Skinny, fat, young, old, cellulite or no cellulite, women are always striving, wishing, and starving towards some kind of ideal that somehow got stuck in their head. I know this because I’ve worked with women of all shapes and sizes over the last 5+ years and every one of us has a hang-up on some part of our body that is not ‘ideal.’

We could blame the media, but the truth is that this goes back to the days of corsets and hoops skirts. The lengths women go to in order to be their imagination of perfect.

The funny thing is, you’re perfect just as you are. Now.
(Cue Mr. Darcy in Bridget Jone’s Diary)

Everyone else sees your beauty.

But, I feel you. If only your bum was smaller, your thighs were thinner or your breasts a bit bigger. Been there.

I joined at gym as soon as I was old enough – at age 16. Part of that was for training for track and lacrosse. But, really, it was because I wanted to be able to take the workout classes and be skinny.

Are you kidding me? I was skinny. That’s just not what I saw in the mirror.

Or when, as a sophomore in college, a lacrosse teammate commented on how flat my abs were and my response was that I just knew how to flex them flat. I didn’t see what she saw and I didn’t take the compliment very well.

I do still go back there sometimes. But now I’m here. In a place where I love my body. Just as it is.

I love that it’s strong and fit, not supermodel skinny.

I love that I can go for a run on a whim and rock it out, even without running consistently. That I can take my first hot yoga class and complete it without tossing my cookies (even though I felt like I might at a few points). And that I can sprint after the fool who grabbed my purse in wedges and impress the guys that showed up a few minutes too late. (Admittedly, maybe not the wisest to do that.) Or do an intense interval training run in 90 degree heat on a gorgeous LA day.

THAT is why I love my body.

So now I’m in a place where I finally make food choices based solely on sustenance. I don’t count calories, but I do avoid sugar, gluten and dairy. This means I can eat a LOT (which is amazing) and not worry about it, because I’m eating well.

I love this place.

I’ll rock a sports bra and short shorts on a workout even though my body isn’t perfectly fat free because it’s fricken’ hot out and who cares – I can.

What I love about the power of finding your personal style and dressing your body type is that clients SEE how they can dress to flatter their shape and how they’re actually perfect. Just as they are.

And then they get to this place, too.

Interestingly, when they get to this place of acceptance, losing and/or maintaining weight becomes a lot easier. You make decisions from a place of taking care of yourself. You’re not stressed about fitting in a workout or obsessively counting your calories.

I don’t think it’s the media’s fault. Yes, it perpetuates the ‘idea’ of the perfect body, but we don’t need to buy into that idea. We can take back our power. We can support the women around us. We can learn to dress to accentuate our assets.

We can love our bodies, just as they are.

What is your favorite part of your body? (Post your comments on FB since my website isn’t perfect either and the CAPTCHA isn’t cooperating).

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