Hugging the Curve is a weekly column by ACE Certified personal trainer Kelly Turner dedicated to help you gain positive body image and a healthy outlook on diet and exercise in a world that says you will never be good enough.  Have you hugged your curves today?

I blame the media for a lot of things, and making women feel bad about their bodies is a big one.  It’s a little more complicated that ‘the media tells women we should be stick thin, so we think we should be stick thin,’ though.  Take magazines: they write about what sells, and what sells is what people want to read about.  Celebrities are huge sellers, and they always will be. Their break ups, hook-ups, scandals and arrests- I don’t know why, but we love to read about them. Maybe to make use feel better about our own lives, who knows.

The biggest celebrity magazine seller? Diets.  Who’s gaining weight, who’s losing it, who’s losing too much- this, I know we love to read about, because it shows us that even the most glamorous people with all the trainers and chefs at their disposal still struggle with their weight, just like us.

While nameless fashion and fitness models are still shoving their 10 year old boy physiques in our faces, female celebrities, who we feel we ‘know’ and identify with, are starting to tell us that our bodies are OK just the way they are, and I think finally, we are starting to listen.

I can’t think of a better example of this than Kim Kardashian.  Everywhere you look, she’s on the cover of something, in a bikini, talking about how she loves her curves.  And who doesn’t?  I mean, holy crap, have you seen her body?

When she first busted out on the celeb scene, (I’m still not entirely sure what for,) all anyone could talk about was her butt.  It’s big, and it’s awesome, but most importantly- she has one.  Now, after so much attention has been paid to her butt and her curves, Kim has become more outspoken about her body.  Fitness magazine covers that are usually devoted to six pack abs and thighs that don’t touch are now featuring her, sending the message that you don’t have to have 2% body fat to be fit and healthy.

But, of course, no one is perfect.  Despite loving her curves, she hocks diet pills for a living, which is pretty hypocritical, and I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed, but her face is about as frozen these days as Joan Rivers, leaving a bit of room for complete self confidence, but still, if we use magazine covers as a gauge for what America finds attractive, a softer, rounder definition of sexy is in our future, and I, for one, could not be happier.

Bones are not sexy, and bones are not healthy.  It’s about time that the picture of female beauty actually includes the things women should have: boobs, hips, a butt and enough confidence to be proud of them.

(Lead image via thecount.com)