4/5 - 5/5

I went back and forth in my mind for about a week and a half trying to decide whether or not I should post this on my Instagram. I was really proud of the progress I had made in a short amount of time, four weeks, but I wasn't sure of how other people would respond to my half-naked post. To be honest, I've put on a reasonable amount of weight in the last nine months and I wasn't sure of how people I haven't seen in that time would react to my before photo. I also thought people wouldn't be impressed with my four week transformation or wouldn't notice any difference. It takes a LOT of work to make little changes and maybe people wouldn't even notice. What if people thought I was being vain? No, it's not necessary that I post a picture like that on Instagram, so why would I? I could see and hear their judgement in my mind.

And then I thought, why not?!? I had worked really hard to make positive changes in my lifestyle and I was proud of that. Hell yeah I want other people to see the fruits of my labor! And there's nothing wrong with that. If I had a great mental revelation, wouldn't I want to share that with people as well? Why are we ridiculed so much for showing physical revelations?

I realized that the main thing holding me back from posting this picture was the opinion of others and I never want that to be something that dictates my actions. There were a few people in particular that I was concerned about but then I remembered that whoever my true friends are will be extremely supportive, happy for, and proud of me. Showing people my progress is actually a way for me to keep myself accountable and keep me from digressing back to what I was before. I wanted to continue with even more inspiring and motivating transformations. In many ways, I've become my biggest motivation by placing these pictures next to one another. I know that it's possible for me to make progress and improvements when I stay dedicated to something and that encourages me to stay on track to achieve even more progress and more improvements. Fitness models are great motivation but their lifestyle and goals often seem to far fetched for me and the rest of us with full-time 9-6 jobs.

At the end of the day, I live this life for me. I workout for me. I eat right for me. And no one else. And with that, I posted this picture for me. And no one else.