It's Love Your Body Day!!!

According to MSN, October 18, 2007 is “Love Your Body Day”! I think this is a brilliant holiday, because not enough people truly appreciate and love their bodies. I will be quite honest when I say that do not always love my body. I feel that certain areas of my body could be more tone, trim, etc. (who doesn’t?). However today is “Love Your Body Day”, so I am going to list the reason that I do love my body.

I love that my body is morphing into a “runner’s body”. My legs are strong enough to carry me eleven miles and are on their way to being able to withstand 26.2 miles. My knees have grown stronger, so I no longer need a knee brace when running. For years I have never worn shorts, and I am happy to say that I now wear them when running. Running has boosted my self esteem and confidence. I am learning to love my body more and more every day.

I love that my body is learning to adapt to the water and helping me overcome my fears. I am wearing a bathing suit. In public no less! (Granted I’m still wearing shorts, but eventually I’ll get over that as well.) I love that my body is able to glide through the water and will eventually make it through my first triathlon.

I love that my body has grown physically more powerful so I am able to do the more advanced Pilates moves. My core has become stronger each week, which has also helped my running.

I love that my body is healthy and allows me to enjoy adventures like skydiving, hang gliding, kayaking, and rock climbing. I love that my body has the ability to dance. (Speaking of dancing… it does have many forms… has anyone ever tried one of those “Striptease Aerobics” classes? I’ve read an MSN article about it today, and I have always been curious about trying it… the Carmen Electra videos are pretty fun when no one is watching. lol)

…And with that, I love that my body has the ability to make others laugh. My body may not always be the epitome of grace, but its clumsiness can be quite amusing.

Although I do get frustrated with it, I love my curly hair. I would not be “Jes” without my naturally, frizzy, crazy, curly hair (To Hell with Straight Hair!).

So there we have it. I encourage others to “Love Your Body” today! Appreciate your body for all of its good points and acknowledge its flaws, because that is what makes each of us unique.

On another note, I was asked about exercises and stretches that may be done with the foam roller. I purchased my “GoFit” foam roller at Target . It came with a great DVD that shows you several different stretches that may be done with the roller. I “Googled” foam roller and came across a RW Discussion , as well as a RW article, and another excellent article with pictures from PerformBetter.com. I very highly recommend using the roller, and I’ve heard that the “stick” works just as well.