For the past few years, I haven’t enjoyed looking at myself in the mirror. Acres of rolling fat aren’t exactly the kind of pasture Julie Andrews would want to run through while singing The Sound of Music, definitely.
Bill Phillips recommends taking a picture of yourself before starting the Body For Life program, so I asked Cathy to shoot a shot of me. I took off my shirt and posed in my boxers, trying to look like all the unhappy fat people in their before shots with their bellies and frowns out. Before she pressed the button on our digicam, she asked me if I wasn’t going to smile.
Why smile? I thought to myself. All the other fat people in Phillips’ book aren’t smiling!
Then I figured, you know what? I should smile. Because this will be the last time I will be seeing myself like this, God- and body-willing. I am going to have a body I’m proud of! So I smiled.
The shirtless Ganns that grinned back at me with chipmunk cheeks and belly all a-jiggle will serve as the ultimate motivation to get myself back on track. I should frame it!