have you ever looked yourself in the mirror and thought…
— “i look too muscular, maybe i should stop training my upper body.”

well, this was me in the 4th quarter of 2024.

my upper body was something i dedicated time to building—just as much as my lower body.

i gained strength.
i developed muscle definition i didn’t even know i could build.
in turn, this earned me:

compliments from people who admired my progress.
snide comments from those who felt intimidated.
new clients who saw my results and wanted them too.
i was making visible progress, but suddenly, the noise got louder.

people started saying things like:

“don’t get too muscular, it’s not feminine.”
“you’re strong o, but you’ll soon look like a man.”
“are you trying to be a bodybuilder?”
at some point, i started letting those voices get into my head.

— maybe i look too muscular.
— maybe i should stop working my upper body.
— maybe i shouldn’t go to the gym for a while.
— maybe i should cover up more to avoid stares and comments.

but then, i had a realization—
why should i shrink myself to make others comfortable?

this applies to you too.
you’ve worked so hard to get to where you are.
you’re now seeing progress—and so is everyone else.

— the compliments are coming.
— but so are the backhanded comments and side remarks.

now, you’re doubting yourself.
you want to take a break.
you want to conform to their standards of what they think you should be.
you want to quit.

guess what?
i didn’t stop going to the gym.
i didn’t stop training upper body.
i didn’t cover up more to avoid stares and remarks.
i didn’t quit.

instead—
✔ i owned my progress and results with my full chest.
✔ i responded to every backhanded compliment with an even worse remark.
✔ i became even more confident and proud of my work.

and in turn—
✔ more people became attracted to my journey.
✔ they wanted to know how i did it.
✔ they wanted me to train them—or their girlfriend.

this is what you should also do.
— with progress comes criticism. take it with a pinch of salt.
— never dim your light to make others feel comfortable.
— never conform to standards that aren’t yours.
— be confident in yourself and your work.

own your progress. don’t shrink. don’t quit. keep going.~~