Get body confident: set a goal, one that excites and challenges you - Editor's Letter

Have you ever noticed that the women who feel positive about their bodies never seem to obsess about how their bodies look? These body-confident women have evolved beyond worrying about thinner thighs and flatter abs. They focus on what their bodies can do.

Want in on their secret? Set a physical goal, one that excites and delights you. Working toward your goal, you'll feel challenged physically, emotionally and spiritually. And you'll feel inspired to grow in other areas of your life.

Just ask the 23 women who took on the ultimate fitness challenge with Shape last year: climbing Washington State's Mount Rainier. Not only is this a long and arduous climb -- ascending from 5,400 feet to 14,410 feet and back in about 36 hours -- but from 10,000 feet to the summit, you're required to walk in crampons on rope teams, periodically crossing 3- to 4-foot-wide crevasses. Besides the joy inherent in achieving a goal, the lifelong value of climbing a mountain is that you learn to appreciate what your body can do for you. Any of you can climb mountains; it's simply a matter of creating and adhering to the proper training program. Let the following stories from three Women of Rainier inspire you to achieve your goals.

Climbing Mount Rainier was so hard and so wonderful at the same time! I gained an even greater appreciation for my blessings ... a strong and healthy body, a world full of beautiful places to keep exploring, and relationships with people who touch my life in special ways.

Lilian Hough, 29, New York City

This experience really has changed the way I look at the world. I'm suddenly not so afraid of taking more chances. I'm motivated to seek what I really want out of life -- career; relationships and good health.

Amy Smith, 31, San Francisco

I did not reach the summit, but I learned something very valuable: Sometimes it is not only acceptable but imperative to say, "I need to stop, this is my limit."

Melanie Jaeger, 34, Seattle

A few of our climbers are alumnae of Shape's annual Body Confident, a program designed to help attendees feel better about their bodies. These women have now moved beyond body worries to goals that inspire them and expand their relationships and lives. (See "Fill Your Life With Passion," page 40.) Success is finding your summit -- not how high or fast you climb. You only fail if you don't try.

My best to you,

Barbara Harris, Editor in Chief

Barb@Shape.com

P.S. For info on Shape's 2003 fitness programs, visit Shape.com/shapeevents.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group