Hi, I’d like to introduce you to the part of my body I once hated: my legs.
It has taken me about 48 years, but I’ve completely changed my thoughts about my legs, particularly my thighs.
Growing up, I always hated my legs. They have always been big.
I actually remember being on a seesaw in grade two and a girl calling me thunder thighs. I didn’t know what she meant. She pointed out that the pink corduroy pants I was wearing were too tight. Or, as she put it, ‘Your legs are too big.’
I recall shopping with my mother for pants, and the saleswoman informing her they just didn’t have women’s pants in the store to fit my “big legs” – perhaps if I tried the men’s pants?
And so began decades of self loathing. Decades of wearing skirts and capris. If I wore shorts, they were super long. I hated my legs.
When I started rowing in my late twenties, I realized these legs were also strong. But this didn’t make me appreciate them any better. They were still huge.
And then I started lifting, and eating better. My quads started to reveal themselves.
“Yah, look at us,” my quads whispered. “We are your superpower.”
Today, I hear their magical roar.
I’d love to say that as my confidence grew my legs gained size … but while lifting weights has made them more defined – the circumferences of my legs are actually 3 inches smaller than when I started on this fitness journey.
Read that again. My legs are ‘smaller’ since I started lifting weights. Weight lifting doesn’t make you ‘bulky.’
But they are more toned. I’m damn stronger. And that physical strength has changed how I feel about myself. I don’t hide under skirts and capris.
I don’t wish I was smaller anymore. I’m happy to have found this outer strength, and it is the source of my inner strength. I can feel them when I walk, with every step, supporting me when I get anxious. The legs ground me.
It’s funny that as I’ve recognized their strength, my quads have gone from the body part I like the least to the part I love the most. I love shorts season, I wish summer would last longer.
My big beautiful quads are my superpower. I am Quadzilla. Hear me roar.
Strong & Empowered 