Are you checking me out? Oh wait, thats ME checking me out.

Hey there fitness nation!

Let's be honest here for a minute ok? Have you ever walked past a mirror and checked yourself out? I mean, like, walked past one, and looked over at your reflection as you passed by, just to see your reflection. Ever done that? I have a bad habit of checking myself out, and I try to be discreet about it, but hey, I have lost a lot of weight, I like what I see now! If you are anything like me, you probably do this too.

So here is how it usually happens, I might stop to wash my hands while at the gym, and while washing, I am likely looking at myself in the mirror. I then walk out towards the doorway that enters the gym, (which is lined with mirrors) and I will look into the mirrors to check out my ass, at least once. All over the gym, there are mirrors, and you can bet, if I pass by one of them, I am probably admiring my progress!

That's not even the worst part. I do this at home too, less discreetly. I try on new clothes, I take them off. I stand backwards to see if my butt has lifted any higher, and I examine the backs of my thighs. I turn sideways, I flex, I push out my chest, and I tuck it back in. I pose, I smile, I pop out one hip and stand with attitude. I hold my arms out and shake my "wings" that are a lot less fatty than they were before. If people watched me do this, they would think I was crazy (That may be true though.)

Tonight, I was rubbing my shoulder with my hand and noticed they were a lot more bony than I remember them. I sat there with my arms crossed, feeling my shoulders up for like 15 minutes, as if I were reunited with my long lost shoulder bones. I am sure it looked silly, but I havent been thin enough to feel bones in quite some time (I prefer the muscle feel, but that part of a woman's shoulder is almost always bony) and it was exhilarating! This provoked me to start feeling the rest of my body just in case there were other changes I had missed.

So as I was sitting there, rubbing my arms, legs, midsection, back, and butt, my daughter walks in and asks me what the heck I was doing... Well, I didnt really know what to tell her, so I said I was dancing. Friends, do NOT tell your kids that you are dancing if you are caught in that situation, because when they do it, you will have a lot of explaining to do later. I had to tell my 4 year old daughter that this was a mommy-only dance and that she wasnt allowed to try that until she was older. Naturally, she thought it was funny, and got her little brother to do it too. So now both of my kids are in my living room, rubbing their arms and legs and backs and bellies and giggling, and I feel like a total idiot haha.

But lets be honest here, we all catch ourselves admiring or observing that hottie in the mirror, right? I personally, dont think its anything to be ashamed of (unless your kids start making a dance out of it) because we are all looking for progress, and when we get it, we want to see it. You should be PROUD of your progress, and even if no one else sees it yet, keep looking at it with your own eyes because it will keep you on track.

Eyes on the prize, right? Your body is your prize, and you should always treat it as such :)