Will Smith, the smooth-talking, chart-topping, box office smashing, Fresh Prince that 90's kids like me grew up loving, took to Instagram to announce that he was in the worst shape of his life and that it was time to do something about it.

Blaming the weight gain on his latest role as Venus and Serena's father in soon to be released movie, King Richard. He gained weight for the role but the small issue of a global pandemic meant that the weight gain continued after the role finished.

I mean who here didn't gain a few pounds during 2019/2021? We applaud you Will for being human.

The 'Best Shape Of My Life' series premiered on Youtube on the 8th of November 2021, where Will embarks on a journey over six 20 minute episodes, with the goal of losing 20lb's in 20 weeks.

You can watch the up's and downs of his journey below, which I highly recommend you do (after you have read this article of course). Who doesn't enjoy seeing how superstars live their extravagant, money is no limit lifestyles after all?

Rather than review the whole series I wanted to highlight the three main issues that raised a flag as I found myself feeling uncomfortable about some of the messages that this series sends out. Then asking how this can relate to any of us normalton's who are also looking to get into better shape.

This Is Exactly What's Wrong With The Health And Fitness Industry

Will is a superstar with an unlimited amount of resources, money and a team of people from a trainer, nutritionist and a psychologist on hand and he still struggled to achieve his end goal.

If was so hard for him, we get left questioning… what hope do the rest of us have?

Most of us don't have access to all of the resources Will does. I doubt you will be flying to Dubai to get some head space, take to climbing the Burj Khalifa whilst you are there as part of your cardio session, though please correct me if I am wrong.

These episodes really serve to highlight some of the many issues that people face when looking to get in shape and also some of the toxic practices that I believe we need to change in the world of wellness.

Undoing the 'Bad' Shame & Hate

In his Instagram post, he states that "I love this body, but I want to feel better"

This is a great statement, I am in full support of promoting feeling good in your body. I believe it can be a powerful driver for transformation and one that is supportive to mental as well as physical health.

Yet when we dive into episode one, he is talking about all of the shame and guilt that he has around his pandemic Dad bod. I felt really sad hearing him talk about how embarrassed he was because I hear so many of my clients in the real world feeling the same way.

Going into weight loss from a place of hate and shame can be damaging to the person, disrupts the opportunity to take on board lasting changes but it also sucks the joy out of life.

It takes you to a place of punishing yourself with gruelling workouts, restricting food, labelling food as good and bad. This is exactly what we see Will go through over the weeks of sweat, hard work, close to tears and completely depleted of energy.

This is covered with humour and jokes but as his psychologist talks about in the series, is also a coping mechanism of how he perceives himself and what success means for him as a product of his self-worth.

It was too damn much

Throughout the episodes, his PT kept on mentioning one of my favourite words that I like to remind my clients of, and that is sustainability. I was happy to hear them talking about this and setting a priority of sleep in his schedule. Despite hearing these positive plans for his transformation, what followed was anything but sustainable.

Five strength sessions a week, daily cardio, training for several hours a day and often twice a day. All in a calorie deficit and whilst trying to write his personal memoir. Reporting that he only slept 3 hours on one night. On top of that because he wasn't seeing the number on the scale move fast enough he was resorting to fasting, because that had worked for him in the past.

I think fasting can certainly have a place when being strategic about it with your training and for the health benefits it can bring about. But when it's an emotional response to seeing the number on a scale not moving, it can be a damaging behaviour that is triggered and an even more destructive message that gets conveyed to the viewer.

That message is: the scale is the only measure of success and if that doesn't move then you must work harder and restrict more.

It's this that is incredibly toxic and usually the opposite of what your body actually needs!

Chasing The Wrong Metric

The title of the series was great. Getting in the best shape of my life. But shape does not necessarily translate to a specific or lower bodyweight amount. Throughout the series Will get's repeatedly demoralised as he is so fixated on that goal of 20lb in 20 weeks.

He actually embarked on a mission for body recomposition. This is an approach in which you lose body fat at the same time as gaining muscle mass, and an approach at which bodyweight is simply the wrong metric to use as the gain in muscle mass actually can slow down the rate of weight loss or even increase it. Bodyweight will naturally fluctuate from day to day, week to week and the goal of a pound a week was never going to happen in a linear manner like they were hoping for when he jumped on that scale each week.

I get that this was done for entertainment purposes, but I'd have really loved to hear Will's trainer coaching him through this and reminding him that weight isn't the only measure of progress. The fact they didn't address this sends the viewer into the mindset that weight is the only thing that matters.

Even when we can see significant changes taking place in his body as he is clearly losing body fat and becoming more muscular and defined. But, because the scale wasn't shifting down low enough it was perceived as a failure.

A better metric would have had his body fat measured, but of course, that isn't as sexy a title as 20lb in 20 weeks and here is where I find is the biggest downfall of the weight loss industry and a sticking point for many people.

Conclusion

I tried to find an end of show picture of his body transformation to compare the before and after, but I actually couldn't find one. This could be to do with the fact that Will wanted to quit halfway through, and towards the end of the series I think he came to realise that it really wasn't the weight that mattered at all.

I admire Will's commitment to anything that he works on and has a solid work ethic but feel that the team around him were more interested in the entertainment value of the programme versus Wills physical and mental health. I really don't think that it needed to be as hard as they made it out to be in the programme.

I see my clients making amazing transformations with their bodies by applying simple tools and strategies to help change their body shapes. And these are tools that don't have to take over their entire lives.

Whilst I take issue with some of the methods and approaches used in the series there is no denying that Wills strength of mindset is exactly what has helped him to become the superstar that he is and I for one still love him.

Overall I enjoyed watching the series it was touching and allowed insight to the life of someone I have often admired. It also inspired me to go and get a copy of his memoir, which after only a few chapters in, I am really enjoying.

But to anyone who is watching this and wanting to embark on their own weight loss journey then I urge you to consider other metrics rather than solely weight loss alone.

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