Loving Our Bodies At Any Size
Ive had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with my body since I was twelve years old. Thats when I began dieting. Recently, I was going through some old photographs – me at 12, me at 16, me at 19, me at 23 – and my jaw dropped. Wow. I was drop-dead gorgeous. A competitive swimmer from the time I was eight until I was 22, I had broad shoulders, muscular arms, washboard abs, well-defined thighs and calves. But what I felt at the time sure as heck did not reflect reality. See, I felt HUGE. Enormous. Rotund. I hated my body. I was embarrassed by my curves, my breasts. Much of what I saw in the magazines, on television and in the movies influenced my perception. Born 25 years too late. If only I had grown up in the 1940s and 50s, when Ava Gardner, Jane Russell and Sophia Loren graced the covers and silver screen. Instead, I looked to Twiggy, Susan Dey and Karen Carpenter. And sadly, they all suffered from disordered eating and body dysmorphic issues. Ask any woman if there is some...
