Am I Really Fat?

Here is a great article about body image. Go to the link to see photos and the entire article.

Ken

Am I Really Fat?
Shannon Bradley-Colleary
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shanno...b_1240083.html

I've been the same weight for approximately five years. 140 lbs. . . Clearly I'm in a healthy weight range. So I've decided to do something radical. I'm not going to lose weight. . . Well I'm done with it and this is why. [The photo of me -] 25-years old . . . 125 lbs. . . a size 4. . . doesn't like her body. She's broken it down into parts as if it were a car. Some parts are acceptable, others she hates. She thinks she has cellulite on her bum. . . She is me. 21 years ago. With a media-induced case of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. . . I look at this girl now and wonder, "Why did she even wear any clothes? She could've just walked around naked all the time!" Whenever I get the chance I show everyone my nudes. Henry just sighs and says, "I see you've managed to get your nudes out again." My mom's group is sick of my nudes. The Jehovah's Witnesses have stopped coming by. Even the neighborhood realtors don't leave their flyers in our gate anymore for fear I'll chase them down the street with my photo album shrieking,"Look at my nudes! Wasn't I gorgeous?!" (And of course I won't be running for public office anytime soon ... wonder if they'd let me put my nudes up in the Oval Office?) . . . I don't have the same body I had in my nudes. But ... not bad. . . In 21 years from now I'll look back at this photo and think - I looked great. Why did I worry so much about sucking in my soft round belly? It barely showed! And my kids loved to snuggle on it, my husband too. Why didn't I enjoy the way I looked and especially the way I felt, which was extravagantly healthy? . . . Any woman worth her salt knows all about the photo-shopping and air brushing that runs rampant in the advertising industry, accosting us relentlessly with fake perfection. . . We all know that advertisers make it their business to manipulate us into hating ourselves so we'll buy their products. Still an image [nude] is worth a thousand words. As a society we are brainwashed into the perpetual quest for perfection and it's just NOT POSSIBLE. So I won't be losing weight. What I'll be doing is: Developing a healthier relationship with food. And maintaining a healthy weight.