SUMMER, SHORTS, CELLULITE, AND SPIDER VEINS

From about the age of 12, I remember feeling self-conscious about the appearance of my thighs.

 This sensitivity developed in subtle and profound ways through multiple different encounters in my childhood years.

 A cousin of mine was nicknamed “thunder thighs”...

My mother mentioning how she couldn’t wear shorts anymore...

Overhearing my aunt saying how women in our family have spider veins...

The kid at school making fun of "cottage cheese legs"...

Multiple occasions hearing someone saying something like “This food will go straight to my thighs...”

Then I began to wonder to myself about myself:

“Do my legs look okay?”

“Are they considered acceptable?”

“Should I avoid wearing shorts?”

If I ever felt brave enough to wear shorts, I would regret the decision as soon as I left the house because my mind was so preoccupied with what others might be thinking about my legs.

Or I would be cautiously repositioning myself so my thighs wouldn’t squish in a certain way that seemed to accentuate them or that might make them look lumpy.

Eventually I gave up on shorts and short skirts altogether and stuck with knee length skirts and capri length pants just so I wouldn’t have to worry about it...

But I always a lingering sense of self- devaluation regarding the appearance of my legs.

Before learning German New Medicine, I had no idea that my negative feelings towards my legs could actually cause physical changes to the tissues of my body.

I thought my negative thoughts about myself were kept private in my mind and that, beyond feeling bad, they wouldn’t affect anything about my legs or my life.

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT, IN ITS OWN WAY, MY BODY WAS LISTENING TO EACH THOUGHT...

And that each time I was struck with the devastating realization that my legs were not good enough, my body went to work to remedy the situation as best it could.

According to GNM, our bodies respond to profound feelings of self-devaluation by remodeling connective tissues like bone, muscle, fat, and blood vessels.

The tissues affected depends on the type as well as the depth/severity of the self-devaluation.

In nature, there is no such thing as being "too fat" or "ugly" in the purely aesthetic sense...

So when you are feeling unattractive or unfit, your body interprets this as being not strong enough to survive in your environment.

And the body’s biological solution to this to make your tissues stronger!

To accomplish this strengthening, first there is tissue loss or necrosis during the active conflict period.

Then, once the conflict is resolved, there is tissue restoration and reinforcement.

If you are in a habit of mildly devaluing the appearance of your thighs, your body responds by remodeling the fat tissue and/or the superficial blood vessels.

Once the conflict is out of your mind or you've resolved it, the tissue begins restoring and replenishing itself.

If this occurs in an ongoing cycle, it can result in the appearance of cellulite or spider veins in the region of the body that has been devalued.

Then, because most people are not aware of this connection, the person tends to devalue their appearance even more because of the very tissue changes that occurred as a result of their initial appearance-based self-devaluation.

I learned about the importance of positive self-talk regarding your body before I learned about GNM, but with this added a deeper biological understanding to it.

Now it made even more sense to break the habit of hating on my legs and to build a new habit of loving and encouraging myself regarding (and regardless of) the appearance of my body.

I am proud to say I love my legs today more than I ever have in my own life...

And I own (and wear) more pairs of shorts than ever before!

With my new outlook on my legs, instead of hiding them or feeling embarrassed about them I find ways to make them even stronger and lovelier.

I love my legs (and myself) enough to make my legs (and myself) even better rather than hating them so much that I make them worse.

I have found that it is very powerful to combine mindset shifts with physical behaviors that I believe are helpful for creating the outcomes I desires because each serves to reinforce and magnify the other.

I've added in self-care like dry brushing, cupping massage, and exfoliation as well as workouts like sprinting, barre classes, yoga, pilates, and dietary supplements like collagen.

I'm no longer using these interventions to "fix" the appearance of my legs, but because I enjoy them, they enhance my experience, and they help me in feeling better about myself and my body.

If you are interested in coaching regarding your body image, self talk, and self-devaluation conflicts, schedule consultation with me.