Be proud

One of the facebook groups about fitness and lifting I belong to had a 'selfie' picture show, mainly of biceps and backs but it could be any part of the body you feel has improved.

The comments on all the posts were supportive but not all of the original posts were....I was guilty of this too.

I put up this pic of my bicep as something I was 'proud' of....

 But my post indicated otherwise ....guilt and perhaps a sense of shame that I am not 'better'

"My pistol as in baby gun... Only 3rd week back lifting after 12 weeks running and a week sick. I will get there...."

Why do I feel the need to make apologies for something I can only compare to myself? Look, I have a bicep.

You know when I first started I had a blob of fat there, not a muscle you could see. I had the 'bingo wings', the 'tuckshop arms' thing going on. Not now. And yes, I am improving on it, but that doesn't take away the fact I have worked and worked hard to get to this point.

I keep a workout diary and I put up my weights by 2.5 kilos on the leg press. My husband snorted (supportively I'm sure,  he really is a gorgeously good man)  and said, "What, are you going to take that as a PB?"

HELL YES. That's 2.5 kg I could do now that I wasn't doing before. It's not a huge leap but it is still going UP. And that is worth being noted for being a Personal Best.

We all start somewhere. I think we need to celebrate the little things as well as the big. 

Little things like only eating 2 tim tams instead of the pack. Raising weights a bit further. Taking a few seconds off your best running time. Even drinking another glass of water for the day.  

These all add up to a healthier me.  I am achieving, I am progressing, maybe in fairy tiptoe steps instead of gazelle leaps and bounds but I am still progressing. And it is seeing those little progressions, the little wins that keep me going back to push a little bit further, to see how much more I can do. It's those little triumphs that remind me that I CAN do this, even when I ache, or am tired, or just really don't want to go workout....

Big things are things everyone sees, running a first half marathon, getting prizes or awards. But it's the little things that keep me going back to the gym, little celebrations that I can fistpump in the air and say " I am DOING this with AWESOMENESS" 

So stand up and be proud of them! Every day something small will happen that is a small miracle, or little triumph. Notice them, cherish them, celebrate them. Remember what it was like when we started, and see how far we have come since then.

 After all, we are all made up of small things, and without the small successes, we wouldn't have the big ones.