A tall hat or high heels are the only things that’ll add inches! | Source: Shutterstock

That said, I’m super annoyed that one fitness chain in the UK is claiming that their new workout program, A-Grow-Bics–in which people do yoga, hang upside down from their ankles, and get stretched out on something that looks like a crazy Medieval torture device–can add up to two inches to someone’s height.

The thing is, unless your bones actually grow more (which um, they’re not going to after you’re around 17 or 18), you’re not going to grow taller. Plus, whatever happened to workouts being about being the best YOU? Why do I need to be taller (other than the obvious benefit in the grocery aisle)?!

Frankly, it’s insulting that this A-Grow-Bics program even exists. The fact that there’s an exercise program designed only to make you grow taller means that they’re saying tall people are better; that it’s more desirable to be long and lanky. That short people suck.

Here’s hoping other shorties are seeing through this lame scheme and that this stupid workout will go the way of the dinosaur, fast. I’d hate to think that any petite princesses out there are wasting their dollars on a nasty looking torture rack when they could be spending it on ice cream instead.

What do you think? Would you grow taller if you could? Do you think this workout might work? Tell us in the comments!

This Girl Can’t Ever Wear High Heels!

Catch Us On The Tweet Side!

Good thing I love heels! | Source: ShutterStock

I first realized I was short when I was in middle school. In my small Catholic school, our teachers used to line us up by height every day. I was always in the front, tied for first position with my equally tiny friend Damary. Whether we were walking into the cafeteria for lunch, filing into church, or going outside for recess, I was almost always leading the group. The boys would giggle as we took our position and say things like, “Are you guys ever going to grow?” Whatever, they had cooties anyway.

At first, I assumed I would grow to be tall. I thought that by eighth-grade graduation, I would have taken my place in the back of the line with the other long-legged kids in my class. But then, during a weekly visit to my very Italian great-grandma, I realized that she was 4’10, and I started to get worried. Later, I noticed that one of my older cousins, at 5’7, stood towering over the majority of my family. I heard a 19-year-old cousin talking about how she had finally realized she was done growing. She was 5’0. Things started to look bleak.

One day, I came home and complained to my mom about my height. “Will I ever grow?” I wailed to her. “Will I always be in the front of the line of everything?” My mom just smiled and told me the truth: my family is tiny (like a lot of Italian families), and there was no getting around that.

I was devastated at first (my dreams of being a supermodel suddenly seemed ridiculous), but I got over it pretty quickly. For one thing, I enjoyed being called petite. To my younger self, it sounded like “princess” (I have no idea why), and obviously, being a princess was my ultimate goal in life, so there was that. For another thing, I noticed that all of my older cousins who I looked up to were short – and that made it much more cool.

At 14-years-old, I had reached 5’0, and I knew in my heart I was done growing (and I really was). I embraced being short. Not only could I squeeze through crowds better than anyone I knew, but boys were always calling me “cute” and “adorable” and resting their arms on my shoulders. Okay, that last part got seriously annoying after a while, but it was fun when I was younger.

Hayden Panettiere and I share the same height | Source: DFree/ShutterStock

Honestly, I can’t tell you the main reason why I started loving my height – I just accepted that I was always going to be short, and I decided to own my vertically challenged genes instead of resent them. I remember complaining about my height to one of my best friends, who was nearing 6’0. She groaned and said, “Don’t even start. You’re so lucky that you’re tiny. I wish I could shrink to your height.” That day, I realized that the saying “the grass is always greener on the other side” was true. Maybe I was jealous of the tall girls, but maybe those tall girls were jealous of me, too. It was silly to me. Why obsess over something you can’t change?

Don’t get me wrong–there are definitely some annoying things about being short. It’s a little bit embarrassing when eight-year-old kids are towering over me. I always have to ask for help when trying to get something on a high shelf, and for some reason, people always find that really amusing. I also have a baby face, so I’m almost always mistaken for being at least five years younger than I actually am (but I’m told I’ll appreciate that one day).

Oh, and I’m never thrilled when new people I meet feel the need to tell me I’m petite. Example: “Wow, you’re so short! How tall are you?” Thanks for the (rude) reminder, guys, but I do own a mirror. I’m fully aware of my height.

But in the end, I would never trade my height with anyone (and if I really want to add a few inches, I know how to rock a pair of heels). Being short is just a part of who I am–and that might sound corny, but I like to think of it as one of my defining features. It makes me stand out. I’d rather embrace it than hate it any day.

Are you short? Or are you tall? Do you wish you were a different height? Tell us about it in the comments.

How one girl learned to love her small boobs

Words my momma taught me!

Most moms tell their kids to stand up straight, and mine was no exception. But no matter how often she begged me to fix my posture, I kept slumping my shoulders and crouching low in chairs at school.

It wasn’t that I wanted to disobey my mom, it was just that I wanted to do anything to hide the fact that I was 5’9” by age 12—a height that literally put me head and shoulders above most girls and boys in middle school.

I kept comparing myself to the other girls my age, but they all looked petite and cute while I felt like a giant monster. How would any guy be attracted to me when I towered over him? What made matters worse was that I wasn’t athletic at all, so I couldn’t even use my height to be the star of the basketball or volleyball team. But besides slouching, there wasn’t much I could do to be smaller. I got used to bending my knees to fit into group photos, wearing flats instead of heels, and special-ordering pants that could actually make it all the way down to my feet. Going to the mall with the girls? No luck there for me.

He made me feel like this guy.

I still remember the worst moment. I’d gone to see a ballet with a good friend. About 10 minutes into it, the guy behind me tapped me on my shoulder and asked if I could sit down lower in my seat so that he could see over my head. I have never been so embarrassed! I spent the rest of the show trying to be as small as I could—and feeling super self-conscious.

But then, when I went off to college, something crazy happened. My friends started talking about my height—not as a feature I should be embarrassed of, but as something they all were jealous about! And guys would constantly compliment me on how tall I was.

Taylor's taller than everybody. And GORGEOUS!

I started looking at myself a little differently in the mirror—if everyone else saw my elongated body as beautiful, why didn’t I? From that moment on, I decided to embrace it.

That’s why today, you can usually see me wearing kick-butt 3-inch heels, with my shoulders thrown back proudly. Sure I still bend my knees sometimes to fit into group photos (nobody likes their head to be cut off!), but my mom never has to remind me to stand straighter.

Are you a tall girl, or do you wish you could grow a few inches? Tell us in the comments!
be smaller

Trust me, it works like magic.

Call me your genie in a bottle, gurl! So, full disclosure: I’m really short. Or, as my mom likes to say–because she always wants to make things sound nicer than they really are–I’m “petite.” And although I’ve pretty much come to terms with my mini-stature, and even love some things about it (I mean, I fit into some kids sizes. Hello, bargains!), it’s the one thing about myself that I’ve always wished I could change.

It kind of sucks always looking like the kid sister in your friend group–even when you’re the oldest one there! The thing is, short of clomping around on 3-4 inch heels every day to be taller (which I’ve been known to do!), I always figured there wasn’t a darn thing I could do about my height.

I'm the tiny one on the right. Hair, attitude, everything.

Magically, a few weeks ago at yoga, my super cool teacher proved me wrong with a very easy trick. She said I tend to stand with my hips pushed back, my ribs up, and my shoulders back—so from the side, my body has a C-curve to it; almost like a reverse slouch.

So I tucked my hips under, and tipped my torso forward to create a straight line from my hips to the top of my head. I felt taller instantly! Then later, when I looked in the mirror, I could actually see a huge difference in both the new straight line my body made, and how much taller I looked!

My gurl MK rocking the C-curve. See how she's kinda tipped back?

Since then, I’ve been noticing that a lot of other tiny gurls do the reverse-C thing when they stand, too. Maybe it’s our way of trying to overcompensate for our height, like, “If I stick my chest up like a rooster, I’ll seem taller” or something–but really, it just creates a curve, which keeps us from reaching the full height available to us! And I don’t know about you gurls, but for me? Every inch counts!

Do you want to be taller? Is there something about your body you’d like to change? Let us know in comments!
to be taller