Lights Camera Action!

Want to say farewell to your love handles? Then it’s time to take a ‘before’ photo. Follow this guide.

- Sarah Ivory

Scrolling past a before and after workout picture again? In the Insta-world,transformation photos are big news. Fitness gurus love them. Kayla Itsines regularly posts progress photos of those following her Bikini Body Guide programme on kaylaitsines.com. The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, reveals results from those on his 90 Day Shift, Shape and Sustain plan on thebodycoach.com. And Julia Buckley, one of the UK’s top online trainers at juliabuckleyfitness.com, unveils shape-up images of those on her #JuliaBeFit plan. But if you’re sceptical about how ‘real’ some transformation pictures are, you’re not alone. Orlando-based fitness blogger, Planking for Pizza recently caused a stir when she took two very different photos 30 seconds apart to demonstrate how easy it is to fake a transformation picture. What’s clear is that things aren’t always

What they seem with before and after pictures. Turns out, it’s easy to forget the one thing that’s important when using photography as a motivation tool – honesty. Personal trainer and influencer Emily Skye, for one, is careful to remind everyone that she shows honest pictures, posting a photo of herself with a bloated stomach on Instagram recently.

Despite the backlash, ‘before’ pictures have helped many achieve their weight loss goals and are a fat-loss tool that’s commonly used by clued-up personal trainers. ‘They are an incredibly effective aid to fat loss,’ says Buckley. ‘These images dissolve the fuzz of denial that descends when people tell themselves their poor diet and lack of exercise doesn’t matter.’