False Advertising

The other day I was directed to a blog posting written by a girl in Australia via a friend on Facebook.  I'm glad I ventured there.  In her blog she did a little experiment to try to dis-spell a myth; or rather a false truth.  After reading it I thought, I want to try it!  So I did.  This morning.  It took me roughly 40 minutes from start to finish using what I had in my house and the effects buttons on my phone camera.  I did not 'Photoshop' any of the picture(s); meaning I didn't 'erase' any edges or blur out any specific flaws.  The only effects I used were the filters on my iPhone photo app.  The rest was all manipulated by me, the human.

The before picture was taken at 9:15 this morning.  In it I wore a practical, really unpleasant looking, old, greying, yucky bra that probably should have been thrown out a year ago.  I also wore underwear that I've had for about 6 years now.  They look so good because they are in fact too small for me so I don't wear them.  But they are pretty so I haven't thrown them out either.  Found those jammed in the very back of my top drawer.  Upon donning these amazing articles of clothing,  I stood with my legs together, which helps push the fat of my inner thighs into each other, thus making them look even bigger.  I also pushed my stomach out and hunched my shoulders over (which is hard for me to consciously do as I have great posture).  I left my arms laying against my body because that simple move, or lack there of, in fact makes your arms appear wider.  I didn't put on any make up and I put my hair up in an unflattering style.  I didn't use any filter and I zoomed in on the picture so it was "nice" and close.  Et voila, picture number one is complete and it's a rather unflattering looking ME!  It's no where near where I want my body to be in a restful state, but I know it could be so much 'worse'.

Now on to the after picture.  This photo was taken at 9:30 a.m. on the very same day!  Yah, you read that right, a mere 15 minute transformation.  You won't ever guess how many sit ups I squeezed into that 15 minutes! Hint:  None.  In this picture I put my hair down, I added some make up to my face.  I put on a smile of pride.  I pulled my shoulders back to where they usually sit and I put on a bra that actually gives my humongous girls a lift.  I also put on a pair of underwear that actually fit me.  Then I stuck my ass out and threw my hip out and bent my arms placing my hands on my hips and lower back.  Finally I sucked that stomach in!  After a few pictures at different angles, I cropped the shit out of one of the pictures and zoomed out.  Then I added a nice filter to "even out" my skin (tanned always looks smoother than pasty white) and give it a smoother appearance.

So here's the before and after of my body with only 15 minutes between photos.

I could probably lie and suggest these photo ops took place a month or so apart and claim that I've lost 5 - 10 lbs, but that would be a total lie.  Much like the before and afters on those diet pill ads.

The best before/after I've ever seen is my friend Erinn.  You want to know why? Because I KNOW her and I know how hard she's worked and how long it's taken for her to have that amazing before/after shot (see below).  I KNOW this picture is legit.  I'm not sceptical about it.   She's worked super duper hard and earned every defined muscle.  And if you check out her blog, she's got great tips and ideas for getting to the same spot as her.

While my before and after is merely there to show you how deceiving these pictures can be, Erinn's before and after is there to show you how far your body can come if you do the right things.  Relying on diet pills to get you to where she is would be a huge mistake, a waste of money and time and very, very unhealthy.  I'm far from where she is and I'm pretty sure her end goal is different than mine, but with some changes in my lifestyle I'm slowly going to get to a point where I won't have to suck in my gut, stick my ass and hip out and use filters to brag about my body.