So I was REALLY skinny growing up - like force fed, given tonics to make me hungry.....then at around 12 I went from wanting breasts (like the girl in ballet who had them) to thinking I was fat. It was like someone flipped a switch. As a teenage ballerina I was anorexia/bullimia defined! I am almost 5'5" and back then weighed as little as 95 pounds. I battled with eating disorders until my early 20s. I am grateful that I had a full blown eating disorder because it made me deal with my body dysmorphic disorder that I think MOST women suffer from - we have magazines with unreal looking women and hold that up as 'ideal'.
What helped me was therapy, a life drawing class (the dichotomy of thinking women were beautiful who were a heck of a lot larger than me was not lost on me) and books by Kim Chernin (The Hungry Self was one and I forget the title of the other). She talked much about how with the rise of feminism we suddenly wanted bodies of 12 year old boys rather than embracing what makes us strong and special as women - breasts, hips - they are what nurture, grow babies, feed them....
Pregnancy and then the body I had breast feeding helped tremendously - I really appreciated what my body could do and it was a whole new body to get to know.
Now I am 45, and weigh about 140, roughly 18% body fat, size 6/8 and I see my imperfections and you know what? it is really ok. I look and feel good. Training I appreciate what my body can do.
If losing 5-10 pounds would make me faster - oh well, I am not a professional triathlete. And I am NOT willing to deal with deprivation nor going to bed hungry or any of the other ridiculous things that get posted. I like being a sexy woman and if I am fat for a triathlete ok - I look good in my clothes, and certainly NOT fat by medical standards nor normal people standards -- so if too-skinny-for-my-taste-endurance-athletes think I am fat - fine by me - I think they are srawny. I like men with shoulders and good arms. And women are supposed to have hips!!! again, the 12-year-old-boy body is NOT sexy nor feminine to me - and does not look good.
I can honestly say I like my body - imperfections and all - let me tell you, breast feeding 2 kids for 15 months each did not do nice things to my breasts - they are now deflated envelope flap-like breasts - but they did what they were supposed to do! Going from almost a B to DD for that long and then back just does not happen without consequences and I am fine with that sacrifice. Thankfully I make my living as a physician, not as a model.
To those who are hung up and spend lots of energy on their body image I would encourage you to seek treatment. Think of all you could accomplish if your head space were cleared!
-cat
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cat
Sponsored by Suntheanine, Lycored and Celadrin
http://www.lycored.com/web/content/library.asp http://suntheanine.com/Research.cfm http://celadrin.com/pages/studies.php
What helped me was therapy, a life drawing class (the dichotomy of thinking women were beautiful who were a heck of a lot larger than me was not lost on me) and books by Kim Chernin (The Hungry Self was one and I forget the title of the other). She talked much about how with the rise of feminism we suddenly wanted bodies of 12 year old boys rather than embracing what makes us strong and special as women - breasts, hips - they are what nurture, grow babies, feed them....
Pregnancy and then the body I had breast feeding helped tremendously - I really appreciated what my body could do and it was a whole new body to get to know.
Now I am 45, and weigh about 140, roughly 18% body fat, size 6/8 and I see my imperfections and you know what? it is really ok. I look and feel good. Training I appreciate what my body can do.
If losing 5-10 pounds would make me faster - oh well, I am not a professional triathlete. And I am NOT willing to deal with deprivation nor going to bed hungry or any of the other ridiculous things that get posted. I like being a sexy woman and if I am fat for a triathlete ok - I look good in my clothes, and certainly NOT fat by medical standards nor normal people standards -- so if too-skinny-for-my-taste-endurance-athletes think I am fat - fine by me - I think they are srawny. I like men with shoulders and good arms. And women are supposed to have hips!!! again, the 12-year-old-boy body is NOT sexy nor feminine to me - and does not look good.
I can honestly say I like my body - imperfections and all - let me tell you, breast feeding 2 kids for 15 months each did not do nice things to my breasts - they are now deflated envelope flap-like breasts - but they did what they were supposed to do! Going from almost a B to DD for that long and then back just does not happen without consequences and I am fine with that sacrifice. Thankfully I make my living as a physician, not as a model.
To those who are hung up and spend lots of energy on their body image I would encourage you to seek treatment. Think of all you could accomplish if your head space were cleared!
-cat
---
cat
Sponsored by Suntheanine, Lycored and Celadrin
http://www.lycored.com/web/content/library.asp http://suntheanine.com/Research.cfm http://celadrin.com/pages/studies.php
Last edited by:
CatIsTriing: Feb 27, 08 7:05