Sweaty Selfies from the past few weeks of Shaun T Fitness's Work Out Program, "T25."
So back on Mother's Day I made it publicly known that I was starting a weightloss / fitness / get-my-ish-together "LKM beast mode" journey. It's been a few weeks and there have been a few rumblings, questions and confusion about it all. So I thought i'd offer some clarification...
So here are "7 Things You Might Be Wondering About This T25 Thing..."
1. Q: What is T25? Who is Shaun T? Shaun T is a famous trainer who has developed a collection of hard core fitness programs. The first of which I heard of was Insanity. T25 is a shortened interval-style work out program. It's comes with a 5 week first stage called "ALPHA" and a following 5 weeks stage called "BETA" that incrementally builds to produce speed and strength. to quote Shaun T: "It's a full-body workout in 25 minutes. With zero rest. Focus Interval Training works every muscle group in your body—one after the other—then it works it again. It's short. It's sweaty. But after 25 minutes, it's done. No BS...just amazing results. (and here is a shameless plug for my friend and coach Cindy Melo. If you wanna try T25 out, check out her page and sign up under her!)
2. Q: So does it work? It looks super intense. I have this calendar that allows me to check off each work out with "barely made it" and "nailed it." Lets just say I have limped across the finish line for the past 3 weeks and still have to modify my push-ups. It's hard. But it is working for me. It is a short frame of time and I like my time. Modified version still pushes the body so as I slowly increase speed and strength I'm not feeling like i'm failing at life. Just waking up and doing it every morning and being consistent is the best victory so far.
3. Q: So, like, are you ok? it looks like you are really gung-ho about this. How's that whole obsessive-cumpulsive thing going? Yes, i'm fine. Truth be told T25 has saved me time. I wake up at 630 and do my 25 minutes of sweating before the kids wake and my mornings have been open. But you like post about stuff every single day. I do. (beat) And it's fun. This isn't a compulsive sudden thing :) Nor is it ignorant...
4. Q: So then, like, why DO you post stuff every single day? Why are you so public about everything? I don't presume that all want to share their stories with the world. I also can't presume you care about my own so...no worries. Yay for the nature of social media. You are welcome to block me. But can we all agree to not judge? The concern for my heart is a beautiful thing. I have some incredible friends who know me well and have asked some gently, prodding questions about my motivation... And it has forced me to check myself. a lot. In light of that, this is a public piece of something that has been a part of my life and heart-space since highschool. This is not sudden. This is not motivated by vanity alone. Furthermore, I have been pushed and motivated by my friend's stories. Even stranger's stories. Their journey. Seeing long-term commitment actually play out. It's not the commercials or google ads that produced action, it was seeing the change in real-life people. I hope that by sharing my own story will be edifying--maybe inspiring to others who just need a nudge or resources they don't know about or a real-life example of change, evaluation, self-honesty, discipline... and i'll continue to take horrific sweaty pictures of it and it will be fun.
5. Q: Oh yea, the sweaty selfies. What. The. Heck. WHY? Because I think they are hilarious. All those silly pictures of people looking hot-n-pretty before they work out--posing perfectly with their back-side facing the mirror, one cheek higher than the other, arm propped up and sucking in so hard their belly-button kisses their spine...yup. It's just not real. And I don't care. But a friend of mine started posting pictures of her sweating up a storm doing some sort of messy video while her three kids were under foot and making it an activity of sorts and I thought, "huh. i can do this. And i should get my kids in on it. And we will be silly about it. And real. And zero prettiness will be happening and people will be like, 'woah' and i'll be like, 'right?!' And it will be funny. And did I mention real?
6. Q: Really Laura? #beachbody. Really? This is a funny thing to clarify. Hashtag "#beachbody" is in reference to a company. www.Beachbody.com. A stellar company that produced a whole myriad of weightloss/fitness/wellness resources. I might be trying to get fit, but having a beach body isn't my motivation. And ... uhm, i live in the desert.
7. Q: So what is your motivation? Now THIS is my favorite question. The sweaty selfies are merely a snapshot of the physical labor...but the soul-searching is a bigger deal to me. I don't have some straight away answers for this. But i do have a handful of thoughts swirling around in me head...
5 Thoughts About my Motivation to Lose Weight and Get Fit...
a. If I believe in a Creator who made this one body during this fleeting time i have on earth, than why not make it as strong, stable, healthy as possible?
b. "I make my body my slave" 1 Corinthians 9: 26-27. I am supremely satisfied in efforts to build self-discipline. I love discipline. I respect it in others and I delight in striving to live my life not mastered by my wants or immediate gratification.
c. I'm tired of the love-handles that keep me in an awkward pant size.
d. I'm tired of seeing 10-15 lbs of stubborn fluffy sass sit on my hips. So much of the weight gain was derived from a sense of entitlement. I.e. I'm pregnant so I DESERVE to eat whatever the crap I want to. 6 years ago I abandoned the ease of healthy eating and shoved my face full with platters of rebellion and anger. Simply in the name of 'I deserve this'...eating made me feel better. And I have had to pay the price. One i'm not willing to pay anymore.
e. And who would i be fooling if I didn't want to wear heels without them hurting. I don't want to sit down and have to adjust my belt over my belly or get tired going up the stairs with the kids. I want to wear a dress and like how it fits. I also want to not care. I want to not be mastered or controlled by this. I am distracted by the extra weight I carry, the clothes I don't fit into anymore, the way I have to squat awkwardly when I'm out shooting. Life is short and this is why I refuse to be "happy with just the way I am"...because it could be better. (note: can you hear the tension between vanity and the stuff of eternity in this confession? yea, these thoughts aren't organized. I don't know if they ever will be. but somewhere there is a balance between wanting to be beautiful and having a heart of worship and self-lessness and modesty and insecurity and allure and presentation and not caring and confidence and taking joy in other's beauty/accomplishments/successes and not competing and...and..and.... to be continued).
f. oh, and fine, i admit it... I love muscles. I think they are beautiful. I'd almost call them art. It takes work, skill, patience...things that make art. but then I think, if charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, than am i just kidding myself? I don't think so....
g. I love Jesus with my whole heart, mind, body and soul. I owe my life to Him. He gave me this body for a short time on this earth. I am grateful that I have a healthy body. I am grateful that I am able to walk and run and jump. I might not have it forever. Those things might be taken from me tomorrow. But while I can, I want to be strong and fast and active and I want that to please Him. I think of Eric Liddel's (olympic gold medalist) words from the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire:
"I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast.
And when I run I feel His pleasure."
This journey is more than skin deep. T25 is just a mode of operation but not the motivation. Challenge groups, weigh-ins, before & after pictures, pom-poms, success stories, sweaty selfies, bad days, good days, biceps, flabby tummies, calorie-counting, portion control, obnoxious pictures of lettuce and status updates about diet woes... they are part of the process (some of them merely as entertainment and/or accountability), but only the tip of the iceberg. As i hone in on ways to address some of my addiction to food and entitlement, I want the fight and the strain and the sweat and sweet prayers for mercy and help to be fully charged with a worshipful heart--abandoning zones of comfort for a place of freedom, beauty and strength. In all areas.
