Todays Body Image

Lately I have been so frustrated with the way my body has changed since having a baby. I thought I had finally accepted that my body has changed, my hips are wider and my ribs are even wider. I was doing good until I saw the stupid picture of Mariah Carey and Jessica Alba's after baby pictures. Are you freaking kidding me???

These magazines are ridiculous. No wonder so many women have eating disorders. Every time I see that crap it just gets me so depressed because I'm stuck in a vicious cycle. I want to lose weight so I workout and cut back on my calories but then I feel like I'm starving myself and I don't see any results so then I get depressed and that makes me want to drink or binge on junk food. If I do that then I'm right back to where I started at getting fat. The sad thing is I'm not even that overweight! But the pressure to have my body back is always in the back of my mind that it drives me crazy! Those women who get their body back in less then four months are either really lucky or are either really rich with all the means to get your body back.

I've had people tell me to go to the gym to try different classes and so forth. As nice as that sounds I've already sacrificed my job so I can enjoy my baby growing up. That means that we are not as financially well off as we once were. And all those classes and gym memberships cost money. Plus eating healthy is expensive and we don't qualify for food stamps so we're already stretching our penny as far as we can.

What makes this even worse is that the media praises these women for getting their body back. I know that if I had a personal trainer, a personal chef, or even money to afford a gym membership and healthy food I'd be able to have my body back as well. This is so IRRITATING, why don't those stars promote being healthy instead of being skinny? That would be a much better ad than the ones they are promoting now.

It really irritates me because I know that I'm not the only one who lets these ads affect my way of thinking. I'm just lucky enough to have a husband who loves me and thinks I'm beautiful no matter what my body looks like. Imagine all those teenager who aren't lucky enough to have that support...it's so sad!

I really don't feel like enough is being done. We need to start teaching our children self confidence at a young age. I know there are people focusing on health but what about a positive self image? I don't see any programs focusing on positive self images. Again if I had enough money I would be able to start a program but I guess it's not in my stars to make a difference, just yet.

Related articles

• Body Image/Eating Disorders (tryingtogetana.wordpress.com)



• Tracey Gold's Starving Secrets: Is It Helping or Hurting? (blogher.com)



• Eating and Body Image: A Troubled Relationship (teens.webmd.com)