The Photographic Evidence

Every so often it's really easy to get down in the dumps about your fitness program. Like me, this week. I've been felled by the astronomically high mold levels and haven't worked out in a solid week. And I'm starting to feel guilty, pudgey, guilty, plump, guilty, chubby...yeah, you see where i'm going with this.

To cheer myself up I decided to check the photographic evidence. I found pictures from before my first bootcamp and compared them to more recent ones. WHEW!! I may be feeling guilty and squishy but thankfully I'm not looking like I'm either.

Do you do that? Take before, during and after pics? It's a fabulous way to tell you are making headway, especially because so often we are the last ones to realize it. We look in the mirror but our head tells us what we think is true instead of believing what our eyes are seeing.

I mean, really...how many times have you thought "ugh, I'm so fat!" when in reality you are average? Or disparaged your body because everyone else in the group was complaining that they hate their thighs or their booty or their flabby upper arms? We've learned that it's more normal to dislike what we see than to like or even love it.

But stop for a moment. Take a few minutes and really look at yourself. Don't be harsh. Just...look. And see the changes you're making by all your work, your dedication. Isn't it time to believe what you're seeing?

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or find it not."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~