Oh no! I gained 8 pounds....

I love the muscle gains, but I especially love that you look more balanced and grounded. You really look confident.

You also look taller!!!

Have you grown?

So both of these are probably observations of my scoliosis. I have a curved spine. Initially losing weight did in fact make me "taller" and more balanced on an good day since my spine curves less. I have many many more good days as I strengthen my core.... less pain, better posture, etc which is very visible from these pictures! :laugh:

I came into this thread expecting panic over an 8lb (mostly water weight) gain from a temporary binge/holiday or something similar.

Love that I saw a fantastic success story instead. Great job, you look fantastic! Yay for lifting! :happy:

I had to work crazy hard to gain 8 pounds. I kept upping and upping my calories. I was at almost 3000 by the end. Wish more people would realize that when they panic about 3 pound swings!

That's great, you look really good :-)

You also look taller!!!

Have you grown?

Well done on what you've achieved

I can't answer your question for them but for me, when I started working out routinely, I grew almost a full half inch. Not Grew physically but I stand up straight now and have better posture which apparently makes a big difference.

Yup, pretty much this but on a larger scale because of my scoliosis!

Wow u actually look a lot leaner! Well done!

I estimate that I've dropped at least 10% bodyfat since I began lifting. I wish I had a true "Before" picture, I dropped about 30 pounds before I began lifting and took the picture in July 2012.