I went to a birthday party for my Grandmother yesterday, and saw members of my family that I haven't seen in 20 or even 30 years. It was so much fun catching up with everyone; for the most part, I enjoyed myself throughly.
With one, rather weighty, exception.
There are some members of my family who have a serious weight problem. By that, I mean, they have a serious problem with other people's weight. I hadn't really noticed it before, because when I was young, I was very thin. I was too thin; it wasn't something I tried to be, I just grew 9 inches in about a year, and it took the rest of me a decade or two to catch up.
To give you a little perspective, I was 5'7" and wore a size one in 1976; before women's sizes started to relax and stretch. I didn't break 100 pounds until I was in my 20s. I was very, very thin. Over the years, I celebrated when I gained weight; I was very happy to find myself fitting into bigger clothes. I'm now on the slightly higher side of normal weight; I could lose a few pounds and get back into the middle of the range, but I'm not stressing over it.
I like my curves, and so does my husband.
So, after being on the other side of the country for nearly 20 years, and not seeing my extended family during that time, it was a bit of a shock to me to see how interested several of them were in other people's weight. It wasn't just me whose weight was noticed; almost everyone came in for a choice remark or two.
At first I was a bit hurt and shocked. But then I thought about it, and I realized that I like myself just the way I am. I'm healthy and happy and I enjoy my life. I don't want to be like the people they pointed to as examples; they're too thin. They work too hard at it.
Weight just isn't a problem for me.
4 comments:
I couldn't agree more! When I was the thinnest and getting the most compliments, I was very ill & it was the worst time in my life. And yet people just wanted to know how I lost the weight so quickly & didn't care that it was due to medication & I was unhealthy! Like you I am on the heavier side of a healthy weight, I had two babies practically back to back...BUT I have a booty for the first time in my life & I like it!! Would I like to lose a few pounds, sure...but why stress about it? The people who stress about weight are just insecure with themselves. Glad to know someone else who is secure with who they are. :)
Thank you for that post, Cindy! I'm with you on the heavier side and I feel good with it.
The last time I was kind of shocked when someone said something about my weight was about five years ago. My granny looked at my SIL, then looked at me and said: Yes, you're definitely too fat to wear a skirt! Granny was exactly like that, but today we all laugh about it, even me. :-)
I saw a wonderful special on singer Jann Arden last night. Jann is no size 1. On her first tour in the States, a promoter told her, "You are 30lbs away from super stardom in the USA." She was annoyed that she didn't have a snappy comeback. When she told her mother, her mom said, "You should have told them you really didn't think you needed another 30 lbs." It's a disease - this preoccupation with being skeletal. I echo Leilani. Your attitude is healthy. And BTW, your self-esteem is healthy too.
Thank you! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I agree with you, Linda - finding skeletal attractive isn't healthy; it has led to eating disorders.
I love Jann's mother's comeback! It's brilliant!!!
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