fitness to the extreme.

fifteen weeks ago, i saw a picture of myself that completely shocked me. it was a candid shot, not posed. oh man...here it is:

excuse the poor lighting/quality...oh and the other person in the photo. lol

circa march 2013.

this was me. unposed and taken off guard. and i didn't like what i saw. i didn't feel as big as i looked. and honestly, i probably wasn't as big as i looked...nor do i look THAT big to other people. but the girl i envisioned in my head did NOT look like that and i was just plain tired and over feeling uncomfortable in my body. so that's when operation "get it right, get it tight" went into effect.

thanks to my girl, Tessa, i started hitting the gym 4-6 times a week. going absolute beast mode. a little cardio and lots of weight lifting. i started pushing myself and i set a goal: i wanted to be a fitness model. i wanted to compete in physique competitions. i wanted to feel comfortable in my skin and finally stop making excuses as to why i was so out of shape. let's be real, here. my "baby" was about to turn two years old. there's no more baby weight at that point. it's just plain fat. and yea, i was super lazy and unmotivated. my clothes fit. because i had to purchase bigger ones. but i didn't like having to take several pictures before i liked ones. i didn't like having to suck in so much. so i became obsessed.

over the last fifteen weeks, i've pushed myself to points i didn't ever think were possible. i cried. i sweated. i was in pain. i was sore. i wanted to give up. sometimes i did. but i never regretted a single workout session. and seeing my body respond to results has been amazing. one thing i've had to learn is that progress is progress, no matter how slow it is. my body reacted pretty quickly at first, but over time has started to plateau more and more. i'm now introducing muscle confusion and challenging different parts of my body to push past the current plateau. 

here's some of my progress

before:

progress:

week 1:

week 2:

week 3:

week 4:

week 5:

week 6:

week 8:

week 9:

week 10:

week 11:

week 12:

week 13:

week 14:

week 15:

i'm super excited to see where this fitness journey leads. despite having goals to compete, i've completely been taken over by this lifestyle. it's all about balance and maintaining. i'm striving to be healthier across the board. who's with me?

i document my progress and process on instagram. {@keranduh | hashtag: #fitnesstotheextreme} join me!