You are BE-YOU-tiful!!!!!

That's right! And you need to hear it!!!

Is it important to be healthy and active? Yes of course it is! You should want to be those things because it is what will allow you to play with your kids, and live a long happy healthy life where you can check EVERYTHING off your bucket list! . . . Is it important to be a size 2 while doing so? HELL NO!!! You don't need to be any size. . .just be happy with who you are. God made you in his image!

It doesn't make you a bad person to want to loose some weight, to get back into your wedding dress, to lose that baby weight, or maybe even be a size you never thought you could be. But you need to remember one thing! If you don't love yourself. . .it doesn't matter what size your jeans are, and it never will!

We are all different, and we can't judge anyone else because of that. You are a beautiful person, there are things about you that people will be jealous of and you will always have it better then someone else just like someone else will always have it better then you. . .In some ways of course! Not in all ways! We can't keep comparing ourselves to one another!

Media has poisoned us and our images of ourselves and each other. No one is perfect. Could we starve ourselves and work out 2 hours a day, 6 days a week and change that? . . . Well I suppose we could do that. But do you want to? Don't you just want to be good enough as you are and be able to better yourself at your own pace to the point where YOU are happy with yourself and your accomplishments? You don't need to win a fitness competition, you don't need to fit into this small group of people who have dedicated their life to fitness and 5% body fat.

Take up a hobby that benefits you, do yoga because you want to increase your flexibility and find peace in your life. A way to escape from the daily grind. Take walks to create some good habits and chat with a friend you have been wanting to catch up with. Make that time for yourself! You want to treat your body with love and respect, keep your heart and lungs healthy and be able to feed your body things that give you strength and balance. But don't ever make it about the way you look. Because you will always find a picture somewhere that makes you think "oh great. . .what's the point, I'll never look like that. . ."

Stop worrying if your butt is big enough, or your boobs are big enough, or your waist is small enough. . . It doesn't work like that. Would you want us all to look the same?! There is someone out there who will see you and love the crap out of you and just stare at you as you get dressed and say "You're beautiful". . .THAT is what it's all about. Don't let the media or anyone else for that matter take that away from you. No one is perfect! NO ONE!

This is an entertaining spin on ads I've seen of women, and it is 100% right!!!

Men feel the pressure too! We talk about muscle bound men, well endowed men. . .tall men, tall dark and handsome men. . .Tan men, men without body hair, men with thick hair, men with big hands. . .We list all of these things that are seen as important, and no one realizes that this is just as hard for men to hear as it is for women to hear about big boobs, and big butts and a number on a scale.

Men are suppose to be strong and manly. Survival of the fittest! And yet we do not live in a world where every guy is going to be a body building 5% body fat, well endowed Greek God. And when you stop and think about it. . .is that really all that important anyway?

I consider myself very lucky in the fact that I am with someone who takes care of his body, simple because if I wasn't with someone who did, I wouldn't either! We both have our flaws and things we would like to change, but I am no less attracted to him and he is no less attracted to me. We are not the perfect couple, body image wise or in any other way. We don't always see eye to eye and we butt heads at times. . .but when we look at each other across the room we check THE CRAP out of each other! And not just that. . .we have common interests, A LOT of them. And I know that when I get home from work and he has off, he is just as excited to order a Domino's pizza and sit down and watch and episode or two of Dr. Quinn Medicine Women as I am. I mean how lucky am I?! Those are the things that matter!!! Not making sure you both don't have love handles, or a "belly".

I mean by all means, working out is great! Working out as a couple is GREAT! But don't let yourself or your significant other ever forget how beautiful they are! Tell them every day! EVERY DAY! We have to stop this madness. . .this isn't the real world. We are REAL people, and we shouldn't be made to be ashamed of ourselves because we don't fit into this mold set by society and media alike.

Yes, it's true. We use fitness "motivators", pictures of people who are fit. Hoping to reach our own goals and be smokin' hot! But how about this. . . Don't use those images to motivate you to change your body. . .use them to change your attitude. OWN IT! Rock what you've got! The sexiest thing a person can have is confidence! So go out there, live your life and be the sexy confident person that YOU are!