Debunking the 'muffin top'

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Muffin top, turkey neck, pooch, back fat, cankles, armpit chub, flappy arms…

Pick any little part of your body that you hate, and there’s certainly a name for it. Its part of the battle with weight: naming and destroying all those little parts.

My fiancé and I had engagement photos taken last weekend, and our photographer, Emma Loo Photography, did an amazing job. My fiancé and I had a great time at the session, mostly horsing around and laughing at one another. We’re not really the gaze-longingly-around-a-tree type couple, and that loving look that so many people capture on camera is much more likely to be a laugh between the two of us.

Despite having great results from our photos, as soon as I looked at them I attacked every little hated nook and cranny of myself. I’m particularly sensitive about the double chin, love handles, and belly flub that I see. I found myself Googling weight-retention in the face, since I am one of those particularly lucky people who features their last ten pounds right on my cheeks and chin. In case you’re curious, there’s no reliable way to lose that fat, except of course losing weight all over. One site suggested chewing gum to tighten the jaw line. Needless to say, I nonsensically bought Stride in bulk this week.

Why do we feel the need to assail each and every tiny element of our bodies? I hear even the most fit and trim of women lament their tiny belly pooches and extra arm skin. People go to great lengths to remove every little bit of imperfection from their bodies. More than ten billion dollars is spent annually on plastic and cosmetic surgery in our country. If you can’t beat it, lipo it! Here’s the problem with that: once the belly pooch is gone, we find something else we don’t like about ourselves. Then we add chin implants, Botox fillers and lip injections to fill back in the fat pockets we took off!

The worst part? I totally get it. If I could, I would probably suck off that extra 30 pounds myself! However, I’m not one for the easy way out, and I want to improve my health as well. So I’m hitting the elliptical and changing my diet, and not sweating the small stuff. Sometimes our imperfections are truly what make us the most beautiful. Look at Cindy Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Beyonce! Without their socially unacceptable flaws, they would simply be another not-quite-as-interesting superstar.

This week, I’m practicing loving myself a little more… chipmunk cheeks, muffin top and all!

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