Taut

11.24.17

I think it would have given you the giggles to see me going from mirror to mirror in my house, taking “flaccid” and “taut” photos of my core, and using a hair clip to pull my tunic top in tighter to get the image I wanted…

And primping. Close the door to the bathroom – no toilets in my before-and-after shots.

Anyway – here’s me when I let my stomach muscles go completely. This is a bit of a falsehood, since NO ONE lets their stomach muscles go completely while standing; we’d all fall over… but still. The “when’s the baby due” look is undeniable.

And here’s me after I flex all the muscles that Barbara and Grace and Chad have built within me, and Gwynn has helped me to understand. (All four wizards are found, of course, at Body Dynamics in Falls Church, VA). Rectus abdominus. Transverse abdominus. Obliques. Glutes, even. This is like a fist ready to strike…

…and this, too, is impossible. NO ONE stands like this; we’d all burst from the blood pressure. But you can do it for short periods – say, when your mother is giving you the critical eye. Can’t last…

…but every time I clench up like this, I never quite go back as far towards flaccid as I was before I clenched. Every clench seems to turn up the resting rheostat by about 5% or so… and I suspect that as my muscles become iron-willed and indomitable, I’ll get closer and closer to the “after” picture being my reality.

In the meantime, I’m capable of fooling the camera a bit – provided I have time to clench everything up like a puckered sphincter!