Why You Need to Ditch the ‘After Photo’

I want to thank all you healthy individuals for posting so many images of ‘before’ and ‘after’ your transformations. They are a source of inspiration, now people can see just how buff and ripped they too can become in 3 months, or 3 weeks, or a year. For the person themselves, the photos are a reminder of all the hard work put in, of what life was like before that difficult decision to change it came about.

Yet, there’s a little side-effect to those photos, an overlooked point that should be made. What do we mean by ‘after’? It’s not really the end, you don’t stop there and go back to what you were doing. You’re supposed to keep going. The problem with labeling the photo as the “after” photo is that there should still be more to come, it’s a process that should never come to an abrupt end like what’s depicted in before-and-after shots.

This thought is nicely summed up in a post on Huffington Post:

What I’ve realized is that there are no finish lines in fitness. Rather than a destination, it’s an ongoing journey that we’ll be on for the rest of our lives. There’s no first, second or third place in this journey. There’s no trophy to compete for. There are no competitors to outperform. Simply stated, “When it comes to fitness there is only your journey, your goals and your health. Make it the best journey you can.”

The full article details the writers transformation and talks about the negative effect of this so-called “after” photo.