I was very young when I realized my legs were bigger than most of the girls at school. 

I looked in the mirror and noticed that there was no space in between my thighs like the models in the magazines, and my legs rubbed together. 

I hated seeing models with skinny, toned legs who could wear shorts that I couldn’t fit into, or looked completely different than I did in a pair of jeans. 

Then I started to lift weights. Suddenly the game changed. 

My big thighs were an asset, instead of an unattractive quality that I should try to hide. Big thighs meant I could squat more weight. The first time that a skinny girl at the gym said to me, “I wish I had your legs” I almost laughed out loud. My legs?! No chance. She had the skinny thighs I had always dreamed about.

When the hot weather came, I saw girls in the gym wearing short spandex shorts and showing off their muscular legs. “No way can I pull that off,” I thought to myself while I stayed in my permanent state of leggings for workouts.

As I focused less on what my legs looked like, and more on what they could DO, I started to appreciate my big thighs more and more. It was easier for me to think of them as an asset instead of something I didn’t like about myself. 

Soon I found myself just “trying on” a pair of short spandex shorts. The first time I wore them, I felt super self conscious. Then suddenly I was adding more of them to my wardrobe and finding little bits of definition in my quads that made me do a double take in the mirror. 

My legs even got BIGGER. What would have caused me to have a meltdown, didn’t bother me anymore. I knew that my legs were bigger because they were more muscular. They were stronger. I could move more weight at the gym. I could run faster, and jump higher. That's what I was focused on.    

I finally found myself surrounded by other people who celebrated what our big thighs were capable of. In the gym, having my legs was something that people strive for. They aren’t trying to shrink themselves to fit the norm that is set from malnourished models in the fashion industry. They aren’t afraid to take up space. I finally found the place that my legs and I belonged. 

So if you are out there somewhere wishing you had small legs, I hope you are rethinking your thought process.

Appreciate your legs for what they are: STRONG. POWERFUL. BEAUTIFUL.