Day One

The phrase, "body image" for me always seems to draw a negative value.  The way women are viewed in the world today makes me anxious for the girls in my daughter's generation.  It is very true (especially in the USA) that our portion sizes are too big, our appetites bigger and our gluttonous attitude expanding.  Children are becoming more and more obese and self-help books are booming especially for parents.

My daughter is beautiful.  The world sees her, however, as a statistic.  She’s not built to be thin….not in the way the world defines thin.  She’s got a build that could easily be athletic…as my body was and didn’t turn into that “athletic built” until high school.  Until then, however, I had to constantly battle with the stigma of my weight.  What kind of role model am I?

Now onto the hopes.  I hope the world and especially the USA wakes up and makes healthy options more available and affordable.  Fast food restaurants will spend money to find ways to help “short on time” parents.  The movement that some parts of our culture are heading toward makes me feel hopeful.  Focusing on kids being healthy and learning to love staying active, being involved with their families healthy eating, and limiting screen time makes me eager to feel that drive myself.