A Straight Posture Makes You Instantly Look Thinner

Here at Fitness Reloaded we like efficiency and effectiveness. Why devote 1 hour to the gym when you can get the same results in 16 min? Similarly, why go on a diet when you can instantly look thinner without dieting or exercising?

Of course, I’m not advocating against living healthy! I love how vital healthy living feels! But I see so many people not wanting to go on a diet, but doing it anyway, when they could get the same result without having to go through this trouble. Especially people with belly fat should beware of this.

So how do you look thinner without dieting or exercise?

By changing your posture! Without even knowing you, I bet there’s 90% chance you could stand straighter and walk straighter. That’s why I created this Posture Series.

Most of us sit for hours every day with a bad posture. This doesn’t just hurt our lower back. It also:

• Makes us shorter. A slouchy posture costs you in inches. Not a coincidence that people gain 1-2 inches in height after starting exercise programs that emphasize having a straight posture (think yoga).
• It emphasizes your belly fat. When you stand straight, the belly fat stretches out and appears smaller. When you slouch, the belly fat protrudes more and appears bigger. Just go in front of a mirror and see it for yourself.

But I know you know you could stand straighter. I know you know that you could appear thinner if you stood and walked straighter. But if you’re like most people, you might have never thought about straightening your posture as a valid way to look thinner.

Most of us connect diet and exercise with appearing thinner, and rarely if ever consider the shape of our backs and how it affects our looks.

But a good posture is not just about good looks – and less back pain of course.

A straight posture is also about confidence.

Yes, confidence.

Your posture affects the way you feel. Standing tall affects our biochemistry, increasing testosterone, and decreasing cortisol (the infamous stress hormone). Just like smiling, even when you’re faking it, makes you happier, a straighter posture makes you feel more powerful, less stressed, and, yes, unstoppable.

And it’s not just that you feel better. It’s also that others perceive you more favorably.

No, I’m not making things up. Harvard Professor Amy Cuddy has studied this subject extensively and these are her findings. In fact, here’s her famous TED Talk about this subject, where she explains that even your chances of getting a job get affected by your posture throughout the interview process.

Ok, now you’re convinced. You want to straighten your posture, so you too look thinner, stand taller, become unstoppable, and get that job!

But how do you know your posture is/isn’t straight?

Often, when I tell people to “straighten up”, they take a “military posture”. They lift their chests way too much, and their head looks up. But that’s NOT what a straight posture is.

Have you ever noticed the long posture dancers have?

Don’t they have a commanding, yet graceful, presence?

Exactly. I’ve always admired them for that. Even when they sit their backs are always straight! That’s why in today’s episode, I’m showing you how you too can have a dancer’s posture, even if you have zero dance experience.

By having a dancer’s posture, you’ll:

• Stand taller
• Look thinner
• Decrease your lower back pain risk
• Increase your confidence
• Possibly change your life, by, e.g., getting job offers you’d otherwise never have gotten!

Watch the video to learn exactly the three things you need to adjust to have a dancer’s posture.

Changing your posture is hard, because after all, the way you sit and stand are established habits. You take the slouchy posture without even thinking about it. Being slouchy is what comes naturally.

But all this can change. The more your practice a dancer’s posture, the more you’re creating a new “standing tall” habit. It’s going to require conscious effort at first, but the more you do it, the less conscious effort you’ll need.

Start with practicing a dancer’s posture once a day. If you manage to hold it for more than 5 minutes, I bet you’ll start being able to hold it without having to really think about it. Bam, a good sign your habits are changing for the better!

So now I want you to tell me, what insights did you get from today’s videos? Are there any specific times when you tend to ruin your posture – like when walking, being at meetings, sitting at the computer for too long, etc? Leave a comment on Facebook.