Taking Shape

  I had an interesting conversation with Katie the other day (well, I thought it was interesting. You might not, but that's what we're talking about today) about body shape. You gotta have realistic expectations and you have to learn to love the shape you have. That was a hard one for me at her age.

  When I was a freshman in high school, I weighed 95 pounds. Yep, that's all. And I thought I was fat. Seriously. I didn't keep my weight down in healthy ways. I did walk a lot (no car, so that was the option if I wanted out of the house) but I did stupid things like restrict myself to 500 calories or less a day and even the occasional purge session. Gross. And not fun. And unhealthy. But I have curves. Even at 95 pounds, I had the classic hourglass shape. I have hips, breasts, a little pooch to my tummy. I have solid legs that are thicker than I would like. I envied the girls with long, slim legs (THAT is NEVER gonna happen for me) and the flat, sometimes concave stomachs (infinite crunches and sit-ups won't change that). Clothes shopping is not always fun for the curvy girl. Blouses and jackets that are perfect through the shoulders and waist look like I'm packing 4 pounds of melons in a two-pound bag around the chest.

  If I can find jeans that fit my hips and thighs, they have a gap in the waistband big enough to wear a fanny pack on the inside (that's a sexy look!).

  But, as I got older, I learned to love my shape. The hourglass is pretty hot, when it's done right. And I've figured out what styles look best on my body type, so I appreciate shopping a lot more. These days my hourglass looks more like an hour-and-a-half glass. Like somebody sand-bagged me while my back was turned to the buffet table.

Busted!!!

  But as I lose weight and inches, get more active and healthy, the shape that's taking shape is making me smile again. As for Katie's shape, well, she's built like her dad. She has broad shoulders that would be perfect 25 years ago when the big Dynasty shoulder pads were in style. She may be the Inverted Triangle or the Neat Hourglass (Hey! I think I'm pretty neat!) or maybe a Rectangle.

  Whatever shape she is, she has to be ok with it, she's gotta love it! You can sculpt and tone only so much. These hips don't lie-they've supported two babies and they ain't going anywhere!

  So you might be thinking, well Jeff doesn't have to worry about such things. He's a man. Men don't care. Probably true. He probably could not care any less if he is the Lean Column or the Rectangle. But, he has altered some aspects of his own shape through injuries.

  You see, Jeff likes to ride quads. Fast. Is there any other way?

Speeding off in the dunes

  In his younger days, he was pretty fearless. He took a couple of tumbles and banged himself up. Not in some freaky Elephant-Man way. He's still damn sexy. But he took a spill and busted up his right shoulder. Instead of putting rods and pins and such in it, he just let it heal naturally. So it's got a bit more of a slope than the left side. He broke his pelvic bone that day, too, but that healed straight. A few years later he broke his right leg. He refused to let the doctors cut the boot off (Hey! Those things are expensive!) which I'm sure didn't help matters because they had to pull it off. Now he has a steel plate in there (Man of Steel? Wow!) and his calf is noticeably larger than the left one. He calls it his "cankle" (don't worry, he has nicer pet names for me). He acts like it doesn't bother him, so we'll go with that.

  another quad pic 'cuz I couldn't decide

   No matter how much weight he loses or how fit he gets, those things are just going to stay the same. He is just going to have to learn to love them and know he's still a handsome fella.

  We are gonna keep getting our shapes in shape.

  So, Apples or Pears, Triangles or Squares-you gotta love the shape you got.