First of all, I'd like to thank my body. Without it I wouldn't be here...

Heyyyyy youuuu guys!  It's Love Your Body Day and seriously, if just for one day, I encourage you to celebrate what that fine machine of yours has given you the ability to do.  Modern media has convinced us that a teeny, tiny, practically non-existent body is supposed to be the holy grail of shapes and in reality few people naturally fit that build.  Therefore, potentially many wasted hours/days/years of the greater majority's life is spent lamenting why those curves and rounded tummies won't go away.  It's time to GET OVER IT and appreciate what you got, just like my body hero, Christina Hendricks.

She WORKS IT and makes no apologies for being the way she is.  She (and/or her stylist) know what flatters her shape the most and she looks amazing.  She told Health.com "Q: What is your best advice for reaching total body confidence? Do you have it?
A: I guess my mom raised me right. She was very celebratory of her body. I never heard her once say, 'I feel fat.' " So for that, I have to agree and give major props to my mom for raising me similarly.  Our family consists of various shapes and sizes and never once did I get a memo that my size was unacceptable (apparently I was put on blast in dance class but luckily that blew over my head.  I wasn't trying to be a Rockette, ya heard?!) 

This article includes an extraordinary image of how much plastic surgery the model would need to achieve Barbie proportions.  Let's cut to the chase:

Yikes.  I don't think a carved out neck like that could hold up a human head.

An eating disorder survivor made a life-size model of Barbie and it looks like a circus act!

I'm not going to lie, there are some days I wish my pants slid over my hips a little easier and it makes me temporarily sad to get rid of clothes that don't fit anymore, especially since I have a scrapbook memory and remember how long I've had the item and the approximate last time I wore it... but I quickly snap out of it and remember that feeling comfortable and confident in my chosen outfit is head and shoulders better looking that squeezing into something a size too small.  Vanity sizing doesn't do much for our psyche either so rather than stress about the number or size on a hidden tag, I buy clothes based on how they fit and tailor them to fit me even better.  (Shout out to my "teachers" Stacy London, Clinton Kelly, Tim Gunn, and Nina Garcia for preaching that expecting clothes to fit perfectly off the rack is NOT typical!)

Besides being a medium for me to dress up, I've got to thank my body for being intelligent and healthy to get me through grad school, able-bodied to work, hike mountains, finish 5 and 10ks, bench press, chase around my silly dogs, love, laugh, and dream.

Respect.

Completing my first 10k last year :)