The scale lies.
The scale must be lying because it’s not moving, not really arcing downward and yet I can see this change in my body. It’s the kind of change that usually only comes with weight loss for me. I’ve been noticing for weeks now that my belly has been shrinking. That blessed bulge every woman seems to get at some point in her life—often times I think it doesn’t appear until the 30s or 40s—has been wilting away so that already it is nearly gone.
I suppose that’s not to be entirely surprised at. While we all know that Pilates works the core, and the stomach truly is the body’s core, what isn’t always apparent is what, really, is happening. One of the muscles that Pilates works is the transversus abdominis (TVA), a muscle layer of the anterior and lateral abdominal wall which resides immediately beneath the internal obliques. The TVA helps stabilize the pelvis. It also rather acts as a girdle around the midsection. Keep that deep, TVA muscle in shape it seems and not only will you help stabilize the spine and pelvis (and therein reduce pressure on your discs) you’ll also seemingly tighten the corset. And we all know how nice and flat Scarlet O’Hara’s corseted stomach looked.
Here’s the thing, though: my new body shape doesn’t end in side view. I’m seeing a change when I face that mirror head on, too. My thighs—my Achilles heel—look smaller; my shape looks more proportional. In fact, when I stand in front of the mirror I see something I’ve never seen before, with or without weight loss: My waist—which is quite narrow by nature—looks longer. I am built with one of those hourglass shapes, but this new look is especially heartening. From the hips to ribs I look longer, taller. How delightful. Seems the fact that the scale won’t give me a break is no matter if I can keep morphing this way.
