Body Size issues

[Chickengirl]

I'm all curves atm 

Even when I'm scrawny (Aus size 10, US??), I still have curves - but scrawny makes me look like I have some kind of serious illness. And right now I'm a Aus size 16, with boobs, bum and a round baby belly  DP thinks it is just fantastic lol!

When he met me I was size 12-14. Nothing has changed since then  - he still thinks I'm sexy, and I'm starting to agree with him 

Most of the men I know would much prefer a full-bodied woman than a super skinny one. One of my friends said he would be worried about hurting someone by simply hugging them, some of the women seem so fragile.

And if your concern is health, well I've known some very skinny women, that the fashion mags would label as "perfect" - and they had no muscle, couldn't run after their kids, had no stamina. They were skinny, but not healthy.

JoMama, you sound like a mate of mine from highschool - quite tall, but very slim - it was just how he was. And I think he felt the same way you did - body image for men can be just as damaging, with some pretty unrealistic images out there.

Ditch the telly, certainly ditch sex in the city!, and don't bother with things like fashion/gossip mags, they only exist to convince you you aren't good enough. And that clearly isn't true  Beauty, sexiness, womanliness, it's all in the eye of the beholder, and the best eye to look through is your own, not someone elses.

[paland]

I too, like a bit of meat with my bones.  I love women with a bit of weight.  Size 14 isn't big at all.

I think skinny women, like that one on the cover listed earlier on this thread, well, they look real GROSS!

[Xenopus]

Me, I like a woman with a bit of padding, myself!

I was once lamenting to a male friend how gorgeous a girlfriend was, and he said, "Good lord, no. It'd be like sleeping in a hardware shop!"

[boiler_92]

This is an interesting discussion on a couple of levels.  One thing that occurs to me is that, models not withstanding, the trend is for (average/normal/common/garden variety) girls/women to be heavier now than they were back in the '80s and certainly much more than back in the '70s.  Look at an old Saturday Night Live and see how incredibly skinny Gilda Radner and Lorainne Newman were.  Not sure this has anything to do with this discussion, though.  Oh well.  
 
JoMama: my brother-in-law is like you, except he's 6'8".  I don't know what he weighs, but he's skinny as hell.  

HawtFrog: I WISH my wife was a size 14 (she's a 24).  (cue mtlouie reprimanding me)

[Pariah]

Size 0-4 women won't do themselves or anyone else much good after TSHTF.  When I was in HI, we took a catamaran out for a four hour tour.  Most of the passengers were 30-40 normal sized, and a few rotund ones.  One guy had his size 1 trophy in tow.  She was a typical anorexic Hollywood ideal minus the fake bags of fun.

Ten minutes out to sea and she was heaving over the side.  We weren't turning back, the crew just sat her down said deal with it.  Needless to say she got the entire aft of the cat to herself.  She could not walk or stand up, had to be carried out of the boat on our return.  She was probably on 400 calories a day.

[Grower]

I don't doubt it. But I only add that my mother, around a size 14, always gets sicker than a dog on anything that moves. Her one trip on a boat was to go salmon fishing with her brother off the coast of Washington. She loves to fish and was so excited, but was never more miserable in her life. They don't go back to shore either for the sickies. Small planes, nope. Back seat of cars, nope. Hilly, curvy roads will set her off. Took a cruise once and made sure she had Dramamine every day! She's just real sensitive to motion.

[scotsajo]

Has anyone else tried some of the Jon Gabriel visualization techniques? I did for a short time and got some weird results. Just curious.

[Emeline]

Has anyone else tried some of the Jon Gabriel visualization techniques? I did for a short time and got some weird results. Just curious.

Hey scotsajo.  I haven't tried it, but I'm curious about what weird results you got?  (if you care to share that is?)

[zenobia]

1.  Fat people are harder to kidnap.

2.  As we say in Maine, "I'm shade in the summer and warmth in the winter."

3.  We float better.  Skinny people sink.  Hypothermia develops more slowly.

4.  My husband can't keep his hands off me and he likes to have the light on - LOLOL!!!!

[Grower]

For the record, I have met Zenobia and she is NOT fat. 

[Chickengirl]

For the record, I have met Zenobia and she is NOT fat. 

She IS gorgeous though

[urbanfarmer]

HawtFrog, where are you?

Are you feeling all the love here? 

[serenitynow]

I have had body size issues my whole life.  I have been normal, chubby, really thin, and just plain fat.   I have to say that it has taken me getting fat to recognize my inner self-worth.  I was so focused for such a big part of my younger years (ages 14-28) on my size, that I could not fit any other thoughts in my head, other than my appearance (or how hungry I was b/c I was eating so few calories or how far I needed to run to cancel out the meal I just ate).  I starved myself, binged and purged, overexercised, etc. all to try to conform to some stupid ideal I had in my head.    Funny thing was, I would get lots of attention from men and it scared me to death.  I was not able to handle it emotionally at that time.  I am not where I would like to be right now as far as my weight goes but I am, in a sense, a more complete person than I have ever been.  On the other hand, I know that my extra weight is a protective bubble against a variety of things that I apparently feel threatened by on some level.  There has been a lot of upheaval in my life for several years in a row (death of father, birth of child with special needs, several moves in a short time, etc) but the fog is lifting and I find myself in a place where I feel ready to shed this protective outer shell.  Not only that, it only makes sense to be in better physical shape in this time of transition.  I want to come out looking a bit like Linda Hamilton in Terminator  .

I wish I had some solid advice for you and thankfully there are others here who have shared their wisdom.  14 is a truly lovely size in my book and I hope to join you there very soon!

[Six Gun Jim]

Hey serenity now I know what I'm going to call my gut, a "protective bubble".  I love it. -James 

[Annihilatrix]

Sometimes wisdom is confirmed by science. Not strong research, ok, but I like it just the same. 


>>>>
Curvy women may be a clever bet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7090300.stm

Women with curvy figures are likely to be brighter than waif-like counterparts and may well produce more intelligent offspring, a US study suggests.

Researchers studied 16,000 women and girls and found the more voluptuous performed better on cognitive tests - as did their children. <<