You have a type. Its like a super power. And you can learn to use it, enhance it and embrace it, or you can spend your life taking a sledge hammer and chisel to it in an attempt to make it something else. Plenty of people have been successful at both. But that choice is a choice you should make for you. How you look should make you feel happy and confident, whether its embracing your natural type, or exploring something new.
In my experience, life is much brighter when you learn to work with your type rather than against it. For instance: I’m a curvy girl. Not a big curvy girl, I have model sized boobs and waist, but I’m about 4 inches “too big” around the hips to ever really make it professionally as a model. I have tried to get those inches off. In fact, for a few days in March of 2013, they were gone, but I was at the end of an extreme low-calorie diet of about 500 calories a day and HCG supplements. The instant I stopped the diet, I gained the inches back. It was frustrating, but it taught me something valuable about diets and my body.
Obviously I couldn’t LIVE on 500 calories a day. Prior to that diet I was already eating healthy - lots of veggies, protein and healthy fats - so there wasn’t much I would lose healthily by changing eating habits. So, I decided to see what else I could do to lean out and tone up. The Gym was the obvious next stop and I will have a several posts on that coming up. But the lesson I learned by looking at the “lost” ground as I gained the inches back was that my body has a place where it's happy and healthy. I would be able to force it smaller for a little while, but that was not a sustainable lifestyle. Even if you talk to professional athletes or top level beauty queens - they do NOT look like that 365 days a year. Rather, they design their lifestyle around competition so that they can peak when it counts, and give their body a rest when it doesn’t.
I have a life beyond the gym and I wasn’t willing to give it up, and personal health is important to me beyond looks. So I shifted my focus from trying to make myself new and I started embracing my natural type. Whether you’re curvy, straight, pear shaped, short, tall, there is a stunning, successful lady with your body type rocking her world whom nobody thought wouldn’t make it. Stop trying to be someone else. Somewhere in the world theres a little girl who looks like you and is looking up to you, hoping to see validation reflected in your face.
Questions for discussion and pondering:
- Whats your type?
- Take a minute to take stock of YOU and your goals. There’s not a right or wrong answer to any of these questions. They are here to help you figure out what it is that you really want to walk away with from your Fit Girl make-over.
- What do you like about your current look?
- Before diving in to change things, lets take stock of what we want to keep or enhance. It can be anything - your nose, your haircut, your favorite dress. What makes you look your best? If you are having a hard time with this question ask a friend or loved one to tell you what they like about how you look. You might be surprised by what they tell you.
- What do you wish you could change?
- For this question feel free to be honest. I, for instance have always hated my nose, and have always wished for sleek, toned legs.
- Why do you want to change it?
- I wanted my nose to be smaller so that it would be more like the classic, curved in, slightly pointed nose you see as all the rage in magazines. I wanted to look like them. As soon as I realized that I wanted the change to “look like everyone else” my nose became one of my favorite features. Sure, it's Roman….But who has a roman nose anymore? No one. Thats right. All of a sudden it's not “too big.” It's distinctive and me!
- There are some things however which might need a change. I wanted toned legs because I think they look better and that usually means you are quite fit. Fitness is different than fitting in. I decided to attack my legs in earnest and leave the nose job alone.
- What activities do you need to add to your daily life in order to make these changes?
- It doesn’t have to be extravagant. Start simple and build from there.
- Are you willing and able to put in the time and/or money to do so?
- This is where the rubber always meets the road. I was not willing to pay for a nose job. I don’t think that plastic surgery is a bad thing - but I did think that just wanting to fit in, didn’t justify the expense.
- A gym membership, however, so that I could have some accountability to work out - now that's an investment that I could make.
- You need to figure out what you are willing to put in for what you want to accomplish. Write it down and then hold yourself to it!
- What do you expect to gain from changing it?
- Acceptance? Self confidence? Overall fitness? Fitting into your wedding dress again? What do you want out of this investment in yourself? This is your chance to dream for yourself. Setting these goals will allow you to determine your progress and celebrate your success.
P.S.
There is a fun side to all this soul searching. Your type is more than skin deep. As you continue to pursue your Fit Girl goals, don’t forget to pursue that thing in life that you love; Your photo hobby, your family, your local charity, your blog...Because that is the thing that makes you come alive. What good is your fitness if you aren’t pouring equal passion into the things you love?
In high school, you probably had a type. You were the nerd or the life of the party, or maybe you were the pretty girl. Everyone always hates on these stereotypes because they “just put everyone in a box.” But I think we’ve been focusing on the negative too long. The fact is there’s power in each of those types. The nerd? Oh - you mean the smart one who could help you out with any homework? The pretty girl? Oh, you mean the sweet friend who could always help you find the perfect dress? You don’t have to stick to one type: in fact, feel free to explore! But realize that there are things that you will excel at, and don’t be afraid to embrace that part of you - that type. Because that is the thing that will light an internal fire in you and make your outer looks glow with something much more real and lasting.
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