What a Picture Will Do

I remember looking at myself in the mirror at a hotel I was staying at in Florida, just a few weeks ago. I had just gotten out of the shower, and they had a full length mirror on the door.

Now, maybe it was the lighting in there; maybe I just hadn't looked that closely at myself in the mirror, but as I peered closely at my reflection, taking in every inch, I felt a sudden reaction of shock and disgust. How had I gotten that fat? And who had filled my thighs with cottage cheese!

I guess the weight gain wasn't that much of a surprise. I had seen myself in a photo taken last summer, where my ass seemed to take up 1/3 of the photo (at least it did in my mind.) And that was in a group photo - there were six other people in the picture as well. Six other people, plus me, plus that enormous behind.

Then there's this photo, taken last summer at a park:

Here, my ass is hidden behind me, but my chest and my stomach seem to be in a competition to see which can stick out the most. And my arms...yeah, well, they wouldn't be confused for Kelly Ripa's.

No, I know I should love myself for who I am, and I do. But I need just a little less of me to love, so I have  been working at "reducing my load", so to speak. I don't want to be thin; I just want to be a bit more in shape.

The photos are inspiring me, to be sure. This summer, I will have my photo taken again by the same tree, and promise to post it. I will be in better shape this summer - no more oversized anything!