If you could have ANY one thing...

"If you could have ANY ONE thing in the ENTIRE world, what would it be?" -Boz

I was asked this question by my Professor in this semesters Intro to Mind & Body techniques class I am taking (and, yes, he told us to call him "Boz"...how cool is that?). This class is all about the connection between your mind and the reactions it causes in your physical body...I'll get to more about this class and how it's touched mine and her life already. But, for now, back to the question at hand.

"If you could have any one thing in the entire world, what would it be?"

Within 0.25 seconds, I came up with my answer...


No Cellulite!


Cellulite. This was the first and foremost thing I, she, thought of. I almost screamed it outloud. But, really?!? It hurts my own heart to know that when asked an infinitive question such as this, the very first thing I thought of was cellulite? Ridiculously absurd, right? Horribly selfish, right?

I can't deny that I feel that way. Oh, wow, what I would give to not have the ridiculous amount of cellulite I have. And, I have this cellulite with about a 22 BMI, weighing 145ish, seriously working out an average of 4 days a week, if not more. Still...cellulite. A lot of cellulite.

What the heck is this cellulite anyways?

"The term cellulite refers to the dimpled appearance of the skin that some people have on their hips, thighs, and buttocks...The lumpiness of cellulite is caused by fat deposits that push and distort the connective tissues beneath skin, leading to the characteristic changes in appearance of the skin...Cellulite is not directly a function of excess weight, but a genetic difference in the way adipose tissue and connective tissue form."*

What the heck causes this cellulite?

"The dimpled appearance of cellulite can be considered to be a normal variant -- one way that many perfectly normal human beings look. Heredity, skin thickness, gender, the amount and distribution of body fat, and age can all influence the extent to which cellulite is present or visible. While cellulite is more common in women than men, men can also be affected. Cellulite occurs in people of all races living all around the globe."*

OK, so, its 1) normal and 2) common over the entire Earth.

OK, so, then, why the heck is this cellulite considered so damn taboo?

Hmmm... let's see...
You can check out at any grocery store line at any time and most likely see a (ridiculous) gossip magazine negatively blasting some famous figures now even more famous cellulite caught on some beach somewhere.

Do you know the only message this sends to our entire Western culture? CELLULITE IS AWFUL...IT IS DISGUSTING...IT IS REPULSIVE...YOU CANNOT HAVE CELLULITE... IF YOU DO, IT WILL BE HORRIBLY REGARDED & TERRIBLY DEGRADED.

Wait? What the heck? That's not fair...actually, that is so incredibly WRONG! It is in my genetic makeup to be predispositioned to have this cellulite stuff...my mom has it, my sisters have it, my grandma has it... I didn't ask for it. I never tried to have it. But, because of you, society, and your magazines, gossip world, I have been conditioned to catastrophize & awfulize the fact that my legs and butt choose to store and deposit fat in the way they genetically do. I really cannot do much about getting rid of it. And, guess what folks, treatments don't work...not unless you spend A LOT of money and continuously get "treated" will they have a mild effect on your "cottage cheese" as society has so affectionately nicknamed this genetically based skin appearance.

Writing this blog makes me angry, honestly. It makes me mad that I have been exposed to such things and that they have undoubtedly been a causal factor to my insecurities, poor body image and resulting disordered eating habits and thought processes.

We have got to change this view. As a society, we cannot have little innocent toddler aged girls (and boys) who have not yet learned to be self-conscious about their bodies become that way because of what society deems to be okay or not, pretty or ugly, worthy or unworthy.

We are all born beautiful. We are all born worthy. We are all born without concern for what others think...we all take our first steps without a self-conscious concern that speaks in the back of our minds saying "What if I fall?" "Who might see me?" "Who will judge me?" If only we could remain without these learned and conditioned self-conscious thought processes... We would all be a lot more powerful. A lot more positive and confident. A lot LESS judging and we just might censor and criticize much less...


*(quoted information taken from: http://www.medicinenet.com/cellulite/article.htm)