Here I am on April 30th, 2004 doing a amateur bathroom shot and wearing my usual uniform. I make no apologies for my bleak appearance, no makeup, and no effort at better posture or "sucking it in" to improve the shot.

You can take before and after pictures on the same day. Posture and how you pose can make a dramatic difference. Try it yourself. First stand slouched over, stick your gut out, throw your shoulders forward. My what a pretty picture that would make, right? Now, stand up nice and straight, pull those shoulders back, pull in those ab muscles, and Wow! what a difference it can make. That's a trick they use in many weight loss magazines showing before/after pictures. If you look closely you can tell when they've done this. Especially check the hair lengeth and style. If they are identical, likely they took the pictures on the same day but made the model stand better and used better lighting.

I'm 47-years old in these photos, so this is my proof of the result of consistent exercise and a basically "clean" diet. I say basically because if you read The Daily Bites, you know I'm no longer living like Ms. Fitness but I have figured out this "how to stay in shape and live a real life" lifestyle. I don't suggest anyone follow a plan that I don't do myself.

Update: Fast forward, it's now late 2006. The gym has expanded, recently I added a Gravitron (yipee!) so I could do assisted pull-ups, and a leg press. The Olympic Bench Press was actually added right about the time I took the other photos.