Tuesday, November 3, 2009 by Dea.

‘Nuff said.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009 by Dea.

I cannot believe that we women allow these sorts of things.  I wrote about the Self cover a while back, and it seems that Self isn’t the only outlet that thinks that covers shouldn’t reflect reality, but “inspire women to want to be their best.”  Are they serious??

It seems Ralph Lauren is now on the surrealistic advertising bandwagon.  Who do they think they are fooling with this picture??

How in the world do they expect us to believe that this woman’s waist is this small?  Smaller than her head, which is also bigger than her pelvis??  Why even bother having a model in the first place?  Why not just start from computer aided animation and go with it?

We have airbrushed Twiggy,  lightened Beyonce, tried to fix perfection, and removed a pregnancy bulge!  What is so warped about these companies that they shun the true female form?  What is so wrong with women in our society that we allow this?  The shapely, beautiful female form should be revered, not distorted.  It’s disgusting that we’ve allowed ourselves to cow to these expectations that are not only unrealistic, but complete lunacy!

So, thanks but no thanks, Self - I am not striving for what you feel is an ideal.  I’m not going to look at these fake photos and feel anything but disgust.  I used to like Ralph Lauren products, but I don’t think I’ll buy even a towel now.

Posted in Shame on Them, Body Image | Print | 1 Comment »

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 by Dea.

What’s the number one, best reason to have a home gym?  No, it’s not being able to work out whenever you want.  It’s being able to work out wearing whatever, even just your sport bra and bike shorts.  If I wore just that to my old gym, as some women there actually do, there would have been mass hysteria and riots.  People would have rushed towards me with towels to cover all my glaring white flesh.

At home, though, no one cares what I look like.  I’m not roasting when I’m on the spin bike because the only shirt that I felt comfortable wearing in public is two sizes too big and the sleeves go past my elbows.  I can pin back my hair at absurd angles, worrying only about comfort, and not how I look.

I had forgotten how absolutely wonderful it was to just do 20-30 minutes of exercise when I feel like it.  I always felt like I needed to put in 2 hours at the gym because of the stress and difficulty in getting two children and myself ready and out the door and through the 20+ minute drive.  Now, I can just hop on my bike for 6 songs, do some crunches, and leave.  I can go back later to do squats and push-ups.

It is so completely freeing.  I was so self conscious at the gym.  I felt like people were looking at me funny, or pitying me.  I actually had one woman in a spin class that I took regularly, where she was the new person, turn to me and ask me if this was my first spin class.  I was aghast!  I’ve done spin since my 5 year old was born, and had done it regularly at least once a week for a  year and a half at that point.  She assumed that because I was heavy, I was out of shape.  After that day, I felt even less comfortable at that gym.

I love my home gym so much, I don’t even miss my office.  I’m happily sharing an office with my husband.  I can’t wait to try out the Pilates book I found.  I’d always been too intimidated to go to a Pilates class because of how tiny and lean the women who went were.  I do miss my Wednesday night spin class (taught by a good friend of mine) - but other than that, I am just so happy to be free and comfortable in my work outs again.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 by Dea.

So, in case anyone was doubting the power of the mini-goal (read: me), here’s proof that each mini-goal achievement is priceless!  I just hit my 10 pound goal!  I also feel like a million bucks. 

I set ten pound goals as I lose weight.  I like nice, round numbers, for one thing.  And this feeling, this exuberance and walking-on-air, this is the best reason of all for setting mini-goals.  

I may only be 1/7 th of my way through my weight loss, and I may still have 60 pounds to lose, but reaching this goal makes me feel like I’ve conquered something.  I feel like I look better in my clothes than I did yesterday.  I feel more energetic.  I feel, in short, fabulous.

So here’s to setting those mini-goals.  You’ll be glad you did when you get to have this mini-celebration!

Posted in Encouragement, Body Image, Success, Weight Loss | Print | 1 Comment »

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 by Dea.

I was having a really rough day.  I sent off my son, my last baby, to Kindergarten without me today.  I also went to Target looking for a bathing suit.  Needless to say, I was feeling really, really bad about myself.  Big, used up, and without purpose are a few things I was thinking.

Then I saw this article.   And I am smiling, and just feeling on top of the world.  I love Lizzi Miller.  She is a supposed plus-size (she’s a size 12, which in my book is an average sized woman, right?) model, and at the age of 20, she’s found such a wonderful mental space.  She is an example of loving yourself being the best state of mind for a healthy life.

She posed in just underwear - with her belly bulge showing.  No airbrushing, no smoothing out her stretch marks.  And she talks about how seeing other women like herself on tv and in magazines has helped her body image.  She’s right.  Seeing her there, looking so normal, so achievable even, helped me to put my own body into different perspective.  I think I might print her picture and keep it for any time I’m bashing myself.

Amazingly, unlike Self, Glamour chose to couple an article about positive body image no matter your size with a picture of a real woman - without airbrushing.  Kudos to them for this monumental step.  Pictures with the words are so much more forceful.  Hopefully, they realize from the outpouring of positive emails and letters that this is how we want to see all the pages in the magazine.

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Friday, August 21, 2009 by Becca.

Sometimes being heavier is easier.  It’s hard when shopping for clothes or trying to ride any form of public transportation without becoming extra friendly with the person next to you, but it’s easy sometimes too.  At least, it’s been easy for me in the past.  It’s been very easy to tell myself that I don’t care how heavy I am.  I could tell myself I wasn’t concerned with appearances and that I wasn’t interested in other people’s opinions of how I look.

All of which is true, sort of, on my good days.  What shook me out of my nice little cocoon of denial was my health.  I’ve had some health problems that I would not have at such a young age if I took better care of myself.  So I’ve made changes in my lifestyle and slowly I’m losing weight and getting more fit.

I miss that denial though, more than I miss greasy double cheeseburgers or giant chocolate cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles.  It’s hard to look in the mirror everyday and see someone who’s working on bettering her body, hard to give up the security of that bigger sense of self.  I need to remind myself why I started this whole process.

Of course it’s hard, of course there’s a struggle and obstacles to overcome.  In my experience, the easy things in life are rarely as rewarding as the hard ones!

Posted in Health, Encouragement, Body Image | Print | No Comments »

Monday, August 10, 2009 by Dea.

Can you sense my sarcasm?  In case you didn’t hear about it, Kelly Clarkson’s picture was photoshopped on the new September 2009 cover of Self Magazine.  There has been controversy and argument over the fact.

And yet, the only thing that surprises me is that people are surprised by it!  Is it that women across our country don’t realize that cover pictures on magazines are fake?  That there are entire departments at magazine offices devoted to photoshopping and airbrushing?  They do everything from smudging out blemishes to shaving off an entire butt!  Those figures you see and think are impossible to achieve?  THEY ARE.  No one, not a single woman in this country, actually looks like those pictures.

And yet, people buy these magazines, and take the advice, and starve, suck, shave, and staple their way toward an unachievable dream.  For what??  To give more money to an entire industry devoted to image?  Seems ridiculous.

Kelly Clarkson is lovely.  Yes, she has a butt.  Oh, the horror.  Why is it that magazine art directors assume we’re not able to see her butt in its normal size and think, wow, she’s beautiful?

The only way to fight back against this practice is to refuse to buy these magazines.  I think, for the sake of our own sanity, and the health and sanity of our daughters, we should all just stop buying into the hype.  Refuse to try to be some ridiculous, unattainable ideal.  I haven’t bought a magazine in five years.  I refuse.  I, for one, will not try to be something unhealthy and sickly looking.  I want to celebrate my body.

This doesn’t mean I don’t want to reach a healthy weight.  I just don’t agree that a healthy weight for a woman who is six feet tall is 155 pounds.  None of us should exchange health for a societal standard that is this warped.  Remember the hot, beautiful, sexy women of the 1950’s?  Marilyn Monroe was a normal sized woman.  She was not anorexic, nor was she a size 0.  And yet, she was perfect.

And so I say, let’s hear it for the normal, healthy female form.  Kudos to Kelly for staying herself - and shame on Self for airbrushing and photoshopping the cover woman for an issue that was supposed to be devoted to total body confidence.

Posted in Shame on Them, Body Image, Stress | Print | 1 Comment »