My daughter recently cleaned out her clothes and have me two bags of things she thought I might like. This, in turn, caused me to clean out my clothes.
My first step was to try things on and decide if I’d ever wear it again. My clothes are more than four years old so I was expecting to have a lot of stuff that was outdated. That happened, but so did something else. Most everything no linger fits. What? After two years of vigorous yoga and exercise, why are all these clothes too tight and uncomfortable? I looked at the tags. Jeans were size 6 and tops were mostly small. But I don’t look bad. In fact, I feel and look stronger and healthier than I have my entire life. So, what was going on?
At the time I wore those clothes I wasn’t in as vigorous or as serious of a muscle building program as I am now. I learned in Koko fit club that muscle weighs more than fat and takes up more room than fat. My arms and legs will naturally be bigger with muscle development and my weight will be heavier (that’s why Koko uses a machine to measure lean muscle and body mass instead of a scale that just measures weight).
All that time I was getting smaller and thinking that was great, I was delusional. My muscles were weak and small and my skin was sagging. Smaller was not better. After almost a year of Koko, I am 46% stronger than when I started, my muscles have developed to fill out my skin again and it actually requires bigger clothes.
I have had to come to terms with my natural body type. If you exercise and eat right, you will lose what’s not needed and your true body type and shape will evolve. I have muscles. I’m an athletic body type. I will never be tall and gangly or wear a size two. That’s not how my body is made up. I have come to appreciate this over skinny, weak limbs and the saggy skin I used to have.
Find an exercise program you like and do it consistently. Find an eating plan made up of protein and whole grains and stick to it. Then watch your body type emerge. When it does, dress it up and be happy with it.
And so, as another day goes by, as Meg my beloved yoga teacher says, it’s all about YOU, you must think of yourself first, and…I have written.
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