Accepting your Body Image: Introduction

The above picture shows the various body images that exist.  There's not one gal there that is a size 0.  Notice that?  

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about body image (one excerpt from this entire article) "A person's body image is thought to be, in part, a product of his or her personal experiences, personality, and various social and cultural forces. A person's sense of his or her own physical appearance, usually in relation to others or in relation to some cultural "ideal," can shape his or her body image. A person's perception of their appearance can be different from how others actually perceive him or her."

I have a personal story to share but before I do that (I think I'll wait til we open this up to questions and comments from all of you) about a bad body image from the time of high school until present day.  Something happened to me in high school where I was teased so much from a boyfriend of my best girl friend that when I went to college I became bulimic and then transferred colleges and was anorexic.   I maintained a healthy weight for years until I was diagnosed 17 years ago with depression and fibromyalgia.  And then 10 years ago with degenerative disc disease and osteoporosis.   I'll tell you more about that in days to come.  I want to see how this discussion progresses and what we need to cover before I get too personal about this.  I can just tell you that there is nothing that would shock me that anyone tells me about themselves and body image.  Even though I have the most loving and understanding husband with crazy unconditional love for me, I still struggle today with this.

It's hard to watch tv without seeing what Hollywood wants us to accept about body image.  For women it's a size zero and for men it's a six pack.  And many of these actors struggle themselves with body image.  Many have gone into hiding while dealing with problems while others have taken a public stand about the issue. 

The Bible has much to say about body image and accepting ourselves as we are.  But I do want to say that we should strive to be healthy, no matter what weight we are.  

Found a great blog entry about loving your body!  Here it is. 

I have started a group for those of us who struggle with this.  And if I do and you are interested in being in it as a fellow struggler, please email me to get the link to the private group.  Please don't ask to join the group to promote weight loss products or preach to us.  I am going to be very careful of who I allow in the PRIVATE group.  Thanks for reading!  If you have a teen who needs a group like this, please let me know.  My email is carolyncavies@yahoo.com and you can email me.  No need to write your email address in the comments.  Thank you!

What would you like to discuss about body image?  If you don't want to write a public comment or question then please feel free to write to me in personal email at carolyncavies@yahoo.com and for those who are wondering, cavies is the official word for a guinea pig.  I used to have a guinea pig rescue and love them to this day!  One day I'm going to blog about them.  I can put your question or comment in a blog to come without identifying you.  I am not a clinical physician and do not pretend to have anything but personal and current experience in this area.  

Let's chat!