The Comparison Trap
Do you ever feel like you’re trying as hard as you can to lose weight/tone up/eat better but when you look at the person next to you at the gym, doing the same workout, you think “Why are they gaining muscle definition and I’m not? Why did they lose two pounds this week and I didn’t?”
It’s the dreaded comparison trap, the cry of WHYYYYYYY am I not…. losing weight, gaining muscle, or (substitute whatever).
Imagine this scenario: Two identical twins (same age, gender, height and weight) embark on a challenge to complete their first chin up. Neither one can do a single chin up at this point. They sign up for a chin up program at the gym. At the start of the program, both twins are the same weight, height and body composition. Both religiously follow the prescribed workouts and meal plans. Both recover equally well after each workout. And at the end of the eight-week program….
Twin #1 can do three full chin ups!! Yay!!!
Twin #2 can do zero. That’s right. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nil.
If they followed all the same workouts, ate the same foods and put in the same effort, why can Twin #1 do three chin ups while Twin #2 can’t do a single one? It hardly seems fair, right?
So, what’s wrong with Twin #2?
NOTHING. You read that right. Nothing is wrong with Twin #2. Why? Although the twins seemed identical and did all the same things, they weren’t starting from the same place.
Think of a thermometer with 0 in the middle, then one through ten going up (the plus side), and 1 through ten going down (the negative side). Twin #1 started at a strength level of -1. However, Twin #2 started at a strength level of -7! While Twin #1 may have finished at +3 and Twin #2 finished at -2, Twin #2 is the one that actually made the greatest gains, going all the way from -7 to -2!
If we only consider the results after 8 weeks, Twin #1 would emerge as the clear winner, leaving Twin #2 questioning, “Where did I go wrong?”. A deeper dive shows that Twin #2 accomplished more in those 8 weeks, even though at the end they couldn’t do a single chin up.
This is the comparison trap. Just looking at the end results would leave Twin #2 feeling depressed and discouraged, when in fact they had the greatest overall gain, given their starting point of -7.
The moral of this story?
Don’t look at the end results when doing the same program as someone else. Instead, consider your starting point. Look at how much stronger/healthier/lighter you are now compared to where you began. A small gain is still a GAIN. Moving from a 5 lb biceps curl to a 7 lb biceps curl is a GAIN, an ACCOMPLISHMENT, a sign that you are MAKING PROGRESS.
Celebrate every single pound lost (or ½ lb or ¼ lb), every increase in dumbbell weight, every time you make a healthy food choice. No matter how small it may seem, you are getting one step closer to where you want to be, and one step farther from where you started.
Always remember…
MONARCHS, YOU GOT THIS!(This article adapted from an email by Precision Nutrition https://view.email.precisionnutrition.com/)?qs=38ac4faacdf773adece76bfff6652f943744d7f213bb8fc63e8930a38d61ff9d1f379f725bafb3faeaea3367502831de4b1afac5ae2d38c3d5bf62c40e2fc00502b66fcace85dbbd47e9708b98927b156658fc93472b2eaa
