Noticing the little changes in your body

I remember hearing as a child about how things sag and bag as you get older. And well. of course this happens, but I think most of it is from becoming inactive than it is from actually aging.

I'll take the butt for one. Neither my husband or I had nice, firm butts. They are flat and in my case, wide. Our 7 year old has a nice butt, but he also jumps and runs all the time. It's solid muscle.

I thought with age that my butt would sag and get worse, well, no, it hasn't. It's gotten firmer and nicer. So has my husband's derrière. 

Now my body has been fat for a very long time, so of course, a thinner me and fitter me is going to look better regardless. But my husband's body has always been trim, yet he looks better now than he ever has in the 20 years we have been together as a couple. He has muscle definition in his arms, legs, chest, core - everywhere basically.

My body is a wreck of stretch marks and saggy skin and muscles are again under a layer of fat as I lose my recent gains, but even I notice little changes.

Yesterday I was at the gym with the personal trainer and the other gals I'm working with. I was at the far end of the room at a machine working the triceps. I always worry about good form, so I tried to see if I could get a look at my form in the mirror on the far side of the room. What I saw shocked me. The mirror was a good 30 feet away, but I could see my triceps muscles moving/working. Me? with visible working muscles? What? And under a layer of fat? You could see it?

Today while I was getting dressed in the bathroom I could see my behind. My butt has filled out with muscle (somewhat). I could now pass the pencil test with flying colors as there is no 'fold' to hold a pencil any more. I remember doing this sometime last year and the pencil stayed... not any more. 

I look around at the older fitness instructors at the gym and older fitness enthusiasts. Their bodies look great. Maybe to them they see it's not as good as it used to be if they've always been fit, but when you compare a fit 50 year old to a standard 50 year old? the difference is HUGE. Huger at 50 than at 35 for sure.

So, I'm noticing the little improvements to my own body - a firmer butt, visible muscle movement from across the room and just an ability to do so much more than I could when I was younger. Hopefully as I get thinner and even more fit, I'll notice even more little changes and not focus on the things I don't like - the saggy skin and stretch marks and wrinkles!