I had 2 hours and 4 minutes to myself during Sunday morning’s 15 km Colgate running race and during this time, two topics crossed my mind: the pair of skinny jeans I had purchased the day before and the YOU magazine cover featuring Kate vs. Kim.

Trying to find a new pair of jeans on Saturday had put me in such a bad mood. I could only find jeans that were either skinny or bootleg. Nothing in-between. In my mind, this means that you are either fat or thin. There’s no middle ground. I consider my body to be more of an in-between kinda shape. I resent the name ‘skinny’ for an item of clothing! It’s no wonder women have such issues about their bodies. 

To that point, the second issue is with YOU magazine. Last week’s cover page is shocking. To compare two very different pregnant women’s bodies using the wording waif vs. whale is disgusting. Love her or hate her but I feel sorry that so much negative attention has been focused on Kim Kardashian’s body. Why do women not stand up and support one another? Then again, it is the YOU.

The ironic thing is that as I thought about these issues, I looked around. The female runners passing me during the race where either thin or large. Some of them were tall, others were short. Each had a very different but uniquely shaped body. More importantly, all of them were strong, fit, healthy and beautiful! Trust me, there’s something to be said for running next to a chubby woman pushing a pram for 15kms and not being able to keep up!

These are the inspiring stories we need to be focused on as women. Regardless of the size of our bodies, majority of women are great role models. We should not be defined by the name given to a style of jeans or what a trashy tabloid considers acceptable.