Why do I like transformation Tuesday?

Transformation Tuesday

If you, like myself, are totally caught up in social media then you are familiar with the “oh so popular” Instagram “Transformation Tuesday”. Now usually I don’t like the social media games or different trends but I do find benefits to transformation Tuesday both on and off of Instagram.

During this extended weight loss journey/healthy life style challenge I have, many times, become overwhelmingly discouraged. Why am I not seeing results? Why is everyone else losing weight but me? What am I doing wrong? Should I just give up and be fat forever? And then I look through my old pictures…..and I start to compare them to current pictures. I have an app on my phone, well two, both “photogrid” and “picstitch”. I use both of these apps to put pictures side by side, almost like a collage, to see my progress side by side. When I do this I am able to compare different things on my body.

For me, it is easiest to look at how my face has changed, how my neck is changed, how I look healthier in those areas alone. I also look at how clothes fit differently and how my body is changing. By me looking at these pictures, one old and one current, I am able to re-up on my motivation and pull some more strength out to keep going. I realize, it is hard to see transformations when you look at yourself every single day. I am in the mirror everyday, multiple times a day, so I adjusted to how I looked and it got hard for me to see the difference the gym and a healthier diet was making. So I started participating in “Transformation Tuesday” by each month going into my photo album and making collages, most I keep for myself just as daily reminders that even if it is a small difference, it is still a difference!

I also realized that:
1. some people in life are never going to give you credit or never going to admit you are making positive changes and that’s okay, it sucks for them, but you don’t need their validation! Who are you doing this for? YOU!
2. It takes 4 weeks for you to see any difference on your body and just about double that time for others to, and a lot longer for people to give you sincere complements on your progress. Don’t wait for anyone to tell you that you look great, be your own motivator. (Though it is good to have positive people in your life, without two of my best friends Carolita and Jojo and their positive feedback I probably would’ve have a lot more times of being discouraged)
3. Change isn’t going to happen over night, unless you’re on Biggest Loser, take me as an example, it has taken me years and I am still not where I need to be but I have never gained the weight back because I am committed. Slow progress is better than no progress, and even moving slow in the gym is still faster than those on the couch!

My advice: Take as many progress pictures as you possibly can, don’t go into overload expecting differences every day, but take them week to week and try to wear some of the same clothes to really see the difference. If possible, have someone else take pictures for you and from different angles! Also if you are on IG follow some pages that help give you motivation, have motivation EVERYWHERE, a page I love is @bodynomics, she constantly posts exercises that are awesome to try and her follower’s transformation pictures.

Does anyone have any before/after/current pictures that they’d like to see featured on my blog? Email them to kalynflournoy@gmail.com!