I receieved an email from a young woman named Rossana who lives in Malta and wanted to share...

Hey, my name is Rosanna, im 16 & i come from Malta..well im sending you an email because ive been constantly complaining about my thighs that arent exactly in good shape..i just have exses fat that i cant really find out how to get rid of it and turn it into muscle. Now i bought a skipping rope and till now im only managing to survive doing 200 skips as im not that fit (though i'm not fat or anything, pretty normal weight.) I'm just asking how much do you think I should do and how many times a week that will help in improving my losing of excess fat from my knee upwards. Hope you will be able to give me an answer that will help. Thank you. Rosanna

And here is my reply....

Hi Rosanna,

First of all, I encourage you to work on loving yourself exactly as you are!! Most women's thighs are "fatter" than we might wish or think they should be (Thanks in large part to the supermodels in women's magazines)....But something tells me you are a beautiful young woman who looks more fantastic than you realize! So instead of obsessing about your thighs, I'd like to encourage you to focus on self-acceptance and appreciation for your youthful, energetic body as much as possible instead!!

My website is actually about non-rope skipping....Skipping down the street instead of walking or running! Kind of like they did on the Wizard of Oz...So I'm not sure what to tell you about the number of rope skip repetitions...What I can tell you is that in my experience, when I am doing the things that involve moving my body because it is FUN and I LOVE to do it on a regular basis...Like skipping or dancing or yoga....I'm always amazed at how weight effortlessly falls off of me....However, when I'm in a place of self-judgement and frustration with my body, even if I am going to the gym on the regular basis, the weight goes nowhere fast! It's funny how that works.

So I encourage you to find exercises that make your spirit happy....and to do them with a spirit of joy and celebration rather than trying to annihilate your thighs in anyway possible...and see what happens!

Skip on!
Kim Corbin
iskip.com

"Why march to the beat of your own drummer when you can skip?" --Dave May, The Official Skipping Ambassador of Oklahoma