Gaining Weight & Redefining Body Image

So you start a new fitness program or diet plan in hopes that THIS is finally going to be the solution to help you lose weight, but 1-2 weeks in, you realize that you’re actually GAINING WEIGHT!

What the F&$K!?

You start to mildly freak out and ask yourself: “What the HECK is going on!?”

You wonder if you should keep going, or just quit the 100-millionth time and put your hands up, frustrated, angry, and discouraged that you’ll NEVER get the results you want no matter how hard you try.

This exact situation happened to ME recently.

I recently started Crossfit in an effort to challenge myself physically and mentally and step outside of my comfort zone. In the back of my head, I thought, “this will be a great way to finally blast my extra body fat and get shredded!”

But one week in, I looked at the scale and GAINED 5lbs! My thighs got bigger and I just looked PUFFY! I am at the HIGHEST weight I’ve EVER seen on the scale.  

Now, don’t get me wrong. Seeing that number still bothers me.

But WHY!?

WHY should it bother me when so many positive things happened, like trying a new workout that’s challenging me, deadlifting and back squatting 120lbs for the first time, and straight up feeling like a badass!

As I reflected on this issue, I realized that us women are looking at BEAUTY & SUCCESS all wrong!

Why do we define our success by a number on the scale? Why do we believe that looking “model skinny” is the epitome of health and strength? Why have we become OBSESSED with our external appearance?

These questions inspired me to write a blog post to talk to you about this issue so we can CHANGE our psychology around beauty, success, being skinny vs. strong, and our definition of “healthy.”

If you’ve ever succumbed to yo-yo dieting, looked at your body with disgust, have never felt happy about your body, or can’t seem to find peace with your weight, this blog post is exactly what you need right now.

After reading this blog post, you will:

• Define what success and happiness means to you
• How to know whether you’re successful
• Find peace with your body and self-image
• Find joy in the journey
• Find balance
• Break free from society’s standards of looking a certain way
• Learn a different perspective of health and strength for women 

I want to first begin with the story of how I got into Crossfit.

For the past few weeks, I had been looking for a workout program to really challenge myself. As a Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, I felt like I had tried everything, and none of it was challenging or exciting for me anymore.

I was no longer getting sore, my body had adapted to my workouts and I knew I needed to stretch myself both physically and mentally.

Markus, my boyfriend, and my brother, are huge Crossfit addicts and swear by the workout. I was familiar with what torture they agreed to do every day and the thought of trying it scared me to death.

But, what I’ve realized is that you need to do things that scare you! And even though I was scared to try it, I was also eager to see what would happen to my health, my strength, and my physical appearance!

I perused the countless Crossfit women on Instagram and admired their rock hard bodies, their badass-ness lifting HEAVY weights, and all the empowerment and strength that came with it.

So, I found a gym and signed up for a 90-day membership!

Like any woman starting any new fitness program or diet plan, I got extremely eager to see the fat just melt away in the first week.

I even took my before pictures, weighed myself, and got my body fat tested.

The first 2 weeks were brutal. I had never done movements like handstand push-ups, HEAVY deadlifts, barbell snatches, cleans, etc ever before. My body had never felt so beat up!

With all of the pain and soreness, I knew it was working. “Rock hard body, here I come!” I said to myself.

But after 2 weeks, I stepped onto the scale and rather than see my weight drop, it went up! I actually gained 5 more pounds!

Not only that, I looked PUFFY in the mirror! My thighs were getting bigger and my clothes started to feel a little bit more snug than normal.

You better believe I started to mildly freak out!

“Why aren’t I losing weight?”

“Did I make a mistake?”

“How come it’s not working?”

These were all the questions that ran through my head.

I started to get discouraged.

But before I threw in the towel and gave up, I asked myself “why am I feeling discouraged?”

And, I realized, I am STILL associating success & beauty with how much I weigh.

As much as I promote and encourage women to #screwthescale on social media, I still struggle with this mindset that so many women deal with.

Unfortunately, society bombards us with this idea that “successful beautiful women” are skinny and have just enough muscle so that they have “ab lines” on their stomach and if you can fit into a size Small at the store, you’re good!

Conversely, if you have a lot of muscle, can lift heavy, and fit in bigger clothes to accommodate all of that muscle underneath, it’s deemed as “too manly,” “masculine,” and “bulky.”

And while everyone has the right to their opinion on what type of body is “ideal,” whether it’s slender or muscular, I believe that we ALL need to BREAK FREE from society’s definition and create our OWN!

If we don’t break free, we will forever be unhappy with the way we look.

First and foremost, society’s standards of beauty are just UNREALISTIC.

• Many Instagram photos are photoshopped.
• Many “fitness models” show their BEST photos with REALLY good lighting, but rarely look like them most of the time.
• Many people do UNHEALTHY things to look “fit” - like fat burners, weight loss pills, waist trainers, etc. Not to mention many have eating disorders and a negative relationship with food.
• Many are OBSESSED with their appearance that they lack in other aspects of life like their social life, family life, and personal well being.   

So how can we finally BREAK FREE from society’s definition of what success, beauty, and health looks like?

Well, we have to create our own.

And I’m here to help us do that together.

Change The Way You Measure SUCCESS

At the end of the day, we want to feel good about ourselves. We want to be happy with what we see in the mirror. We want our clothes to fit well and we want to feel in control of our eating and lifestyle habits.

The way most of us women MEASURE progress is by our weight.

However, weight is probably the WORST way to measure progress.

It doesn’t take into consideration how much fat mass versus lean mass you have. It also doesn’t consider the muscle mass you might be GAINING or how much more you can lift. Lastly, it has a negative connotation on having to “lose” rather than what we can “gain” from our workouts.

So instead of measuring your success by how much you weigh, consider the following ways to measure success:

• How much you can lift at the gym
• How much longer you can endure a crazy HIIT session
• How consistent you are each week with your workouts
• How consistent you are with clean eating and meal prep

From my story, rather than looking at my weight gain as a NEGATIVE, I am going to look at all of the POSITIVES of my situation:

• I’ve lifted HEAVY for the first time EVER!
• I’m looking forward to one day being able to do handstand pushups, pull-ups, and deadlifting over 200lbs!
• My body is GAINING muscle and although my body is inflamed and holding water (the REAL reason why I’ve gained weight), I am staying patient and trusting the process
• I am naturally eating HEALTHIER to fuel my workouts accordingly
• I am pushing past my comfort zone and growing myself in the process

So, in order to change your measure of success, I want you to consider asking yourself these questions every single day:

1. Did I work hard and kick my own butt in the gym today?
2. Did I eat healthy 90% of the time today?
3. Did I say positive empowering affirmations to myself in the mirror?
4. Did I learn something new and stepped outside my comfort zone?
5. Did I appreciate and give gratitude for the body and health that I                 currently have?

If you answer YES to most or all of the questions above, then consider yourself successful!

Let’s recap this blog post with a few bullet points I want you to remember:

• You are NOT defined by the number on the scale (in fact, don’t even step on it if you know it’s going to upset you!)
• Create your OWN definition of progress & success
• Stop trying to fit into society’s standards, it’s just unrealistic and damaging to your psyche
• Instead of focusing on how much you weigh as a measure of progress, think about all of the positive benefits you’ve been able to receive, and remember...you are doing a GREAT job!

Lastly, I’m all about positive affirmations. If we can fuel our mind with more positive empowering thoughts, we can eventually find peace, love, and happiness in our bodies. So, repeat after me:

• I am beautiful, strong, fit, and healthy
• I eat foods that are healthy and nourishing for my body
• Healthy eating allows me to stay energized, feel good, and fuel my workouts
• I love who I am no matter what anyone tells me otherwise
  I am in 100% control of my happiness, and I choose to be happy with myself
• I acknowledge, embrace, and love my flaws, it’s what makes me special and unique in the world
• I accept who I am and while I am striving to become healthier and fitter, I will enjoy the process
• I will continue to work hard, stay patient, and trust the process
• I am enough
• I am beautiful
• I love myself because there’s no one out there like me

I really hope you enjoyed this post. It really means a lot to me that you read all the way to the end.

It shows me that you truly need this sort of self-love help in your life. If you’re craving for more, I dive deeper into this topic of confidence, happiness, and self-love in my free 5 Day Body Confidence Challenge!

It’s a quickie 5-day challenge where you receive video lessons, PDFs, and other resources that will help you learn to love your body and #screwthescale!

If you want some more self-loving, check it out here!

Want fun workouts ON DEMAND anytime, anywhere? Check out JJF On Demand where you can access real-time workout classes from the comfort of your own home. From Cardio/HIIT and Strength to Dance and Yoga, you'll get a variety of fun, challenging, and sweaty workouts right in your living room! Get a 7 Day Free Trial Here!

Jenny