{"id":4982,"date":"2010-04-19T14:51:39","date_gmt":"2010-04-19T20:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withamymac.com\/news\/?p=4982"},"modified":"2010-04-19T14:51:39","modified_gmt":"2010-04-19T20:51:39","slug":"strong-sexy-thighs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withamymac.com\/news\/2010\/04\/19\/strong-sexy-thighs\/","title":{"rendered":"I love my strong, sexy thighs!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>At least that is what I will say someday… right now, it’s a (slow) work in progress.<\/p>\n

I’ve cursed them out in many dressing rooms as I attempt to fit them into skinny jeans, pull off boy short swimsuits and look feminine in trendy skirts. These incidents always turn into a self-hate session because if I could just work out a little bit harder or skip just a few chocolate cookies, maybe I could have that perfectly-portioned body that would pull off any look or style.<\/p>\n

I’ll never forget the first time my ‘trouble zone’ was pointed out. \u00a0I was 8 and had just received my very first leotard for the tumbling team. \u00a0I put it on, went out to show my parents and my dad smiled and said, “Whoa, thunder thighs!”. I beamed. I just knew that he was acknowledging how strong my legs were and what a good tumbler I was because of it! In my head, thunder was loud, commanding and strong… just like my thighs!<\/p>\n

For years, I continued to tumble and coaches referred to my approach as my ‘power run’. \u00a0Once again, I was sure they were implying how strong and muscular my legs were. \u00a0It wasn’t until daisy duke shorts and prom dresses came into the picture that I realized that my legs weren’t slender, feminine or made to be shown off in swimsuits. When I started dancing in Chicago, leotards made another dreaded appearance into my life. I wore skirts, knit shorts and tied shirts around my waist at every opportunity in class. \u00a0It’s a tough world and your flaws are called out regularly. \u00a0My thighs were too strong in ballet class, too heavy in jazz class and yet, thank goodness, perfect for hip-hop class and even overlooked in tap class. \u00a0I’ll never forget the best compliment I had while there, “Your body is really coming along. Even your thighs.” I beamed.<\/p>\n

I didn’t wear shorts for most of my 20s because I just couldn’t get past the appearance of my thighs. \u00a0They just didn’t fit my body – I’m petite, why weren’t they? \u00a0As a trainer, I knew all the exercises to tone, tighten and shrink them but for some reason, they took a stance and insisted on being muscular. \u00a0This really pissed me off for a long time.<\/p>\n

Recently, I was cursing them while trying to put on freshly washed jeans and then looked up and saw a picture of me running the 1\/2 marathon in SF a couple years ago. \u00a0That made me think of running the full marathon in Portland. \u00a0Then I thought about the years I spent hip-hop dancing. \u00a0Which lead me to think about the years I spent as a competitive cheerleader winning trophies that were taller than I was. \u00a0And what about the endless long days of video shoots that I spent on my feet? I must have been introspective that day because then I saw the wedding invitation to a friend that I rowed with at Purdue and thought about all the things I had done, friends I had made and the places I had been… thanks to my incredibly (irritatingly) strong legs.<\/p>\n

I’m a perfectionist and a control freak. I use to think that if I just tried hard enough, I could make anything happen. \u00a0In some cases this is true, but in others (too short for the Rockettes, too blind for NASA…) there is nothing I can do to change things. \u00a0I know, this is very basic, but it took me a long time to come to terms with it. \u00a0I’m now to the point in my life, where most days, I accept who I am and how I look, and I even like myself… most days.<\/p>\n

My new mantra is to thank my legs and the rest of my body when they carry me through a workout or run, allow me to hike Mayan ruins, snuba dive in Grand Cayman or surf in Hawaii. All this while knowing that maybe the price I have to pay is that in a swimsuit, my legs aren’t the most amazing ones on display and that my search for jeans will probably always end in frustration.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, they are a part of me and I’m grateful for our adventures.<\/p>\n

WithAmyMac.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least that is what I will say someday… right now, it’s a (slow) work in progress. I’ve cursed them out in many dressing rooms as I attempt to fit them into skinny jeans, pull off boy short swimsuits and look feminine in trendy skirts. These incidents always turn into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,878,877,12,23,9,8,881,880,879,21,13],"class_list":["post-4982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amy-mac","tag-body-acceptance","tag-body-image","tag-exercise","tag-fit-life","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-personal-acceptance","tag-strong-thighs","tag-thunder-thighs","tag-withamymac","tag-workout"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t