What Are Hips Dips & Why You Should Embrace Your Perfectly Imperfect Self

A few days ago, I took to social media to expose a little truth behind the “Hip Dip” trend that appears to be growing like wildfire in the fitness world. It was a quick post about yet another perfectly natural part of the human body that the world has decided is a flaw. I genuinely had no idea what an outpouring of support, love, and understanding would come from sharing this post. With over 14k “likes” and hundreds of comments commiserating with me, I knew this was something I needed to dig deeper into and address more thoroughly. 

With social media so commonplace in our lives it is nearly, maybe even completely, impossible to feel like your body is good enough. All it takes is a quick scroll through Instagram to see dozens of stunning fitness models, with hair done, make-up perfect, and of course, an insanely chiseled stage-ready body. How is a “regular” woman supposed to live up to these standards? There are so many new “rules” about what defines beauty and being fit that it is emotionally and physically exhausting to keep up. For me, the “Hip Dip” trend was just the icing on a big, fat, self-esteem killing cake. 

As a teen and young adult, I was always self-conscious about these things and wondered WHY my hips weren’t smooth and hourglass-shaped like all of the other girls. I despised the fact that I had fat pockets on the outer back of my thighs (aka “saddlebags”) as well as cellulite that none of my friends had. In an effort to get rid of my “flaws,” I starved myself. I thought if I could just lose a little weight, my legs wouldn’t be “misshaped triangles.” This inability to accept myself lead to a destructive eating disorder and a horrible case of body dysmorphia (which I must admit still haunts me every now and then). The crazy thing was that even after dropping from 118 down to 89 lbs, I STILL had Hip Dips, saddlebags, and cellulite. I was just a tinier, more unhealthy version of myself. Today, it makes me sick thinking of how much I hated these silly “imperfections.”

As human beings, it is just physically impossible for us all to look exactly the same, and we are guaranteed to have physical traits that could be deemed “unattractive” by someone else. Whether it’s my personal cocktail of self-esteem killers?cellulite, thinning hair, and saddlebags?or something as simple as long toes and loose stomach skin, we all have our self-proclaimed flaws. I know firsthand how overwhelming it can be trying to “fix” ourselves to meet the world’s standard of beautiful and healthy. Again, social media being the absolute catalyst in this uprising of impossible expectations. Ladies, I am here to tell you there will be flaws. The focus on Hip Dips may fade, but something else will emerge in it’s place to make us women feel uncomfortable in our own skin. No matter what we work off, fix, or change about ourselves, we cannot achieve complete perfection. It’s time we stopped attempting to! 

Let’s break this down a bit, shall we? Are those little hip dimples, or “Hip Dips,” something to really get worked up about?! I think not. When you stop and think about it, are those few dots of cellulite on your backside something to cry over? Nope. Are your love handles, saddlebags, or whatever you believe your “flaw” to be really that tragic? None of it is! The fact of the matter is, we don’t get to choose what body template we get, BUT we can choose how we maximize the template we have through diet, exercise, and overall wellness…and more importantly, we can choose how we embrace and love the bodies we have. Let’s be honest?if you have confidence, most people will never even notice the areas of your body you are insecure about. They will only notice the beauty that comes with confidence! Feel good on the inside, look good on the outside. It just works. 

Ladies, let’s use this silly Hip Dip hysteria as a reminder to love the skin we’re in. There is no need to lose sleep over tiny physical traits we truly have no control over. All we can do is work to create the healthiest, happiest version of ourselves, so let’s flaunt those Hip Dips loud and proud and spread awareness that every body is beautiful! Got some Hip Dips of your own?! Show ’em off! Join the movement and post a pic of your own Hip Dips or whatever trait it is that society is telling you to be ashamed of with the hashtag #PerfectlyImperfect on Instagram. The fact of the matter is that as women (and men), we cannot get enough reminders that we ARE perfect as is, flaws and all! Join us, along with many others, in our Perfectly Imperfect movement. Celebrate your humanness and embrace the imperfections that make us perfect.

Grab a Perfectly Imperfect shirt, and snag one of my Perfectly Imperfect Tribe Bracelets at a discounted rate. Enter the code Powell5 at checkout to take 50% off of the Tribe Bracelets until 7/18. That?s just $12.47 for the bracelet! There?s never been a better time to take a stand against perfection! ? Because truly, we are all Perfectly Imperfect.

Scroll down for more #hipdip Instagram photos that are adding some inspiration one photo at a time (and don’t forget to upload your own)!

Xoxo,

Heidi

Related reading:

My Top 5 Ways to Fall In LOVE With Your Body
I am (still) Perfect?
Love Who You Are
I am (not) a Pinterest Mom
How I Manage My (Im)Perfectly Balanced Life

5 Responses

  1. This is my favorite blog of yours because like a lot of women I pick myself apart. Feeding myself encouragement and positivity is a daily struggle and yet a daily prayer. Thank you for your positivity!!! Mpd0416

  2. Thank you for this! My hips and thighs have always been my sore spot. Thank you for reminding me that I’m “Perfectly imperfect”!!

  3. I saw this post when you first shared it, and after reading it I was really happy that I wasn’t the only one!!

    As stupid as it sounds I really thought that I had those indents on my hips because for my whole life I always trying to squeeze into smaller pants that would constrict my hips because they would make me look thinner! … I know a silly thought to have but it’s true! I’m glad I can embrace them now whenever I can! Especially after losing 50 pounds from carb cycling, love the skin you’re in! #perfectlyimperfect

  4. Hi Heidi thanks for your blogs on being perfectly in perfect! Today I changed from a worried what are people going to think of me to doing it.I took of all my makeup off not something I do when going out went to the pool and learnt how to swim Brest stoke popery and back stoke as well. Did not care what others thought of me .I have had remarks like cant you do this at yr age I am 64 and have lost 53 lbs to reach goal.now with yrs and Chris help I am changing every think else .no more letting others controlling me .Thanks you wonderful couple love you both

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