Friday, February 10, 2012

Positive Body Image; or How the Kardashians Helped Me Love My Shape

(Warning: while this blog post may seem to be about positive body image, I spend a large portion of it discussing my behind.)

I have 2 sisters and a little brother. We are just like the Kardashians! At least according to my sister Melinda, who informed me the other day that I was Kim Kardashian. "Other than the fact that Kim's the middle sister, how am I like Kim?" I wanted to know. I've been married for 8+ years, I have 3 children, and there's no private videos of me floating around on the internet.

"Because of your butt," Melinda answered.



I couldn't deny it. It's true. Relative to my sisters, and to most anyone, my butt is large and out of proportion to the rest of my body. I recently realized this and contemplated my next steps. Do I embrace the shape and continue to maintain a similarly proportioned figure even as I lose weight? This would mean focusing on toning my derriere, encouraging it to tighten a 'la Kim. Or do I focus on cardio, shrinking it altogether. The decision is mine. The beauty of working out and losing weight is that you can make these kinds of decisions along the way.

A recent jaunt through Target helped me figure it out. I saw they had a new coding system for jeans, where each jean comes in multiple sizes and categories. Looking at the various numbered categories, I placed myself in #4: curvy hips and thighs. Positive Body Image Tanslation: Kim Kardashian would wear these. I tried on a pair and realized that not only did they slide right over my curvy backside, but that I had also gone down a size.

This confirmed it! I could continue to lose weight while also enjoy being curvy. Could I picture myself stick thin, hipless, dressing in the style of "effortless chic"? Yes, absolutely. Could I also picture myself wearing pencil skirts with an Atlanta Housewives booty, a tiny waist, and a silky top? Of course! And since that seems to be where this is going, then I'm going to embrace it, love it, and encourage it!

So here's a hearty thank you to Kim Kardashian, and to Phaedra from the Atlanta Housewives, for helping me develop more positive body image!

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