Love and accept what your family and God gave you.
Unfortunately, I meet so many people who are so unhappy with their bodies. That you want to continue to better yourself I can completely understand, and actually hating your body is something I struggled with, too. I was always very muscular, and 30-40 years ago, clothing for girls was not made for a wide, muscular shoulder, small waist and strong muscular butt and legs. Shopping for clothes was a nightmare for me. At one point I had such a distorted image of my body that I struggled with an eating disorder in my late teens and early 20s. More on that next week but I wanted to make you understand that I do know the “hate” of your body. Since I am healed I realize it was one of my darkest times in my life. Today I want to help you love your body.
Everybody has a certain body type that has passed on to them through family genetics. Even when your parents and siblings don’t have that shape, most of the time when you go back in your family tree that particular shape will pop up somewhere in your family’s past. Someone with wide hips might want to make the hips smaller but when you feel your hips, and you feel bones, there is no way you can make that part smaller. Don’t get discouraged; there are some things you can work on to make your body appear more symmetrical. One thing you are not able to do is to spot reduce when working out. Especially when you are dealing with bone structure, but even dealing with fat, just because you are working that part out does not mean you are losing fat/weight in that particular area. So sitting on the ab cruncher all day long is not making the abs smaller or the fat disappear. A total body workout focusing on problem areas, enhancing other parts, lots of cardio and a healthy eating lifestyle will get you on your way to lose the unwanted fat and hopefully get the shape you want.
In my 30 years of being in fitness I have seen magical body changes.
As I have mentioned before you cannot spot reduce or change the structure of your bones. However, through working out with weights you can change the size of your muscles and therefore the appearance of your symmetry. Typically to make the changes such as making the shoulder bigger to make wide hips appear narrower, you need to have a body building program for the upper body. That means heavy weight, low reps, of course you have to start with a base to get the body ready for rigorous exercise. Higher weight and lower reps will do that. It will prepare your tendons and muscles for the heavier workout. And this does not happen in one day or a week. Have a fitness trainer assist you with a weight lifting program. Add cardio most days of the week, and abs whenever it works out for you. I know what you’re thinking – this is a lot of work. Well, if it would be easy, everyone would love their body. Hard work and perseverance can get you the symmetry you want considering your family heritage and what God gave you.Ester H Marsh, ACSM Cpt Health and Fitness Director, J.F. Hurley Family YMCA