Accept Your Body Type

"I want your abs!".

I get this comment a lot.  While I know it's meant as a compliment, some of the people who say this are seriously trying to get abs just like mine.  They will write me telling me they've eaten what I eat, exercised like I exercise, and done their level best to emulate me.  And still they don't have my abs.  They want to know what they are doing wrong.

And here is my answer: Nothing.  They are doing nothing wrong.

See, other people doing what I do to get my abs is the equivalent of me doing what Figure Pro Erin Stern does to get her legs.  Try as I might, I'll never have Erin's legs, because I am not Erin.

My lower half will always be my weak point, the place where I will always wish I could improve.  There are broken veins and even at 10% body fat, when they are looking the best they can, there is always at least a little cellulite.  To add insult to injury, at body fat that low there's also saggy skin right under my glutes.

So what's a bottom-heavy girl to do?  I capitalize on my abs, arms, shoulders, and back (I have awesome back muscles!).  I show these parts off.  I hide my legs as much as I need to so that they don't take away from the beauty of my upper body.

This doesn't mean I don't work on my lower body, because I do.  I work REALLY hard on it, because not only do I want to see improvement there, but also because those big muscles burn the most fat.  And I need to keep my fat levels low for the sake of my health.  So for me, it's about more way more than appearance- It's about being healthy and balanced.

But I have accepted that my legs and glutes will never be my strong suit.  And you may need to accept that your abs will never be yours. Or whatever body part makes you crazy.

There are parts of your physique you can reshape:  My shoulders are naturally very slight.  I have worked to build muscle on them to help balance my wide hips. I've built up my back for the same reason.  I've added muscle, and therefore definition, to my arms.

But some things (like wide waists, big calves, and bubble butts) can't be changed with diet and exercise.  You might be very lean and still have a waist measurement almost the same as your hips, a bust line that is more than generous, or muscular calves that will never fit into a pair of skinny jeans.  Like me, you might have to get down to an unsustainable and unhealthy body fat level to get true symmetry to your physique.  The sooner you accept that the healthiest thing may for you may not be the most asthetically pleasing, the sooner you will be content with your body.

Change what you can, accept what you can't, aim for health over all, and celebrate the uniqueness of YOU!