This article originally appeared on aarp.org:

I learned something new recently: we’re born with a certain shape. Sure, we can go up and down in size, but the basic silhouette seems to stick. Somewhere along the line, some clever soul decided that those of us with a little more in the middle could be compared with an “apple” or those with a bottom that’s, shall we say, overly endowed, a “pear.” For sure we want to try to maintain a healthy weight, especially as we get older, but one of the greatest gifts we could give ourselves is to embrace and celebrate our bodies for what they are, instead of trying to look like some media’s idea of the “ideal body.” The other thing I learned was this: instead of trying to fix my body, why not just make a few simple style choices that will enhance my post-50 curves? Click here to read the entire article on aarp.org. (more…)