Body Issues - I has them.

Two blogs in one day? Obviously this could not wait. There has been an uproar in the women's blogosphere about a particular model of a particular shape on a runway. Can anyone guess?

Kate Upton. A beautiful girl, a confident girl and a seemingly normal looking body. So why all the fuss? Yes, body issues are nothing new and there is always an article in every magazine about how you should love yourself or about the tragedy as one girl succumbed to the societal pressures of being thin and killed herself OR about the strength one girl had in overcoming her body issues and eating disorders.

It's nothing new. Almost as often as we are bombarded with images of the ideal beauty we are flooded with a barrage of these articles. But it was this particular article on Hello Giggles that got me thinking and the things I am thinking are horrific. That article, beautifully written by Michelle Konstantinovsky, lead me to another website that is not so pretty. Maybe my hormones are flaring up (damn us women and our hormones) or maybe I am truly saddened by the female race. I've always known us girls to be a catty, petty, vindictive, list-every-other-cynical-adjective-for-women-here race but do people really write blogs titled "Britney Spears Chunks out Again"? Oh dear God, they do. I literally started crying as I read these comments on these posts. Britney is beautiful and the fact that she doesn't look how you want her to means that you get to write a blog tearing her down? Wow, I'm pretty sure that whole Freedom of Speech ordeal was meant for political statements against dictatorial governments and not so that you can injure another person emotionally for your cheap amusement. Do you feel better about yourself by slamming Kate Upton or Britney Spears? Do your body issues go away by pointing out what you believe to be their flaws?

LADIES, WAKE UP. Thin, fat, short, tall... it does not matter so long as you are healthy. You are not what you look like, like a book the outside is just a cover. Sure, I love to joke about these types of things because you have to be able to laugh at yourself but that is not meant to detract from the seriousness of the topic. I myself am fairly comfortable in my own skin but it wasn't always that way. Obviously I have my moments. Yesterday I walked around in my bra and didn't care that my flubby belly or love handles were showing while I played with Ivory. But yet I wanted pictures of myself at Universal this weekend and didn't get a single one because "I look fat" in them. It will always be a war within myself fought one battle/day at a time.

Then there is this bullshit:


 Thinspiration. WTF?! I call it like I see it and this is such bullshit. Hipbones vs pizza? TAKE THE PIZZA! Everyone has hip bones. Whether you can see them or not is irrelevant. I've never heard a guy say that he was attracted to someone for their hips. Relax. I have hip bones, big hips and if you put your hand on my hips you can feel them. Even thru the flub that I have on my right hip (and I don't on the left, it's so weird).  GAP BETWEEN YOUR LEGS? Squat a bit, there will be a gap. Your legs can touch, let it jiggle a little bit because it is meant to. Hey, guess what? YOU HAVE COLLAR BONES TOO. Even if you can't see them. Why do people think having sunken in skin draped across your bones is sexy? Drink diet soda once a week, you'll still have a flat stomach. Ugh, just the fact that people actually make these things makes me sick and angry and sad. I feel so much for the whole generation of girls who have these images pasted onto their mirrors instead of the words 'You are beautiful.'

I don't want to be thin. I want to be healthy. I will say it again, I WANT TO BE HEALTHY NOT SKINNY. Because skinny doesn't always mean healthy and sickly is not pretty - fat, thin, short or tall I think we can all agree on that. The reasons that I want that are pretty simple; I want to be of a healthy mind and I want Ivory to grow up in a beautiful world where people love each other and themselves equally. Obviously one of these things will not happen in her or my lifetime but it does start with one person and that one person can be me.


You are beautiful no matter what they say. Words won't bring you down.
I always tell Brittany with how much Ivory loves having her picture taken and being the center of attention that she should try putting her in dance or acting classes and maybe even let her do light modeling and the first thing Brittany said to me is "I don't want her to have body issues." I was floored. You want to restrict your child from doing something she may end up loving because you fear for her having body issues? I get it but you can't protect her from that. That will be in her head. All I said was you can set positive examples and the second she starts to suffer from it pull her out of it. So I lead by example and instead of making sure I covered up I let it all hang out.

Not exactly on topic but still beautiful. Ivory isn't mine but I still want this for her. I want this for everyone. Just love yourself. Get your head in the right place because that comes first. Change your thoughts, change your behaviors and the rest will follow. Tell yourself you are beautiful, eat a carrot, go for a long walk, get motivated and then get healthy.