August 24, 2011

Tummy.

I have a new addiction. . . . Pinterest. You heard me right, Pinterest.
And for all of you out there who have not been brought to the light.... let me bring you. Pinterest.com is the place to be. It has made my life so... well... AWESOME. I have found countless recipes and craft ideas that have all proved to be simply amazing.

One thing, however that I have recently found quite disturbing are the people on pinterest who think things like this:

are healthy.

Now.... don't get me wrong... I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to have "inspiration" when dieting... But if there is one thing I have learned over the past 5 months working for Avalon Hills (a residential eating disorder facility), it is that the VAST majority of our society today has a VERY disordered/skewed way of viewing the human body. We are told that this:

is normal. Um..... Guess what people.... IT'S NOT. And yet.... This is what society tells us is "pretty" and "normal". This is what we are all supposed to look like! .......NO......... NOT SO.

I found the following quote on a random person's "life inspiration" board:
Now... don't get me wrong... I am not advocating eating pizza and cookies all day long every day, but I also don't believe that a person's confidence in life should be based on having protruding hip bones and gaps between your thighs. That's not normal. That is not how we are meant to be.

I did find an ad by Nike that portrays a more accurate body type. One much closer to the way we SHOULD be and it was encouraging to me.. that perhaps not all is lost:


It breaks my heart to see these girls each day, living with a disease that will never leave them. They are 6 feet 4 inches tall and weigh 70 pounds but when they look in the mirror, they are disgusted with themselves and think they are "fat". At 6 foot 4, these girls should weigh TWICE what they weigh, but to them, that is unacceptable and revolting.

Why is this? Why has this become such an epidemic in our society? Yes, I wish I weighed a bit less and had toned legs and buns of steel... but after having my eyes opened to the reality of body image, I now know where to draw the line.

It is incredible what the media has done to the world. Society used to idolize the REAL women of the 20's and 30's... the "bathing beauties". But today we idolize underweight, unnatural women who have turned the lives of so many women upside down. I feel so strongly about this subject, as I am sure you can see, and one of the reasons is because I know what can happen when we fall in to the trap of unhealthy body image. Most of these girls will never have children. They will live with medical diseases and issues the rest of their lives..... all because to them... "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

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