Hello? Hey, Legs! Yeah, I am sure you hear this all the time, but I wanted to talk about your muscle tone... What? No... the lack of it...

People are always complimenting me on my legs. Even strangers. Seriously. Sometimes, its a little weird - for example, this random guy approached me at Whole Foods last week to inform me that I had beautiful legs, and to inquire what my leg routine was. Really, I don't even have a leg routine, I just run a few nights a week and pretty much live in high heels. Plus, I spent the majority of my childhood alternating between riding my pony (Ginger, see photo) and playing basketball. In short, its a recipe for toned legs. Now, I am not trying to toot my own horn, but, I am going to own it as my best quality. I mean, I abhor my entire midsection, think my arms are like pudding stuffed in beige nylons, but have graciously been blessed by the gods of the genetic lottery with naturally muscle-y, toned legs. Well, the legs and my baby blues. **Thanks Dad!**

Lately, I am not believing these compliments. Well, Ally will attest to the fact that I don't take compliments well in general, but usually when I receive comments about my "nice stems" (ahhh.... Clueless. Classic.), I smile and say thank you, because deep down, I believe its true. The last two weeks - things have changed. I am trying skirts on and discarding them for pants - which never happens. I am a skirt girl. Above the knee skirts have a permanent place in my wardrobe through all seasons. Skirts with heels, skirts with tights, skirts with flip flops, skirts with boots.. you get the picture - I just love skirts.

Well, things have changed. No longer can I see two markers that I have always treasured on my legs, 1) The divot between the two heads of my gastroc, and 2) the outline of my vastus medialus and sartorius. Here's a little anatomy lesson for you (sorry, this comes from my extensive exercise science background... I know the names of all the bones, markers, and muscles in the body... in a weird, Special Ed-ish kind of way). The diagram makes up the group of muscles commonly known as quadriceps. I USED to have definition BETWEEN the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, and my sartorius. Now, my leg is one big blog of muscle. The definition has been buried. Needless to say, its buried under a cozy layer of fat. While I have tried to convince my self my legs are just proactively preparing for winter by adding a layer of warmth, deep down in my heart of hearts, I know this is not true. They have gotten soft. Literally. Ew.

So, Ally's wake up call was blood pressure. Mine was the sudden disappearance of a particular divot on my leg. Vain? Yes. A bit perhaps. But the thing I owned as being my one redeeming physical quality no longer being as good as it should?! BIG PROBLEM! Time for some change. Time to de-fat. Time to add miles to the run, spend a couple hours a week on the stairstepper, start working on some lunges and squats and create a leg routine for myself. Time to take back the tone!

This is simply unacceptable. Period.

P.S. If you have toning suggestions, PLEASE throw them out there - I love trying new things!