'After just 4 weeks, I went from this... to this!'
The convention of before and after photos of weight loss, especially among women, is among the most recognisable marketing tactics in the business. However, anyone that has spent time on my website quickly finds that these photos of my own clients are conspicuously absent. And, contrary to what competitors may want you to think, this is not because my program does not work. Rather, it is because I don't believe in using pictures of weight loss before and after.
Real Life Stories from the Weight Loss Trenches
Over the years, many of the women that I have coached have told me their stories of weight loss failure. Many of them have 'tried it all' even those idiot-proof plans that show amazing results with little effort. Here's the thing, though, while these photos are supposed to serve as motivation, inspiration, and proof of a program's validity, they can have exactly the opposite effect when you are struggling on your journey.
One client explained her experience with continual failure as such:
There is not a weight loss program I haven't tried-everything from exercise and diet to pills and shakes. But nothing has worked, and every time I fail I feel worse, especially when I am constantly exposed to photos and testimonials of people who could do it. What was wrong with me? Why was I incapable of achieving what seemed so easy to others? Every failure made me more disgusted with not only my body, but my mind.
This is a common occurrence and adds to the obesity epidemic as much as constant fast food advertisements. People want to succeed, they want to be healthy and lose weight, but they are psyched out of doing it, and humiliated into quitting before they even begin.
The Science Behind Social Comparison
This is not just an anecdotal phenomenon, however. There is real science behind why weight loss before and after photos and indeed any form of so-called 'social motivation' fails to work. Social scientists have long understood that social pressures and comparison fuel our desires and sense of self-worth, which explains the popularity of social media sites and the phenomenon of 'over sharing'.
In its best form, this form of comparison serves as motivation. We want to feel superior to those around us, so we work harder in order to prove that we are. There is a neuroscientific connection here, too, as feelings of superiority activate one of our brain's pleasure centres, called the nucleus accumbens. The reaction of this brain region makes us feel our achievements are more superior and our accomplishments more significant.
But to every good there is a bad, to every yin, a yang, or so to speak. This means that those who do not achieve as much as we do feel inferior. Watching the accomplishments of others, accomplishments that you feel you could achieve and yet do not causes the pleasure centres of our brains to work in the opposite way and we feel like crap and quit.
I know that all of this talk about the ineffectiveness of weight loss before after photos makes me look like a bit of a hypocrite since I do display my own photos on my website. However, I am careful about the amount of photos I post and where I post them. You see, I understand that I need to provide some 'proof', in the marketing sense, that my program works. However, I just want to put the suggestion out there, allow you to see it if you want it. I am one person-just one-and that takes the pressure off you and allows you to dismiss it and focus on your own accomplishments and journey instead.
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The convention of before and after photos of weight loss, especially among women, is among the most recognisable marketing tactics in the business. However, anyone that has spent time on my website quickly finds that these photos of my own clients are conspicuously absent. And, contrary to what competitors may want you to think, this is not because my program does not work. Rather, it is because I don't believe in using pictures of weight loss before and after.
Real Life Stories from the Weight Loss Trenches
Over the years, many of the women that I have coached have told me their stories of weight loss failure. Many of them have 'tried it all' even those idiot-proof plans that show amazing results with little effort. Here's the thing, though, while these photos are supposed to serve as motivation, inspiration, and proof of a program's validity, they can have exactly the opposite effect when you are struggling on your journey.
One client explained her experience with continual failure as such:
There is not a weight loss program I haven't tried-everything from exercise and diet to pills and shakes. But nothing has worked, and every time I fail I feel worse, especially when I am constantly exposed to photos and testimonials of people who could do it. What was wrong with me? Why was I incapable of achieving what seemed so easy to others? Every failure made me more disgusted with not only my body, but my mind.
This is a common occurrence and adds to the obesity epidemic as much as constant fast food advertisements. People want to succeed, they want to be healthy and lose weight, but they are psyched out of doing it, and humiliated into quitting before they even begin.
The Science Behind Social Comparison
This is not just an anecdotal phenomenon, however. There is real science behind why weight loss before and after photos and indeed any form of so-called 'social motivation' fails to work. Social scientists have long understood that social pressures and comparison fuel our desires and sense of self-worth, which explains the popularity of social media sites and the phenomenon of 'over sharing'.
In its best form, this form of comparison serves as motivation. We want to feel superior to those around us, so we work harder in order to prove that we are. There is a neuroscientific connection here, too, as feelings of superiority activate one of our brain's pleasure centres, called the nucleus accumbens. The reaction of this brain region makes us feel our achievements are more superior and our accomplishments more significant.
But to every good there is a bad, to every yin, a yang, or so to speak. This means that those who do not achieve as much as we do feel inferior. Watching the accomplishments of others, accomplishments that you feel you could achieve and yet do not causes the pleasure centres of our brains to work in the opposite way and we feel like crap and quit.
I know that all of this talk about the ineffectiveness of weight loss before after photos makes me look like a bit of a hypocrite since I do display my own photos on my website. However, I am careful about the amount of photos I post and where I post them. You see, I understand that I need to provide some 'proof', in the marketing sense, that my program works. However, I just want to put the suggestion out there, allow you to see it if you want it. I am one person-just one-and that takes the pressure off you and allows you to dismiss it and focus on your own accomplishments and journey instead.