above photos…
The reason for my complete transparency here… is I want you to see that even under ideal conditions, such as a photo shoot, I still cherry pick the best images to share with my online friends.
So, even though it makes my day to hear from a friend who was inspired to make a life change and strive for their true potential, all because of the fitness selfies I post across my social media profiles…
…Please do not compare yourself to me or anyone else… especially when you don’t know the whole story behind their photos. Focus on your own magnificent journey and embrace the process of sculpting your personal masterpiece.
The Food Selfie Phenomenon
Nowadays just about everybody has taken pictures of their food and posted it across social media… myself included.
As a fitness professional I feel a tremendous obligation to share an accurate representation of my complete nutrition lifestyle. 90% of the foods I consume are ‘healthy’, ‘natural’, and minimally processed whole foods. The other 10% includes a variety of my favorite treats.
Hence… 90% of the food selfies you’ll see on my social media profiles will be of healthy, delicious meals… and the other 10% may be taken at a favorite fast food restaurant…
…Such as this great experience I had during a boy’s night out with my son Shayne…
It’s important to me that my friends see I was able to carve out ripped abs and maintain them without striving for nutrition perfection.
Unfortunately… as transparent as I am with my nutritional lifestyle, some people choose to pull the wool over their eyes and see only what they want to see.
In some cases they will completely ignore the fact that I spend most of the week in a caloric deficit, while consuming mostly high quality, nutrient rich foods… and instead focus solely on the 10% of my diet where I eat the heavily processed treats… sometimes in large quantities.
They make comments about how I can get away with eating these cheat meals, because I must have a super high metabolism… which isn’t the case. In fact, my maintenance level caloric intake is spot on with what most TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculations predict should be for a male my age, size, and activity level. Bottom line… I’m a normal average guy.
In other cases there are people who only focus on the 90% of my diet, which is composed of whole natural foods and very little minimally processed foods. These people tell me that they’d rather ‘Live a little‘ than eat what I eat. Obviously they didn’t see the line-up of beer cans I posted on my social media profiles the other day 😉
Often times in both cases these are people who are struggling to lose weight and they are overwhelmed with all of the conflicting fitness and nutrition advice out there. So I can understand their frustration… which is all the more reason to be as transparent as possible with what you share on your social media profiles.
The important take home lesson is that if you follow someone who posts nothing but Pop Tarts and cheat meals… chances are good that you’re only getting a small picture of their overall nutrition lifestyle. If you’re following someone who only posts super healthy meals made from whole natural foods… chances are you’re missing a piece of their overall nutrition lifestyle.
A Call For Emotional Transparency Across Social Media
I’m starting to see more people coming out and revealing that they felt like shit during their transformation process… even though they were posting fitness selfies with a great big smile on their face.
It’s happening across all segments of our industry… Paleo, Vegan, Crossfit, Bodybuilding… you name it. In some cases, the nutritional or fitness practices were causing near fatal consequences for these people… but they were afraid to speak up about it, for fear of backlash from the culture they belonged to.
In some cases people wear this shit like a badge of honor. In Crossfit you see some people brag about how they’ve ripped up their hands… in Powerlifting you see people brag about bleeding from their eyeballs… in Bodybuilding you hear competitors brag about how they nearly passed out on stage because of dehydration. It can be found in just about any fitness culture.
Thank goodness these are extreme cases which typically represents a small portion of each culture.
Your transformation should be an enjoyable process. Yes, there are sacrifices to be made… but there’s no need to run yourself into the ground. It’s my belief that if you are feeling like shit during your transformation, you are doing something wrong.
My plea is to share your feelings and emotional experiences during your transformation, rather than wait months or even years later to disclose the truth about what was really going on… no matter what fitness or nutrition culture you belong to.
If you let it be known that you are feeling like shit during your transformation process… not only will you receive help and guidance from your community… but you very well may prevent someone else from making the same mistakes too.
We’re in this together. The more open we are about our experiences, the more we can learn from each other.
Personally, I love social media and the transparency it’s brought to our industry. It’s great to see the scumbags being called out for sharing false and misleading health and fitness advice.
Social media is beginning to create a more level playing field for the fitness professionals who run their business with integrity. It’s been tough to compete against so called fitness experts who blatantly lie and mislead you into believing they have finally discovered the ultimate fat loss and muscle building secrets. Thanks to social media… these unethical scammers are being exposed… and even better… consumers are becoming better educated about the rampant false claims in our industry.
We still have a long way to go… but I am excited for what the future will bring for my fellow ethical fitness pros… and the positive impact this will have on the health and fitness industry.
There are plenty of these sincere, transparent, and ethical fitness pros out there. An easy way to spot them across social media is to look for the ones who aren’t afraid to reveal their flaws and share their emotional experiences… the good and the bad.
I sincerely hope you found great value in this article… and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback.
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant
About The Author
Scott Tousignant, BHK is a Physique Coach and Elite Natural Bodybuilder with the UFE.
Scott specializes in helping regular men and women sculpt their body into a chiseled work of art.
Viewing training as an art form and your body as a sculpture is a simple shift in mindset that brings out the beauty in your ongoing body transformation.
The art of molding and chiseling an aesthetically pleasing physique with spectacular symmetry, proportions, and carved out detail is one of life’s most rewarding and fulfilling experiences…
…It’s an opportunity for self growth and self discovery that will impact every area of your life.
Learn more about Scott’s physique-focused training programs:
AMPlify Aesthetic Muscle Gains and Strip Away Stubborn Sacks Of Fat with AMP – Aesthetic Muscle Plan
Get a taste of Scott’s hardcore physique training programs with Physique Phreak
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