Yesterday, I watched a video entitled Slim Hopes, by Jean Kilbourne. Here's the preview, if you're interested.
Basically it is an analysis of the media and its presentation of women and how media images are just not real. And how setting up the expectation to be absolutely flawless affects American Women.
I am an American Woman. Yet, even with knowing that models are airbrushed, composed of not one woman, but many, dismembering them so that the legs are from this woman and the breasts are from that woman and the face is probably not someone real at all, but rather a computer fabrication, I still feel bad when I compare what I was born with to the image. It also made me feel a little bit guilty about this whole diet thing. I wonder, what are my intentions? What is the desired outcome? Am I being safe with my body? How will "the diet" affect my children and their views of their bodies? Or their views of women's bodies? This is serious stuff, folks.
Does this mean I am giving up? Nope. Not a bit. While I do want to feel more comfortable in my own skin, I want more energy. I want to lower my health risks. I want to live for a very long time. I want to do better in the dance class I am taking. And taking off a few of these pounds is going to help me with all this. Redefining not so much my goals, but my reasoning behind my goals. Working on having a healthy self image in addition to having a healthy body.
So, with all that in mind, I am pretty proud of myself this week. I have lost 3 pounds and 2.75 inches for a cumulative of 7 pounds lost (since I got a scale, it is actually more. How much more? I have no idea) and 9.5 inches. My BMI is now in the "Overweight" section rather than the "Obese" section. It has been a long time since that has been the case. I have also reached my pre-pregnancy weight for Jelly Bean and my delivery weight for Brother. (Yes, you read that correctly. I weighed the same when I got pregnant the second time as when I had a 9 month gestated baby inside of me.) So, now we are working on those last 32 lbs.
I feel confident. I can do this.
5 comments:
You can do it Misty!
You're doing great! And working out and eating healthy is putting out a great message for your kids. It'd be different if you were starving yourself or throwing up or whatever, but you're not. :)
Also, the media sucks. I can not help compare myself to those women, even though I know they don't look like that...
Good job!
My mom (who is a flight attendant) once had a passenger on her flight who was circling all of the armpits, blemishes, etc., that needed to be airbrushed for the catalog he was working on. He worked for Victoria's Secret; the two of them had a nice chat about how stupid it was that part of his job was to make these women look so unreal.
Ugh the media and women... there's a big ol'can o'worms.
I'm thrilled that you are doing it for yourself. That is what counts. I'm the same way. I'll never be a size 0 model.... and don't ever want to be. I like being comfortable in my own skin. (around a size 10 :))
Hey Misty, for sure you can do it! I am living proof. And the issue DID come up with my kids (both girls, aged 7 and 5) about losing weight, being skinny, how many 'points' is this food, etc. and my hubby and I just handled it by talkinga bout being HEALTHY. So we said we are losing weight to be healthy, we are tracking what we eat to be sure we eat HEALTHY foods, etc.
I still struggle on and off with weight, but at least it is 10-15 lbs up/down vs. 50 lbs.
Keep it up. It sounds like your motives are in the right place and your goals are realistic.
Post a Comment