This is a very awkward thing to post on the internet, and there is no humble-braggery, or pleading for compliments like a 14 year old happening here, and there's a fantastic chance I'll delete this after dinner. So here goes nothin'.
In December of 2014 I decided that "New Year, New You" was gonna be me. I was gonna wean my youngest baby, and after over six years of being pregnant or nursing, I was going to do something different with my body. Take care of it in a different way. I had been trying a little bit of home workouts and yoga, but decided that my competitive personality needed something more.
I started CrossFit Jan 3, 2105 as part of a New Year's Resolution. I loved that #womenofcrossfit embraced their thighs touching, and a strong squat booty, and the goal seemed to be to roll up in the gym in those infamous booty shorts and sports bra, just work hard enough and you'll get there!
But here's what no one told me on IG, or FB or the Netflix documentaries - that just because you work out 3-5 a week for 2 years straight... does not mean your body will look like anyone else's. Your body is YOUR BODY. Working out will change you in beautiful, hard ways, but it will not make you into something that you aren't! If you are looking at 2017 as the year to do something for yourself, and working out is part of that... Better yet, if you're a mom who is ready to take care of herself in this specific way, can I just tell you? You can be as strong as... a mother ;)... and still have stretch marks. You can be strong and have to tuck in extra skin to those fab tights. You can be strong and have to buy smaller, tighter bras to hold in those boobies that are deflated now. Some bodies, MY BODY, looks like this. I don't know ANY body that looks like mine. Not one. Because we hide them and all say that they are abnormal and there is only one "yoga body," or "crossfit body," or "runner body" or whatever! And it can keep you from even wanting to try, because going for "that" body, the one that isn't yours? It's gonna leave you defeated.
So.
Here is my strong body.
It can deadlift a lot, hates running, and is covered in bruises from the hips down from one too many fights with a barbell. It only weighs 15 pounds less than it did in 2014, and finding clothes that fit it is absolutely impossible. But here it is. Strong.
And if you have a body that you love (whether it's yours, or a friend's, or a girlfriend's, or a wife's) just know - you can be strong and look like this. I know everyone tells you that "if you just work harder..." NOPE! Not everyone. Every body is different.
(the funniest part of all this is still, after trying to take a really unflattering picture, I looked at the back of my camera and said... Gah... It doesn't even look that bad? HA! It's all in the mind, people. All in the mind. Train your body to push through hard things, hopefully, your mind will follow suit.)
