I’m sure you’ve heard that saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Yeah, maybe…but only if it tells the truth.

A lot of the photos you see online are of people’s best moments.

And I get that those can be uplifting and help you stay positive. Totally fine.

What’s not fine is hiding that there are times life’s not perfect.

Case in point:

I post a lot of pictures of myself exercising.

Exercise is not a way to lose weight, but it’s great for a whole host of other reasons. 

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I work out every day, doing a variety of exercises. I have for 25 years. 

And once my Rebels reach goal weight, Cari and my Coaches and I transition them to exercise as a healthy part of life.

But recently there were two weeks of my life that fell into that 1% of the time I don’t exercise every day.

Of course I “got back on the horse” by hitting the trail for a four-mile run.

And I was hurtin’ for certain.

My mouth was open, legs were heavy, and I slowly shuffled along the trail as Annabelle (my dog) looked at me like, “what the heck is wrong with you?” 

I was sucking some serious wind. It wasn’t pretty. 

It was embarrassing how quickly I got out of shape and embarrassing how slow I was.

But you couldn’t tell all that from the picture I posted. It looked like any other running picture of me you’ll find in my news feed.

So what’s my point in telling you this?

Don’t be fooled by photos that portray a “cool-looking” person. 

Every single influencer or person you look up to is struggling with SOMETHING right now, myself included. 

There are people I respect in the world (and learn from!), but I don’t envy them. 

I don’t try to look like them, talk like them or dress like them. I learn from them – that’s it.

It’s cool to be motivated by certain people. I have people who motivate me to be better. 

But that’s as far as it goes. 

Remember that as you scroll your social media feeds and see photos of people who go out of their way to make it seem like everything’s perfect and they’ve got it all together.

Some people have it more together than others…but we ALL have times we’re struggling.

If you’re struggling with your Code Red journey, don’t do it in silence (especially if that’s your usual reaction). 

That urge to withdraw and eat your feelings, or punish yourself emotionally, or think you have to figure it out all alone, isn’t serving you and is gonna keep you stuck.

If you know someone in person who’s a Rebel, reach out.

If you’re in a Code Red coaching group, reach out.

Suffering in silence leads to gaining your weight back.

Come back to Code Red so we can help you.