body image

I’m beginning to feel more comfortable with being average. This weekend as I scanned the magazines in the grocery store, I found myself a bit overwhelmed (disgusted maybe?) with the amount of magazines with women on the covers with “rock hard” bodies. Nothing new I know, but sheesh… enough already!

Be thin. Flat Abs. Tight tush fast! Bikini body now! So many are having electrifying sex too and if we only knew the right moves we’d be able have electrifying sex every night! Only women read these magazines. Men don’t care. Just showing up and getting naked is all men care about. Really.
Anyway. I digress.

I am hearing more and more lately that women with curves are becoming more popular. I’m not talking about overly FAT women. Just not skinny with boyish figures as we have been seeing for years now. The average body is size 12-14 so many of us feel most of the time like we are way too fat or just don’t measure up.

I kind of feel bad that much of my life has been spent not enjoying food very much because I’ve felt guilty for eating something “bad”. I’ve been beating myself up for years. Magazines with scantily clad women showing off their skinny selves have little value except to make us feel like we are somehow not good enough as we are. I know the female body sells magazines, but I just wish it wasn’t so.


I am hearing more and more about curvy women though and I’m encouraged that our ideas about beauty and health are slowly changing. Trends do change over time. Being healthy doesn’t necessarily mean skinny. I watched an interesting segment on Rachael Ray today that demonstrated how fitness and health doesn’t always have to do with your size.

I've spent too much time stressing about my body and not celebrating all it does to serve me. It may not be the fashion magazine's standard of perfection, but I don't want to condemn it anymore. I want to have a healthy balance of enjoying life and nourishing my body with healthy food and exercise. I don't think we should ever "let ourselves go" but concentrating too much on the outside and not enough on our inside (character) is a bad use of our time.

So I will be happy every day with a body that works well...and strive to treat it well in return.
Now for a glass of wine to celebrate!