A picture is worth...

The last 18 or so months have been about becoming a fit, healthy person. I did some pretty cool things during the last 18 months, the NYC marathon being one of the coolest. I felt pretty fit on November 7, 2010. I was running 40 miles a week so it would seem that I was in the best shape of my life.

In January I started Xfit. I also started running a lot less. In fact, the overall time I spent working out was way less than it was in September/October when I had all those endless long runs, spending hours and hours pounding the pavement. In contrast, some of the WODs in Xfit are less than 10 minutes. If I hadn't seen my uncle get completely ripped from Xfit I wouldn't have believed it could work. He was a runner too and then he started Xfit, stopped running as much, and saw a total transformation.

I'm less likely to hide when there's a camera around now but I don't often have such obvious comparisons to see where I was and where I can go. Today I got the proofs from the NYC half and I was shocked. This is the same company who did the photography for the NYC marathon so it would probably mean same cameras, same lenses, so no trickery here. It's also the exact same shot, the happy moment right after you get your medal. I didn't think I looked bad in November but I see a real difference between November and now.



It's happening for me. The Xfit transformation is happening. I run less but I know I'm more fit. It's making me rethink my next set of fitness goals.

And because the difference may not be that big of a deal when you look at other people's before and afters, I'm sharing this for the first time. My true "before."



I had already lost some weight when I took this picture. And I looked at it every month as I started making my way down the scale. I looked at it when I started running. I looked at it when I felt like it was too hard. I keep this picture folded up in my gym bag, not because I ever plan on whipping it out at Xfit but just because...

So what I thought was an "after" was hopefully a very awesome "almost there." I am inspired and awed every time I enter the box at what can be achieved through Xfit. I want that. I want that to be me.