Happy Hump Day! Wednesdays are always better when you are on vacation. Half of the vacation is finished but yet the other half of the adventure is still to come! I’m skiing in Utah this week. Nice change of pace from the rain. I’m an ok skier, not great, but not bad either, but I’ve got these strong, powerful legs to help me….and because of my daily training, I haven’t been sore! I wrote this article awhile ago, but thought it was appropriate to post today. Have a great day!
My body is strong, it is powerful, it is graceful, it is mine and I am unique and I love my perfectly imperfect body!
We all have parts of us that we wish we could change whether it be physical or emotional, right? If your answer is no, please share your secret, because for most of us we are perfectly imperfect. For me, I used to want to change my thighs. Yes, my thighs, you heard correct, I used to despise them. Allow me to paint the picture: I had big legs and a tiny waist. Buying jeans was not fun and nearly impossible. My solution was to buy jeans a size or two bigger to fit my legs, leaving way too much material around my waist. Snug fit in the thigh and rear and cinched in tight at the waist with a belt so that the fabric would overlap. Add to that the style of the 80’s with the cuffed and rolled bottom of the pant – I looked like a balloon. Tres chic? I think not.
I was a cheerleader in high school and when I wore my cheerleading uniform the boys would always call me “Earl” and yell “Hey Earl” when I walked by. I never understood why they called me Earl until one boy explained that it was in honor of Earl Campbell. The football player who was nicknamed “Thunder Thighs” for his massive, powerful legs and ability to rush for lots of yards and score lots of touchdowns. Ouch! At 16 that’s not exactly what you want your guy friends referring to you as.
That’s the first thing I would notice about people, their legs. What kind of legs did they have? Did they have thigh gap? How big were their legs? I stopped wearing shorts or skirts and stuck to pants. I did wear yoga pants though. I did feel that I looked okay in workout clothes.
Then, I competed in my first bodybuilding competition and my legs were transformed into muscles that stood out! I won first place in a few shows with my proportions. I then switched to Fitness Competitions, which required a dance component as well. Those muscular, powerful legs let me jump sky high as you can see in this picture.
These powerful, muscular legs led me to the top of many Fourteeners (14 thousand foot mountain peaks). They propelled me to the top of Vail Pass at 10,662 ft, on a road bike, after living at sea level for many years.
After becoming a Pilates Instructor my legs transformed in shape to a much leaner look. They are still as strong as ever, but they look different. My pants started fitting different in the thighs after taking up Pilates.
And now? Now I’ve learned to love my legs. They are no longer an issue. I wear shorts, I wear skirts and even swimsuits. I embrace what I consider to be my perfect imperfection. Would I still like some thigh gap? You bet, but that doesn’t consume me or how I think about myself. I’ve learned over the years to embrace my body for what it can do and not so much how it looks (although let’s be honest, I do work out for the health benefits and I’m not sorry for how it aesthetically makes me look).
My body is strong, it is powerful, it is graceful, it is mine and I am unique and I love my perfectly imperfect body!
This year, let’s embrace our imperfections and see them as assets instead of liabilities.
Please share your “perfectly imperfect” story with me here if you would like. I’d love to hear from you!