She smiles truly proud of her accomplishment of dropping 50 pounds, accepts the compliments and brims proudly. I tell you that's the fifth person I ran into in the past month who dropped in excess of 30lbs. Now, I will let out a little tidbit of information on me, in the past 2 1/2 years I put on 20lbs and feel quiet fat about it. Clothes are tight and snug, my sleep is affected and most of all my morale is down. And I am running out of clothes that fit properly. So, I am on an eating plan with low carbs and a little bit of exercise. But it sounds almost too inviting not to try.
A perfect size nine most of my adult life, I swayed only one size from that after my first child, and only slightly off track with my second. I ate right and exercised when my schedule allowed. Four years ago, I quit smoking and believed I would gain weight and did. Then I stopped watching my eating habits and ate anything I wanted. The result: 20lbs and a lot of great clothes sitting in my closet waiting for me to wear. Is that being hard on myself. I am a size 12 and feel fat.
Are we too hard on our self image? Why do we feel we must be a certain size and look a certain way. Well, mostly it's our self imposed perception and expectations we fall victim too. Is there a day we hear women stating how they want to feel or look? It's everywhere and at times inundating if we allow it. I just think we are too hard on ourselves, putting expectation of how we should look and feel. And we need to learn most of the time life is fine and we are great no matter what size or shape we have.
I think instead of beating ourselves up, we should be proactive in our self image and perceptions of ourselves. Make our own definitions. Imagine mainstream media reported size 12 to size 20 was optimal size for women. That would put a smile on most women's faces. Hah. I say just be yourself no matter what shape or size you are.
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