Lea, aka ‘Lealoveslifting’ is a sports science student from Giessen in Germany and influencer on Instagram. The 23-year-old is now trying to use this platform to spread quite a personal message about the madness of fitness on social media sites.
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Fitness influencer posts before and after photos on Instagram
Lots of women have been posting before and after photos of their weight loss successes recently. For example, this bride who lost 50 kilos for her wedding day, or this overweight girl who succeeded in her diet. But diets don’t always work, as another woman proves. However, Lea decided to go down a different path and posted photos showing how she looked after gaining more weight and more muscle.
With her newest post, Lea is trying to raise awareness of what it means and how damaging it can be to have false ideals of beauty, starting with the number that appears on your scales. Here, the 23-year-old posted photos in which she is barely dressed for better comparison.
‘Left 53kg – Right 73kg -
We are always judging what we see. ‘Too fat, too thin, too muscular, not muscular enough, better genetics than me, firmer skin, nicer figure, longer hair, more muscle than me, better body, nicer apartment, faster car, more expensive watch, travels more than me, more holidays, more money, more friends’… -
We don’t see how the people we look at on here day after day judge and condemn themselves and compartmentalise where they are today. –
We don’t know if their car really is that fast, if their watch really is that expensive if their lives really are as great as they would have us believe. –
We don’t see how much work that person with supposedly good genes have put into their bodies over years, and still puts in day after day. –
We don’t see what goes on behind the scenes, how the people we know really think, what they really do, how they really feel. –
So comparison doesn’t help at all. So you shouldn’t try to eat, train or live like others.
That’s why you shouldn’t talk badly about people you’ve never met in person. –
That’s why you shouldn’t idealise anyone. Maybe your role model eats little puppies in their spare time.
That’s why you shouldn’t hate anyone you see on Instagram. Maybe that person is truly amazing in real life. –
You can’t and shouldn’t want to put everything on social media. You should protect yourself, your privacy and the privacy of others. –
Follow those who are good for you, who add value to your life and whose content, depending on you as a person, is helpful, interesting and exciting. –
Why do YOU follow me? –
#transformation #redhead #redhair #musclebuilding #fitfamgermany #fitnessgirl #strengthtraining #beforeafter’
‘Appreciate my weight! –
There is less than one year between these two pictures, but one kilo of body weight. So, write your estimations in the comments (and then swipe left)! –
And if you don’t want to talk numbers, which of the two pictures do you think I weigh less in? –
I don’t want you to compare yourselves to me.
I also don’t want you to try and look, eat or exercise like me.
Or for you to look at my body as an ideal or consider me a role model.
And yet, I decided to post these pictures because I like the comparison. –
The scales are just ONE indicator. An indicator that when used and interpreted well, is definitely a good thing.
However, the scales are NOT the only indicator of muscle building / fat loss. –
On the left, my body fat percentage is actually a lot lower, which coincides with lower body weight. You can tell from my stomach and my waist. There is almost no fat left on my stomach and my skin is as thin as paper. And again, my waist is quite a bit narrower. –
For my goals, however, how I look on the right is a lot more aesthetic. Significantly more muscle on my legs and stomach (and yes, it actually helps to work on your stomach at least 1-2x per week minimum past-Lea…) I have also built up a lot more muscle in my back and my shoulder girdle which, of course, comes with a lot of glycogen and water. –
Nevertheless, I personally don’t care about the difference that appears on the scales. Weight refers to the rounded average of the values of one week on the scales. –
I hope this post reaches those of you who are driving themselves crazy about the number that appears on the scales. And those who are just as impatient as I am. You want to look great and be strong straight away. And if you stop focussing on that number for a couple of months, you’ll end up finding a picture like the one on the left and think ‘Oh my god! That’s what I looked like a few months ago? I’ve made amazing progress!’. – ‘
There is a year between the two photos and six kilos difference. Since the beginning of her fitness career, there are more than 20 kilos difference in her weight, as the first before/after photos show. That is astonishing and at first glance, she isn’t recognisable at all. The student explains:
‘The scales are just ONE indicator. An indicator that when used and interpreted well, is definitely a good thing. However, the scales are NOT the only indicator of muscle building / fat loss.’
Lea wants these posts to reach the right people
For this fitgirl, it is important that her posts raise awareness about slimming and fitness crazes nowadays that are ruining people both physically and emotionally.
‘I hope this post reaches those of you who are driving themselves crazy about the number that appears on the scales.’
The influencer, who herself suffered from an eating disorder for a long time and was severely underweight, appeals to her 131,000 followers with the following message:
‘I don’t want you to compare yourselves to me. I also don’t want you to try and look, eat or exercise like me. Or for you to look at my body as an ideal or consider me a role model.’
