Who is that guy?

Last night, on my way home from my swim workout, I walked past the bathroom and caught a fleeting glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. I backed up to get a second and better look. There was a guy in my bathroom. It took a second for me to realize it was a double reflection of me, or at least someone who kind of looked like me. If I covered up the face in the reflection I wasn’t certain any more it was me.

The thing is; I’m not the kind of guy that spends a lot of time looking at his self in the mirror. Sure, I look in the mirror when I’m brushing my teeth, but I’m just staring, not looking. Combing my hair, if I do it at all, takes 10 seconds. I shave every few days (and I use that term loosely), but my focus is on reducing the whiskers so I’m not so hot when I train. In my opinion there isn’t a need to spend a bunch of time looking at myself. If I was a bit vainer, I might have noticed the change earlier, or maybe I wouldn’t have noticed it all because the change was gradual.

Here I am today, and the physical changes are more noticeable. Sure I noticed I need a belt for most of my pants. I also noticed that shirts that didn’t fit a year ago fit again; some of them are even a bit large. I bought a new swimsuit last weekend, a small, made for someone with a 30 inch waist! The crazy thing is that while they fit great in the waist, they were tight in the thighs. As someone plagued with bird legs, the notion of thighs that are big for my waist is incomprehensible!

Don’t worry, I spent a total of 10 seconds looking in the mirror before I felt weird and moved on. While I appreciate all the good things this new regimen is doing for me, I’m much more interested in my weight, and the times on my watch at the end of the workout.