BRAVERY & BODY ISSUES

And we wonder why women have body-image issues. Sadly this is still relevant in advertising today, perhaps more subtle at times, but present none-the-less.

My body ‘issues’ started when I was a young girl. Let’s cut to the chase – I was overweight, wore cat-eye glasses (which would be quite cool now) and had braces. Three strikes against me and let’s just say society is not kind. Not even when you are a smart, creative and beautiful little girl. I got hurt and made fun of more than I care to remember. You can only be told so many times that “You would be so pretty if you just lost some weight” before you just want to crawl under a rock and die. Looking back now, I feel so much heartbreak and wish I could have taken that little girl in my arms to let her know just how beautiful she was.

With the support of my close friends and family and through my own discipline and will power, I slimmed down, got into running marathons and developed what I thought was a ‘healthy’ mindset around all that pain and hurt because hey, now I was slim, pretty and athletic. While I admit that I am happy (and proud) of the woman I became, the fact is I have struggled with body issues all my life. I guess once the blueprint is set, there’s always a little flavor of it that stays with you.

Through what I call ‘the journey’ of menopause, I have found my struggle has been more in my face recently – that coupled with a major back injury last year that for the most part has taken me out of the running game. Needless to say, I can’t keep up with ‘lean and mean’ anymore. Frankly, it’s just too much damn pressure anyway!

Of recent, I’ve re-connected with a young woman named Maggie Converse who I first ‘met’ via phone and email as I was getting ready to embark on a nutritional protocol that included a 3-day detox and required abstaining from working out during that time. I was completely freaked out at the thought of this and imagined that I would just blimp up again! Maggie not only consoled and supported me through this time, but she related her own experience of this as well. I will always be grateful to her as I ended up having a great experience through it all.

My whole point about brining Maggie into the story is that her blogs resonate with me and I think will for so many other women who have struggled with body image. She is a yoga teacher and health coach but SO much more. Maggie is a brave young woman and I wish I had the wisdom she holds when I was her age. I wanted to share her latest blog. She is someone worthy of following:

https://maggieconverse.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/a-letter-to-the-haters/

Thank you, Maggie for inspiring me to be brave too.