I came across this great transcript of an interview on body image, biology, diet, fitness... etc.

"We exist within a society where we confront a double bind on a day-to-day basis. On the one hand our body size is expected to meet standards that do not make biological sense, and on the other hand, we are inundated with sugar and fat-laden foods and don't know how to manage our impulses with the foods.

Our impulses with the foods are confused by the ideas we have about dieting. We have a vicious cycle. On one hand we have the culture-bound belief that our body and shape should be something that doesn't make biological sense, and on the other hand we have the false belief that dieting is the path to this body. What happens is that the dieter inevitably breaks the dietary restraints because dietary restraint is temporary. This leads the person to view himself or herself as a person who cannot be trusted with food. This causes them to develop compulsivity with food. As they start to binge and gain weight, and at the same time they see themselves as a person who cannot be trusted with food, they are led to believe they must follow a diet, thus completing a vicious cycle. The byproduct of the cycle is weight cycling, obesity, and eating disorders."

The full article is at:

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=54537

I'm hopeful that the tide may be turning just a bit. New media images -- "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Ugly Betty" for instance -- are now portraying the uber-chic people who foist these images on us as cold, self-centered, power-hungry, shallow, and downright mean. Not that that's fair either, but if it helps the normal-looking among us feel better, it can't be all bad.

Great article !! Frankly, when I was 25 and 103 pounds.....much, much too thin by the way, I still didn't like my naked self.

I have never in my life actually liked my body.
Now, I am grateful for a healthy body. Now I am 41 and my focus has really changed. I just want to be healthy and would like to be thinner than I am simply because I have a heart condition and would like to live a long time. At 5'1 I am 158 pounds. I have been as much as 185 several years ago and most recently 143 ( a couple of months ago). I ride the rollercoaster of clothing sizes all the time.

I am currently disgusted with myself entirely. I am a big magazine reader and although I think that those girls sure do look good, I am realistic and know that it is not attainable.

Anymore I just want to look good in my clothes. I want to be able to have a conversation while exersizing. I am really not moved by the way the girls look but I do admit that I am often very tempted to buy all of the stuff they claim can help me lose weight.

I have mentioned before that my husband is a body builder and although he has never put any pressure on me, we are like polar opposites. He is very aware of every thing he takes into his body and would never avoid the gym for any reason. Life is hard and I have pms and am having a great big pity party for myself right now.

Well, thank GOODNESS for KD and her common sense approach. I know for me I have learned SO much about how to treat myself in a realistic way.

Everyone on here reinforces that behavior in my head. If I mess up, then I will start over the next day. Enjoy what I want, but try 3 bites of it.

With those 2 pearls of wisdom, I have come SUCH a long way.

quote:

Originally posted by TriGirl:
I think that the push toward thinner and thinner bodies happens because it WORKS -- gets us to buy more and more stuff, work harder to try to keep up, etc. I'm gradually letting my magazine subscriptions expire -- any that don't inspire and please me instead of making me feel inadequate are going bye-bye.

I've heard that a culture idolizes the body that is not obtainable. The Rubenesque paintings of round women with rolls of fat were painted when most of the population of Europe had barely enough to eat, and only the very wealthy could afford to get fat.

Now we live in a culture where food is relatively cheap and is EVERYWHERE and it is difficult to live in a way where we don’t eat too much… and the ideal is so thin or perfect… it is only obtainable by airbrushing…

I don’t read many magazines either. Prevention morphs news and advertising… and some of the suggestions in WW magazine occasionally peeve me… I remember one entertaining suggestion from a “success story”, “I’m going to make my killer lasagna for my friends and family, and I’ll quietly put a Smart Ones lasagna on my plate in the kitchen and nobody will know that I’m only eating 5 delicious points!” OMG!!! They call that print worthy advise? That just sound nuts to me! I don’t want to eat a frozen dinner on Christmas… while my family is eating my special lasagna… yuck!

Plus, how many times can a person read the same article... “Walk yourself thin with our NEW program!!!!!!” I think I might gag if I see one more article on “Our revolutionary walking program to get you trim!!”

Going for my walk to McDonald’s for a cup of coffee now.

Denise,

Thanks for sharing this article. There are some great points as far as we are in a range for our weight loss and how we must accept our bodies imperfections. I saved this one, to refer back to from time to time.

Thanks again!

Good article. I think that the push toward thinner and thinner bodies happens because it WORKS -- gets us to buy more and more stuff, work harder to try to keep up, etc. I'm gradually letting my magazine subscriptions expire -- any that don't inspire and please me instead of making me feel inadequate are going bye-bye.