Thursday, October 15, 2009

It's Not About Looking Like an Anorexic Teen-ager

I've been thinking about my previous post--the one about Ralph Lauren firing a 23 year old, five foot ten inch model who weighed 120 pounds for being too fat.

Losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight shouldn't be about trying to look like the photo-shopped images of almost adolescent girls we're bombarded with in the media.

Losing weight and maintaining that weight should be about feeling good. Feeling good about ourselves, and feeling good health wise.

The reality is that carrying excess weight is bad for us health-wise. It can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and a host of other problems.

And, there's something to be said about making ourselves feel good about ourselves. I was not happy with myself 40 pounds ago. I avoided mirrors and never let myself be photographed unless I was hiding my body behind something.

I worked hard to lose those 40 pounds not because I wanted to look like a model in a Ralph Lauren ad, but because I just wanted to feel more attractive. And, the only person I wanted to please was myself (sorry hubby).

I now feel good about myself, and I feel better than ever. I have the energy to tackle projects that I couldn't when I was lugging around 40 extra pounds of flab.

So Mr. Lauren, get real. I don't suggest using any tubbies in your ads, but at a minimum if your model is 120 pounds and 5 foot 10 inches, you don't have to photo-shop her to make her look even thinner.

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