Why women should rethink taking "Selfies"

I have felt for sometime that this needed to be said. Ladies, let's rethink how we take progress photos! You probably thought this was going to be a blog about  how taking "Selfies" is wrong. But it's not. It's a blog about why taking selfies as a means of tracking progress is wrong....or at least the way we are doing it is wrong.

In a day and time where the "selfie" is not only a way of showing our mood, but, also a way of tracking our progress; we must stop to think;  Am I doing myself justice here? Let's be honest, how many times do we take a photo of ourselves only to take 10 more till we get one we like. Then we adjust it with filters and flash so that it is more flattering. If you see a photo of me, rest assured it was not the first one I took at that moment. More like number 6. The same is true with a progress photo. Haven't you taken one only to look at it and go, "What the Hell? Do I look that bad? I thought I looked better than that". And then it starts. Our self-esteem begins a downward spiral and that moment of, "I look pretty good" turns into, "OMG, I can't do this cause I'm not seeing any results". I enlisted the help of a friend who is also a photographer to help bring some clarification of this harmful phenomenon called the Selfie!

Pictures Do Lie

By Jerry Fincher

Taking a photo of yourself is common practice nowadays, but a word of caution if you are looking at yourself to see where you are in your quest to have the perfect body image. You could be seeing something that is not there because of the way you are taking a photo of yourself. First of all, most are taken with a cellphone, though not wrong, it is not the best medium to use because most people get too close when taking their photo. Most cell phones have a wide angle lens because they are mostly used to take pictures of groups of two or more people, therefore, you are not typically as close when taking these photos. When a person takes a selfie, he/she is closer to their body to see how lean they have gotten. The problem with this is the lens on most phones will make you appear larger than you really are. One suggestion would be to get back as far as you would as if you were taking a picture of two people. You may not be able to see the progress you have made immediately in that photo, but you can always crop in. Isn't that a better idea than beating yourself up for a photo that has been negatively distorted? In other words, you don't look that bad. Another thing to consider is shooting your reflection in the bathroom mirror. The mirror is picking up light from the ceiling, walls, and floor.  It is also reflecting the color of all of them, which is not giving your body image on the camera a very flattering color combo. Our mind corrects these colors, but the camera reflects them. Keep this in mind. If the walls, floor, and ceiling is all white, you get a lot of white reflections on your body which make you appear washed out. This is not a true reflection of what is really there. It also enhances and magnifies all imperfections. Let me say that again, it magnifies all imperfections. Lighting overhead, as they usually are in bathrooms, will cause these imperfections to look way worse than they really are. In fact, this is not a true image of how your body really looks and how others see it. Think of the bath reflections as taking a flashlight and holding it under your chin or other parts of your body. Not exactly the look you want.

My advice is to use the flash on the phone inside and outside. And when possible, let someone else take the photo. Again, ensure they are not standing too close to you. Six to eight feet away is best. When using an everyday digital camera,  you want to back up with it as well and use the flash for more realistic and better results.

CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING LEAVES ME VERY VULNERABLE AND UNCOMFORTABLE. But it is important to be honest if I want to make a difference in women's lives.

I hope this brings some clarification to the topic. And in case you just don't get it, here are some pictures to prove it. I was taking these as my last set of pictures following my 6 weeks off from any form of physical activity. All were taken within minutes if not seconds of one another. One was taken in my bathroom by me using my cell phone and the others were taken in a more lit area by my husband using a regular camera. UGH! I can't stand to look at that one picture. 

My husband, when I showed him later, did not believe they were taken within minutes of one another. He said, pointing to the one he took, "This is more of what I saw as I took the picture". WHEW! Thank God for that. 

The moral of this story is to relax. We as women see our flaws FIRST and in abundance. Let's not aid in that way of thinking by relying so much on these unreliable self-esteem shattering  "Selfies". 

Yes, I have cellulite too!

I think there is often a misunderstanding when it comes to fitness competitors. First of all, most of us do not stay in stage shape. Some will stay more fit than others and some let themselves go. I am not constantly doing photo-shoots, so I just try to stay a couple of weeks out from "photo ready". The longer you maintain a healthy lifestyle, the easier it is to maintain a leaner look. As I have been laying off the gym the last 4 weeks, I have tried not to look at myself constantly in the mirror. This will only give me time to critique the negative changes. That is why weekly I have been taking a photo of my abs and being done with it. My goal was to eat healthy and monitor the changes. But let me be honest, I have not eaten real clean. Surprisingly however, there has not been that much change in my mid-section (that's a good thing). But wait, I noticed the changes in my thighs. I have always had some cellulite, even in my younger 20's. I hated it and for the most part I am not a fan. However, as I have competed, I have learned to give less attention to that negative part and focus more on the positive parts...like a tight mid-section that I didn't have prior to eating healthy and competing. 

So why have I never shared cellulite photos? Well, for a couple of different reasons. First of all, ewe! Why show the part of me I hate worse? Secondly, as I became more "OK" with it I was afraid of the responses, mainly from those who have lots of cellulite. I could hear them saying..."Where? I don't see any. That's not much." But for me it bothered me the same. That's where I am just like you. I do have insecurities and it is hard to show your vulnerability.

What is cellulite? There are so many different answers to what it is and why some have it and others don't. I believe it to be somewhat hormonal related as to how much you have. It seems to show up more around our periods. This could be do to water retention as well. It will be more prevalent when you are retaining water. It has also been thought to be the way the muscle fibers cross in women. More like a tic-tac-toe design than in men. And of course fat. Once you develop fat cells they are there. As you lose fat and get leaner those fat cells shrink and are less noticeable. They don't go away. That may be the best explanation. I have more prominent cellulite on my right thigh. It does not go away until my body fat falls below 12 percent. I don't stay below 12 percent, therefore I usually always have it. Whatever the reason...why don't men have it as much? LOL

Anyway, after taking 4 weeks off and not eating my typical meal plan my cellulite has become more prominent. In fact, I see it more now on my left thigh as well. It's hard to get a good picture (thankfully) of my cellulite by myself. Is it because I have gained fat, or because the foods I am eating are high in sodium and causing me to retain water? It could be a combination of both. Below are my pics from first week to 4th week off from the gym and yes, my cellulite pic. Be kind...I'm normal.