Breaking Up With "Before"

So this is a little out of the typical flow for a blog that was meant to track progress through a twelve week challenge but I think it is time I post my "Before" pictures.

Why now? For those of you who know Mariah you know she is persuasive. She's also an incredible business woman and marketer which is why in a town already crowded with fitness programs Revelation Fitness is thriving. One of the things that makes the program a success in my opinion is the time spent up front in really setting out not just goals but aggressive goals and explaining to you how you are going to be able to meet them. She backs it up with a long list of impressive success stories. No matter how crazy she may sound at that moment the stories give her credibility and plants that seed that says, hmmmm, maybe I can do this.

In addition to the weight, body fat and overall fitness goals she also stresses heavily the vanity goals. Within 24 hours of your orientation you are out shopping for clothes that are 3-4 sizes too small for a photo shoot that you just signed up to do twelve weeks later. Not everyone signs up to do or follows through on a photo shoot but they are fundamental to the Rev Fit business model. Every other week Mariah posts another Revelation Remake to the Rev Fit blog and their Facebook followers, a success story that is really told through before and after photos. Watching for these became a favorite past time as they were hugely motivational but more importantly, at least for someone as competitive as me, they also served to push me toward my goal. You don't want to be the one that just doesn't measure up, the one whose photos are just filed away, who's photos aren't inspiring to yourself or others. So you stick to your diet, you work out like mad and you maniacally watch that scale, your heart rate monitor and that calendar.

Then the day is here. You finished your twelve week challenge, you've met your goals and you are hanging out with a photographer in your new bikini. A week later you get the first five photos back and you are relieved. You do look good, you aren't a fitness model but that isn't what you set out to do in twelve weeks is it? It was at that point I realized I didn't have my "Before" pictures that she snapped during orientation. I was curious to see the transformation in pictures for myself.

I send off an email to Mariah and 5 minutes later I have those "Before" shots along with the first of several emails, facebook messages and phone calls asking if they can use them in their upcoming ads. I think I remember one text from Keith that joked, "Think about the people you could help, do it for the people!" Release them? To that crazy marketer Mariah? My photo shoot is already all over Facebook, their blog and now she wants my "Before" photos?

I had to think long and hard about it but when I stepped back I realized that I didn't really mind the photos. Sure, I was a little heavier than I had thought but I was never really embarrassed by the way I looked. I did this challenge not to lose weight but to get back in shape so I could enjoy all Austin has to offer. To be that weekend warrior again. And most importantly to be sure I could keep up for years to come with the boys. My Dad ran 3 miles with me several times a week literally coaxing me along as I trained for high school soccer. Running three miles with Levi at 15 is daunting. I need twelve years to train! And there was my own desire to raise them to appreciate the Austin lifestyle. I want to teach them to love mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, and wake-boarding. I want them to wake up on Saturday begging to go to the lake or the park, not to play the PS2. You gotta walk the walk.

So the photos? They are me 16 weeks ago. A little heavier than I would have liked or even thought but still me. There is nothing embarrassing about them and when paired with the photo shoot twelve weeks later they are inspiring I think. Hopefully they will help push someone else to realize what a change they can accomplish in only twelve weeks. Maybe Keith wasn't joking when he said to "do it for the people".

I made the decision for those reasons to let them go, to release them to Mariah and let her use them in her advertisements to promote her business. To keep the cycle going as other people's photos had inspired me.