A GYM SELF - PORTRAIT

I love art. It’s why I delved into fashion in the first place.

In my final project of my art class I worked on Vincent Van Gogh. One of my favorite pieces of his were his self-portraits. A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist.

It was a way of representing more than their physical attributes. A self-portrait would represent one’s vocation, announce one’s place in society and even one’s style. Picasso, Cassatt, Fridah Khalo, Rembrandt and many other notable artists expressed themselves this way.

This got me thinking of my little ritual in the gym. Gym selfies. The gym is the one place where I sheepishly walk to a mirror wearing a Monalisa smile, angle out my leg and take a picture of that person in the mirror. ME.

I take a selfie every time I go to the gym, it could either bepre- workout when my gym clothes look nice and clean or post – workout  when I am sweaty and buzzing with endorphins. I usually post these selfies on my Snapchat. I am still a huge loyal snap chat fan. May be it’s because I started with it and the people who have been watching my shenanigans have been with me on this fitness journey.

I wanted to talk about what working out means to me nowadays. It’s akin to brushing teeth in the morning. It has officially become a habit. Even on days I cannot fathom walking into the gym, I find myself strolling in there because my brain has officially been conditioned.

By consistently working out, eating healthy and drinking at least a gallon of water a day,  my acne prone skin has started clearing, my waistline is becoming smaller and my body much leaner.

Of course, standing in front of a mirror to take a picture sounds vain but that selfie says  I showed up.

I am here.

 I am committed.

I want to be healthy.

 I want to be the best version of myself and lastly, I am taking care of myself.

So like the artist of  years past, a selfie or today’s version of self – portrait is my version of representing more than my physical attributes. It represents my lifestyle.

Do you have a gym ritual?