Deb’s Story

In a second I want to give you a couple minutes to examine the pictures below. In those few moments looking at the photos, I want you to think about what happened to the woman pictured, Deb. What things come to mind?

— Did she loose weight? — Is she stronger? — Did her dress size decrease? — Does she feel better? —

This is a great story from the awesome people at Everyday Paleo, and I’ll never forget the first time I read their article on Deb. As I mentioned, Deb started a Paleo/ Functional Training challenge like The “Better than Yesterday” Challenge, only with a nutrition component, as well.

In the first photo, she weighs 155 lbs and started the challenge to lose weight and get in shape. Clearly, in just a few weeks her commitment has paid of tremendously. In the second photo, she is a “size zero with her nutrition dialed.”

Now, let’s answer the above questions, which seem all too obvious. The answer to each question is a resounding, “Yes!” Except one. Deb started the challenge at a soft, unhealthy 155 lbs and finished the challenge as a 155 lb champion, that is nearly unrecognizable. Now, look back at the photo. Amazing, right?

Jason from Primitive Stimulous sums it up best:

Faced with the facts above, basing your goals – or even worse, your happiness – on the number on your scale is absolutely ridiculous.  I’ll give you an example of why weight is useless information in all but extreme cases.  Let’s pretend Deb came to me at a weight of 200 lbs and told me she wanted to get down to 155 lbs.  Which side of the picture above do you think she would prefer?  Do you think she would have been satisfied with the left side?  Look at her face.  She is ecstatic with her body on the right, but on the left she can hardly stand to have her picture taken.  We can glean from this that goals based on weight are too vague to be useful.  If I had only given you her circumference measurements (waist, hips, thighs, bust, etc.) and no photos, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind which 155 lb Deb you would have chosen as the more aesthetically appealing.  But when you look in the mirror and see a body like the Deb on the left you probably say, “Damn, I need to lose some weight.”  Now you have undeniable evidence that defies that thought.  Losing weight is not what you want and pursuing a number on your scale is not the path to success.  It will drive you insane, though.  But that’s probably not your goal.

Change your perspective to something healthier.  Forever!

Edit: One little point I left out of this post is that Deb totaled up her calories just for fun a few weeks ago.  She came up with an average of slightly over 3900 per day.  Take that calorie restriction diets!

Logan Gelbrich

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Wednesday’s Workout:

“Better than Yesterday” Challenge Training

3 min. KB Front Squats
-Rest 1.5 min-
3 min. Burpees
-Rest 1.5 min-
2 min. KB Front Squats
-Rest 1 min.-
2 min. Burpees
-Rest 1 min.-
1 min. KB front Squats
-Rest 30 sec-
1 min. Burpees
-Rest 30 sec-