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Having Bad Body Image Today

Trula — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:51:48 +0000

I’m feeling kind of down on my body today. I was reading again about Saartjie Baartman, who was also known as the Hottentot Venus. It’s especially depressing for me to read because I am shaped similarly and even though many many years have passed since what she went through it seems to me that the perception of ‘typical’ black women’s bodies has remained the same. and I have to put up with that attitude, and deal with it. No matter how much weight I lose, my body shape will remain the same.

How do I deal with it? Basically, I don’t. I hide my body by dressing in long, loose, flowing skirts and dresses. I refuse to wear pants anymore because in pants I just look, for lack of a better word, obscene. People stare, and comment. When I wear exercise or yoga pants, I wear a long skirt over them. Skirts and dresses minimize my large, round buttocks and thick thighs while pants seem to accent them.

This has been on my mind a lot because the weather is getting warmer and I’m thinking about summer wear. Especially swimsuits. Since I’ve lost weight my husband has been talking about me getting into a bikini, but that is not going to happen…I’m just not ready to deal with the stares and comments. I think I will get a modest one piece and wear a long swim skirt with it.

I love my body, and I love my shape. I just wish I didn’t feel like such a freak.

Today’s Health Goals:
30 minutes yoga
45 minutes walking at 4.5mph
Drink 120 oz water
One serving meals, no seconds
Raw veggies or air-popped popcorn for snacks
Fruit for dessert
Brush & floss after every meal
Today’s weigh-in: 155 pounds
Goal Weight: 130 pounds

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Understanding Your Woman Body

Trula — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:48:00 +0000

I think the key to loving your adult female body is understanding that you will never, ever ever have your slim teenage body back again (if you were slim then, that is) and to understand that women’s bodies naturally tend to hold fat precisely because we may carry and birth a child. Even if you didn’t physically bear children, your body matures as you age. Even Naomi Campbell doesn’t have her 16 year-old body, you know?

It will take some time to see the results of working out. Don’t be discouraged and give up! You will notice a difference in how you feel though, almost right away. I felt more energetic, I slept better, and I felt more emotionally peaceful once I started exercising regularly; within a couple of weeks I noticed a difference. What helped me with the tummy pouch was to do exercises that strengthened my abdominal muscles.

If it’s fat it will slowly decrease as you eat healthier and exercise more. If it’s skin it will slowly tighten up as you exercise. It’s not a quick process, and you may never have a model-flat belly, and that’s ok! Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, and I suspect after a while you won’t care anyway because you’ll be happy with how you look and feel after just a few months of changing your exercise habits.

Having Bad Body Image Today I’m feeling kind of down on my body today. I...

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Loving Your Grown Woman Body

Trula — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 02:03:00 +0000

I think the key to loving your adult female body is understanding that you will never, ever ever have your teenage body back again and to understand that women’s bodies naturally tend to hold fat precisely because we may carry and birth a child. Even if you didn’t physically bear children, your body matures as you age. Even Naomi Campbell doesn’t have her 16 year-old body, you know?

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Body Image and Cultural Identity

Trula — Mon, 28 May 2007 21:53:00 +0000

For myself and I suspect many other black women, we don’t feel bad looking at thin women because we have heard positive affirmations about our body shape all our lives, from all types of men and from other women. We also have mothers and other female family members who showed little or no dismay at their bodies. I can recall going over to white friends’ houses as a kid and teenager and their mothers were always on diets, always moaning about being too fat. My mom didn’t seem to care; when she wanted to lose weight for health reasons she took up walking and cut down on over-eating. She never made her weight the focus of her life or basis for self-esteem.

I don’t know why any white woman really believes that a big round butt is a bad thing, every man I’ve ever dated has been very enthusiastic and wowed by my bum. And why would I want it to? I have a fantastic body. Even when I was 210 pounds I still got whistled at and hit on all the time. There’s no way I’m going to let ‘the media’ make me feel bad when people tell me I’m fine all the time. Also, no matter what my weight most of my fat is in my butt and thighs. Even when I was very thin I had a big behind and thick legs. I’m also very muscular in those areas. That’s my body shape, it’s never going to change. So why should I hate my body and have a negative body image? That’s like hating myself because I have 2 legs or something equally crazy.

That said, losing weight and getting fit shouldn’t be about how you look or what you think your level of attractiveness should be. It’s about your health, and within my culture the acceptance of excessive body fat leads to many black women having weight-related health problems that decrease the quality of their life and shorten their lifespan. Losing weight and becoming fit is not going to affect your color or culture. It just may save your life.

Having Bad Body Image Today I’m feeling kind of down on my body today. I...

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