You may have seen this post, called 10+ Reasons I Love My Ugly Body. In the health and fitness Facebook realm, it's gone viral. For good reason.
She espouses everything I aim to be: fit, healthy, strong, and honest. Honest about trying to love her body, even when she doesn't succeed 100% of the time. She lost 164 lbs. She is a fitness trainer herself. She is a triathlete. And she has saggy skin, and still carries fat. She may very well be my new hero and role model
She is another example of real weight loss success, and a bikini body worth showing. Especially since she is not merely posing, but is active in her shots, demonstrating her strength and skill.
Makes me want to try a cartwheel and climb a rope!
To get the full effect of her story, you need to see the pictures. I urge you to click and read the original. If the link happens to be overwhelmed because of all the visitors, here's the gist of it:
She espouses everything I aim to be: fit, healthy, strong, and honest. Honest about trying to love her body, even when she doesn't succeed 100% of the time. She lost 164 lbs. She is a fitness trainer herself. She is a triathlete. And she has saggy skin, and still carries fat. She may very well be my new hero and role model
She is another example of real weight loss success, and a bikini body worth showing. Especially since she is not merely posing, but is active in her shots, demonstrating her strength and skill.
Makes me want to try a cartwheel and climb a rope!
To get the full effect of her story, you need to see the pictures. I urge you to click and read the original. If the link happens to be overwhelmed because of all the visitors, here's the gist of it:
Even though I have lost 164lbs and I am at my doctor’s goal weight…
Even though I have been doing crossfit 4-5 days a week for almost 2 years and eat a very clean diet (90% of the time)…
Even though I am a certified personal trainer and a Spartan, a Rugged Maniac, a Warrior and a Triathlete…
This is what my body looks like (almost) naked. [see photo above]
Because of this I try very hard to stay focused on fitness goals as my measure of success rather than my appearance or the number on the scale or the size of my jeans…but sometimes…just sometimes, I forget. A few weeks ago I did just that…I forgot. I was faced with a “Look Good Naked Challenge” at my gym that I knew I had no chance in hell of winning. I remembered that summer was just around the corner and realized that I would go a 25th year wearing shorts over my bathing suit to hide the legs I’ve hated since I was 11. I tried on a jean skirt that I wanted so bad only to see my misshapen knees that have kept me from wearing anything above them throughout all of my adult years and out of nowhere it hit me like a ton of bricks…I felt frustrated, discouraged and sad. Like really, really sad. I even cried a little. I felt like all the hard work that I’d been doing wasn’t paying off and it made me want to give up. I spent a good week or so feeling sorry for myself, getting caught up in the vanity of it all. I didn’t work as hard at the gym, I didn’t eat as well as I usually do and every time I looked in the mirror I felt worse than I had the time before. I can’t recall if there was something specific that got me to pull my head out of my ass, but fortunately something did. Regardless of what it was, I decided that it was time to REALLY celebrate what my ugly body CAN DO rather than focus on what it looks like…or doesn’t look like. So I asked my friend Emily, the amazing photographer at Southern Star Photography, to take some pictures of me DOING the THINGS I have NEVER, EVER…EVER in my entire life…not even as a kid (with the exception of the cartwheel) have been able to do until now. So here you go! Today I am celebrating what my body is capable of doing because of the lifestyle changes that I’ve made and the hard work I’ve done in and out of the gym.
I am PROUD of my ugly body because…
THIS BACK AND THOSE ARMS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO DO THIS PULLUP (no strings attached!)
THIS BACKSIDE CAN DO A CARTWHEEL A GRACEFUL AS ANY (NOVICE) GYMNAST
THESE SADDLEBAGS, STRETCH MARKS AND CELLULITE CAN’T STOP ME FROM BEING SUPER FLEXIBLE
THAT LOOSE UNDERARM SKIN DOESN’T MEAN I CAN’T CLIMB THIS THING
THE REMAINING FAT ALL OVER MY BODY DOESN’T MEAN I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO FLIP A FLIPPIN' TIRE
MY FLABBY TUMMY HAS THE CORE STRENGTH THAT ALLOWS ME TO ACT LIKE KID
AND I'M FASTER, STRONGER, BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE. I'M MAKING PROGRESS.
Even though I have been doing crossfit 4-5 days a week for almost 2 years and eat a very clean diet (90% of the time)…
Even though I am a certified personal trainer and a Spartan, a Rugged Maniac, a Warrior and a Triathlete…
This is what my body looks like (almost) naked. [see photo above]
Because of this I try very hard to stay focused on fitness goals as my measure of success rather than my appearance or the number on the scale or the size of my jeans…but sometimes…just sometimes, I forget. A few weeks ago I did just that…I forgot. I was faced with a “Look Good Naked Challenge” at my gym that I knew I had no chance in hell of winning. I remembered that summer was just around the corner and realized that I would go a 25th year wearing shorts over my bathing suit to hide the legs I’ve hated since I was 11. I tried on a jean skirt that I wanted so bad only to see my misshapen knees that have kept me from wearing anything above them throughout all of my adult years and out of nowhere it hit me like a ton of bricks…I felt frustrated, discouraged and sad. Like really, really sad. I even cried a little. I felt like all the hard work that I’d been doing wasn’t paying off and it made me want to give up. I spent a good week or so feeling sorry for myself, getting caught up in the vanity of it all. I didn’t work as hard at the gym, I didn’t eat as well as I usually do and every time I looked in the mirror I felt worse than I had the time before. I can’t recall if there was something specific that got me to pull my head out of my ass, but fortunately something did. Regardless of what it was, I decided that it was time to REALLY celebrate what my ugly body CAN DO rather than focus on what it looks like…or doesn’t look like. So I asked my friend Emily, the amazing photographer at Southern Star Photography, to take some pictures of me DOING the THINGS I have NEVER, EVER…EVER in my entire life…not even as a kid (with the exception of the cartwheel) have been able to do until now. So here you go! Today I am celebrating what my body is capable of doing because of the lifestyle changes that I’ve made and the hard work I’ve done in and out of the gym.
I am PROUD of my ugly body because…
THIS BACK AND THOSE ARMS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO DO THIS PULLUP (no strings attached!)
THIS BACKSIDE CAN DO A CARTWHEEL A GRACEFUL AS ANY (NOVICE) GYMNAST
THESE SADDLEBAGS, STRETCH MARKS AND CELLULITE CAN’T STOP ME FROM BEING SUPER FLEXIBLE
THAT LOOSE UNDERARM SKIN DOESN’T MEAN I CAN’T CLIMB THIS THING
THE REMAINING FAT ALL OVER MY BODY DOESN’T MEAN I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO FLIP A FLIPPIN' TIRE
MY FLABBY TUMMY HAS THE CORE STRENGTH THAT ALLOWS ME TO ACT LIKE KID
AND I'M FASTER, STRONGER, BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE. I'M MAKING PROGRESS.
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