"Curvy Girls" effect

Recently I was watching television with Babe and if you know anything about watching TV with a man, you know that there's a whole lot of channel surfing that goes on. Babe is no exception. But this particular night he landed on "Curvy Girls" and it captured our attention.

It's a reality show about four women trying to make it in New York City as plus-size models. There's one woman, Lornalitz, who has a beautiful body: curves in just the right places, a little meat just where it should be, and not much jiggling - if you know what I mean.  But then there's Ivory who's body would be my ideal build if I had the choice. Ivory has an hour-glass figure that seems to look amazing in almost everything she wears on the show. I'd take Ivory's build with Lornalitz's muscle tone on any given day if I had my druthers!

Now, all that said, I have spent some time trying to work on my body in an effort to get healthy, avoid diabetes, heart disease, and cancers related to obesity.  But as I've noticed changes in my body, I had an idea as to what I wanted my body, my temple, to look like. My desire to become certified as a personal trainer led me to think I wanted my body to be well-defined.With much disagreement from Babe and even Nas, I still had my mind set on getting tight all over. Not body builder tight, but defined.

That's not so much the goal at this point. I call it the "Curvy Girls" effect. Being a woman is something I deem a beautiful thing. Not that muscles are for men, to the contrary, I am fully convinced that a body changes dramatically when we build muscle. Women can do cardio until their lungs pop out of their chests, we'll even see weight loss, but when we lift weights we shape our bodies and that is what makes us not just smaller versions of our previous selves, but a more shapely version as well. Now, I know I cannot obtain Lornalitz's body because I'm not built that way, I'm pretty close to straight up and down now, but the womanly assets I do have will not be turned into tight, defined parts. I want to have boobs, I love having thighs and shapely legs, and I want my arms a bit thinner but not overly defined to look less feminine. My shoulders have taken on a very nice femininely squared shape and my butt needs some more lifting, but I like having a little junk to fill out my pants and dresses! I am a woman after all.

So how has this previous mental image of myself and the Curvy Girls image meshed? I just don't want to jiggle. No flab on my arms, none on my stomach - okay, not a six-pack as I'm not interested in such a commitment, but the pooch I had at 18 is more doable. This abdominal situation is no joke so I know that will take some time and weight loss, fat loss! But I'm in it to win it because I like feeling comfortable in my own skin and I feel like I'm closer to that than I've ever been post-babies!

I don't know where this journey (it is definitely a journey!) will take me, but I know that as long as I do my part and keep sending the prayers up because I know from where my strength comes from, God will see me through to whatever He sees fit for my body to be. Lord knows I'm a better me when I feel good about me...aren't we all?