Do I Look Fat in These Jeans?

Truth or Lie? What would you rather hear?
“Do I look fat in these jeans?” Maybe our husbands should say “Yes, you do”. Maybe it would be exactly what we need to hear to actually do something about it. If we are asking him if we look fat, we likely FEEL fat. Why isn’t that enough to send us running to the gym? We don’t need more enablers, we need more supporters – people to hold us accountable and push us to greatness, not support us to settle. The truth hurts sometimes, but it’s necessary for growth. I vote for truth, even if it hurts. Living a lie hurts more.

I’d have to question the honesty of the person who told Jessica Simpson she looked good in the infamous “Mom Jeans” in her 2009 tabloid loving performance. Poor thing got butchered for how she looked in this outfit, which is a shame because she’s a beautiful girl and I believe the outfit made her look a lot heavier than she really was.

I can’t count the number of times I hear someone say “You’re looking great. Keep it up” even after someone hasn’t lost a pound while on a new diet and exercise program. This kind of lie is detrimental and it wastes valuable time. This person doesn’t need to hear “you’re doing great”, they need to hear the truth, which still can be delivered in a positive supportive manor. 

Seek & Welcome Truth
One guy emailed me saying he couldn’t lose any more weight. He swore he was doing everything right – eating few calories, etc, etc. After going back and forth, I finally said “You maybe doing some things right, but you are clearly doing something wrong“. I told him to seek high and low for those missing calories and to add up every calorie that entered his mouth. He emailed me in no time that he discovered his protein shake added up to be over 800 calories. Then he thanked me for my honesty. He said EVERYONE ELSE patted him on the back and told him to keep up what he was doing.

Granted, I had nothing to lose. He wasn’t a friend or member. But, you can’t do everything right and get a wrong result. It’s simple math. Of course everyone wants to feel as if they are doing the right thing, but they can still be making mistakes.

I challenge you
Surround yourselves with people who will tell you when you have something in your teeth, so to speak. We need honest friends, honest trainers and honest spouses. Trainers, I challenge you to not be SO SCARED of losing a client that you dodge the truth.

Yes, you might hurt someone’s feelings. Yes, you may tick someone off and offend people along the way – BUT if you are doing it IN LOVE, because you have a genuine desire to help people, it will show eventually.

If we’d rather someone tell us when we have pepper in our teeth, even if it’s a bit embarrassing, don’t you think we should welcome the truth when it comes to our entire body? How embarrassing is it to be doing a diet and workout program without a result – it’s like walking around with pepper in your teeth.

Reach your goals faster by welcoming truth and guidance.