Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Progress Photos and a Few Words on Body Dysmorphia

For a good 90% of my life, I felt like the 'elephant in the room'. While I have a MUCH healthier body image now, I still feel like I'm 'rounder' than I really am.

Nothing reminds me of this more than Progress Photo day.

It seems like just yesterday I was finishing up my Train-a-versary blogs.  Usually, I take photos every 2 months, but since I took some in Feb, I wasn't expecting much visible change.

And then I realized how incredibly nit picky I can be, and decided to use it for good. Instead of seeing all the areas I'm already aware of to work on - I opted to see any changes, keeping in mind that I'm reaching new milestones in my fitness all the time - despite what the scale or the photos may say.

Okay - so here are the observations:

March 2013Weight: 220lbs

Yes, I was still fighting an obsession with the scale back then - enough that I put my weight on the photo... oy vey.


February 2014
Weight: 210lbs


March 2014
Weight: 205lbs


What a difference 5 lbs make!
It's been a pretty cool adventure to see that, when you're getting healthy, the whole "weight" thing just comes along for the ride. 
I still feel "rounder" than I am though, so these progress pictures are very helpful in putting it all into perspective. While I may "feel" rounded or bloated, it's obvious that I'm leaning out...

And more importantly, the things I can do now are worlds beyond what I can do then.

So instead of comparing my body to someone else's (which I still do from time to time), I tend to find more commonalities. Yes, I'm one of the 'bigger' girls at the Olympic Lifting class I go to on Saturday mornings. But that's okay. These ladies are strong and there is something I can learn from them, and from the coach. Adding more fun things to do are a huge help too. The more I connect with people on a face to face basis, the less I sit behind a magazine or a television screen and play the mind game that today's photoshopped images seems to require all of us ladies to do.

I'm going to be traveling soon, and I'm already prepping for that. When my mom said, "I don't know what to feed you when you come visit anymore," I got excited and started looking forward to doing some cooking for her while I'm visiting. I'm researching crossfit gyms in her area that might let me drop in for a lifting or other class. Sure, there are things I can do without a gym. I'm good at those. But why not drop in and say hi to the crossfit community in my hometown?

The last month or so has been awesome.

Oh - and as a side note, I just landed a gig writing for a (get this) FITNESS BLOG! While I'm not sure if it's a paying gig yet, I can't wait to do something to help get the word out that you DON'T have to spend hours on a treadmill or an uncomfortable elliptical to "lose weight". Just build muscle and eat foods that are closer to the earth and further from the factories, and it will happen. Yes, your results may vary, but, ya know, I gotta admit, my world is a better place for HIIT training....

3 comments:

  1. Ha ha ha. "Yes, I'm one of the 'bigger' girls at the Olympic Lifting class I go to on Saturday mornings." I feel that way all...the....time. whenever I do a group class. So I make it a point to bring it harder :P

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    1. ;) Whatever motives you! See you Saturday morning, right?

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