Most of my life (from my teenage years to my early twenties) I’ve had poor self image; not many people knew this about me, actually I don’t think anyone did - untill now. I’m sharing this because I’m in a better place today than past me was and hope to help others stop going through what I went through.
All my life I was classified as underweight for my height, yet I was unhappy with how I looked. I did a really great job hiding how I felt about myself, so good that even my family didn’t know. Yet behind closed doors, I did what I believe too many people do; I would look in the mirror and literally pull the skin around my hips, thighs, and butt to create that perfect image that has been formed by society and I would say to myself, “Okay, this is my goal for the summer”. I would beat myself running and swimming and trying to eat healthy to obtained this far fetched, unhealthy, unubtainable goal. I did this for years; then one day it all stopped - a powerful moment happened to me. I was browsing youtube and a video of these crazy people doing crazy things appeared on my screen. It was a video of the #crossfitgames - I was so inspired by the women and their strength and how they carried themselves that I said to myself, “I want to be like them”. That day it all changed; I was no longer looking at what I needed to loose to hopefully feel great but rather what I wanted to gain. Since then, I’ve learned the power of strength, both physically and mentally, the difference between fit and skinny, and the difference between healthy/ happy and pretty/ unhappy.
So seven months ago, I started CrossFit; now when I look in the mirror, I’m not pulling and tugging and wishing, instead I’m smiling and pointing saying, “Wow, look at that *insert muscle here*!”
