The Mirror Test: What Your Reflection Isn’t Saying Out Loud

This isn’t about body fat percentages or diet plans.

It’s about that unexpected moment: the glance in the mirror when you're not dressed up, not posing, not prepared, and the uncomfortable truth staring back at you.

In today’s raw episode, Spencer breaks down why that reflection matters far more than the number on the scale… and why ignoring it is costing you energy, confidence, and presence.

You’ll discover:

– Why “busy seasons” aren’t the reason your health is sliding
– How to interpret the gut-check moments most men run from
– Why fixing your reflection has nothing to do with chasing perfection and everything to do with reclaiming leadership in your life

Because the man you’re meant to be?
He’s still there.

The mirror is just waiting for you to remember him.

If this episode hit home, make sure you’re subscribed. This is Fitness by Design, the podcast for high-performing men ready to stop winging it and start leading with their body.

For more stories, strategies, and hard truths:

Follow me on Instagram – @spencerhgallo
Connect with me on LinkedIn – Spencer Gallo
Or shoot me a text, I read every single one.

Let’s keep building your edge, one episode at a time.

Transcript

0:37

Have you ever caught your reflection when you weren't ready for it? Like not when you're heading into a meeting? Not when you're buttoning up the dress shirt in the morning. I mean, when you're just walking past the bathroom mirror, it's eight 15 at night after another long ass day in the office, your belt's already unbuckled. Your gut's starting to hang a little bit softer. Your face looks tired. And for just that split second, you stop and think to yourself. What the hell happened, and not in like a dramatic fault of your knees kind of way. Just honest, because that reflection, it doesn't lie. And I get it. Guys like us, we don't slow down long enough to notice it. Most of the time we've got. Projects to lead teams to manage deliverables, to hit meetings. That should have been emails and dinners that turn into drinks that turn into hours, that turn into a half a bag of chips and Taco Bell on the couch at 10:00 PM while you're scrolling through your team's notifications on your phone. So, yeah, most days you don't even look in the mirror. You don't want to. But every once in a while you take that glance and that's when it hits you. Not just the weight gain, not just the low energy that you're feeling, but that gap. That gap between who you are and who you know. You are supposed to be the guy in the mirror. He's not a failure, he's not lazy, he's not broken, but he's not you either. At least not the you that you promised yourself that you were gonna become. not the guy you were becoming before. Work got insane. Before the baby, before the travel schedule, before all that stress started stacking like overdue invoices in the gym, slip from non-negotiable to ah. It'll be nice if I can get there and look, I'm not saying this to call you out. I'm saying this because I've been that guy in the mirror. A year ago I was packing for Bali with the lowest body fat that I'd had in almost a decade. Healthy I felt like I was finally in control. I was confident in my body, and I felt powerful and strong. Fast forward, a year later, I had gained 30 pounds back and was looking in the mirror, thinking to myself, how the fuck did I get back here again? I. And I'm a fitness coach. I run a company that literally helps corporate guys fix this exact problem. So trust me, I know what it feels like to not recognize the body that you're living in. But here's what I want you to hear today. If you take nothing else from this episode, that reflection is not the end. It's just a report card. It's feedback. It's a red flag. It's your body quietly saying, Hey man, I'm not okay, and you're pretending like I am. And the longer that you ignore that. The more that it's gonna start to bleed into everything else in your life. Your energy is tanking by noon. You're short with your team, your wife, your kids. You second guess yourself during meetings, you stare at the hotel gym door and convince yourself that you're just too tired again. You stay up later than you should because you need just a little bit of peace at the end of the day, even if it costs you the next one because you're just scrolling through Instagram, lying in bed, and it all started with that reflection. But here's the thing, man, that mirror. It's not your enemy, it's your signal. It's the signal that the guy that you're supposed to be the leader, the father, the partner that present man in the room, he's still in there. Maybe you've just forgotten what it feels like to be him, though. I. But you can find your way back, not through another crash diet, not by working out twice a day every day and living on protein shakes and bars, but by doing what you do best, engineering a better system, a system that actually fits into your life, that makes space for success and health to coexist. One that doesn't fall apart, the second that work gets busy or your kid gets sick, or you have to fly across the country for another three day conference because if you're listening to this, I already know something about you. You don't wanna be the guy who just gets by. You wanna be the guy who walked past the mirror on a random Tuesday night and nods to himself like, yeah, that's more like it. You're not perfect, but you're proud of it. You're proud of that reflection. And that all starts with one choice, not another Monday, not another quarter right now. So if you've been stuck in this cycle, if you've been catching that reflection, cringing or just rushing past it, like it's gonna start to call you out in public. Let this be your moment. Not to be ashamed, but to take that feedback and actually do something with it, because the guy who shows up for everybody else but deserves a body that shows up for him too. This is fitness by design. And remember, what you see in the mirror isn't the problem. It's the message. The question is, are you ready to listen to it?