Before and after photos of ‘goal body’ hiding ‘unhealthy’ reality

A popular influencer often praised for having a “goal body” has revealed the dark truth behind these before and after photos.

Sami Rose was getting a lot of compliments on her body when she was at her unhealthiest.

At the time, she had over 40,000 followers on Instagram, which has since ballooned to almost 60,000 followers.

The 38-year-old was working as a personal trainer and competing in bodybuilding competitions.

She said that people online often described her body as “goals” and she felt people aspired to look like her.

“I got caught up in it and it spiralled into an unhealthy place,” Ms Rose told news.com.au.

Ms Rose said she became “obsessive” about her exercise routine and strict diet because she was constantly chasing more compliments and approval.

“I had to maintain it and people were telling me how much better I looked,” she said.

“I needed to do everything I could to keep achieving that.”

Sami Rose was getting a lot of compliments on her body when she was at her unhealthiest. Picture: Instagram/SamiRose

Ms Rose said she became ‘obsessive’ about her exercise routine and diet. Picture: Instagram/SamiRose

Ms Rose said that she lived in fear that if she gained the weight back, all the compliments would go away, and it would even impact her personal training business.

At some point, though, she came to the conclusion that, even though she was at her thinnest, she was also at her most unhappy.

“I was doing hours of cardio a day,” she said.

Her focus had become so much on maintaining her body that she wasn’t being social or making time for much else.

The 38-year-old made the big decision to stop overexercising and following a strict diet and, as a result, she felt better but also gained weight.

“I needed to stop dieting. My body was not in a good place,” she said.

She was getting lots of compliments. Picture: Instagram/SamiRose

Ms Rose thought gaining weight would mean all the compliments and praise would vanish but they didn’t.

“I gained weight pretty quickly and I got back to a normal weight. I was so worried that all the people that had followed me would disappear,” she said.

Ms Rose came to the conclusion that even though she was at her thinnest, she was also at her most unhappy. Picture: Instagram/SamiRose

She said the response to her health journey has been positive. Picture: Instagram/SamiRose

Ms Rose said the response was overwhelmingly positive and people were happy for her.

“People were just happy that I was happy,” she said.

“I was really lucky to have that experience because I was doing it in front of 40,000 eyes.”

However, the 38-year-old said she didn’t escape trolls completely. There was still the occasional comment claiming she’d “let herself go” or telling her to “stop eating”, but she’s had to learn to ignore it.

“There were times that it did bother me,” she said.

She now works with other people to improve their body image. Picture: Instagram/SamiRose

She just wants to help people learn to love themselves. Picture: Instagram/SamiRose

The whole journey has changed her life, she’s moved into counselling where she specialises in body image and disordered eating and her experience has formed the way she helps others.

“I want to be the person that I needed when I struggled the most back then,” she explained.

“I did all this work to get to my goal body, but it didn’t feel like my goal life, and I didn’t feel great.”

Ms Rose said that there is so much that impacts people’s body images and it often comes from parents or friends and then is reinforced by social media.

“For my generation, it was magazines and all those best and worst bikini bodies at the time,” she said.

“Social media is what magazines were back then.”

Ms Rose argued that we “aren’t born hating our bodies” and all she wants to do is help people get back to loving their bodies.

Originally published as Before and after photos of ‘goal body’ hiding ‘unhealthy’ reality