I mean, they're sorta the poster children for Resurrection and Reinvention, don't you think? Or does the title belong to the artist formerly known as 'The Artist Formerly Known as Prince?' I suppose it's a toss up because lord knows he's come back from the dead a time or two.
So why then, you ask, am I hopping back on the blog wagon? THAT, my friends is a very good question! I've been given a very exciting opportunity along with a small group of equally lucky ladies by RockStar Mom Stefanie Van Aken and her buddy Adam Gentz, founder of The Strength Center to 'Reinvent' myself. In a nutshell, we just scored 8 weeks of unlimited access to tremendous Personal Trainers filled with knowledge and serious muscles, hard core group classes, body fat assessments, nutrition counseling and more! All for the bargain price of zero dollars!
Especially since we're inching closer and closer to summer and we happen to live in a town that's hotter than a whore in church which means that I, for one, spend an obscene amount of time in the skin tight, unforgiving Lycra better known as a swim suit.
I've come a long way baby since this post, where I disclosed my abhorrence and eventual acceptance of my marshmallow belly. I'm in a really good place both physically and emotionally with my body image and to be honest, after popping out kids like a t-shirt gun at a basketball game it took me a lot of serious conversations with myself to get over the puffy parts. I still make wise cracks about my crepe paper belly skin and every 28 days I've absolutely had it with my love handles. But I've worked hard over the last couple of years both physically and mentally to feel good in my own skin, and you know what, I actually do. It's the best gift I've ever given myself.
I've learned a thing or two during these last two years as well.
For starters, being accountable to someone or something is the key to my success. It's a lot easier to lace up your running shoes at 5:30AM when you've got a half marathon hanging over your head. Similarly it feels way crappier to bail out on your girlfriend than it does to stand up a Reformer (Pilates machine for you non Pilates junkies) that couldn't care less if you show up or not. So I've agreed to share my journey during this reinvention via Facebook as a part of this challenge.
But, to go back to the original question of 'why blog,' I'm going to take it a step further, resurrect 'A MilliAn Little Things' and document my reinvention complete with before/after photos, successes, perceived failures, intimate details, dirty little secrets and all. I've definitely got mega hesitations. It's scary to be vulnerable and put it all out there; Even for a perpetual over sharer like myself. But experience assures me that the added accountability to a cyber audience will be the extra little push I need to pull up my big girl panties and crank out one more pull up, one more mile, one more kettle bell swing.
I've also discovered that I am way more capable than I ever gave myself credit for. Running tempos with women I'm totally in awe of and actually keeping up with them has been an enormous self esteem boost. And when I finally pulled off a true 'teaser' in Pilates without cheating I thought I'd pee my pants in excitement. Each time I overcome a new hurdle it reinforces that I am a Masterpiece in Progress that only gets better with age. We all are!
I can't let this 8 weeks slip by without grabbing the proverbial bull by the horns and hanging on for dear life. I don't want to regret a missed opportunity. I'm curious as to what will happen if I totally submit myself to this challenge. I want to find out what I'm made of.
I'm pretty sure there is a B.A.M.F. inside of me just waiting for permission to make an appearance.
Permission granted.
