tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post3793617183856466026..comments2023-05-19T01:13:38.607-08:00Comments on Mindful Serenity: "The Body Project" by Joan Jacobs Brumberg (and a challenge for my readers)Jennihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01279308378287322473noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-65244591880212471062010-09-11T07:45:30.113-08:002010-09-11T07:45:30.113-08:00This book is in my Que.. I may have to move it up...This book is in my Que.. I may have to move it up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-60766561010362348772010-09-02T21:11:15.312-08:002010-09-02T21:11:15.312-08:00The only place for a scale in our house was in the...The only place for a scale in our house was in the bathroom and, due to our three children's love of splashing in the tub, we have gone through two scales in the last year. Finally we decided a scale is just not necessary and we didn't replace it. Since making that decision I have felt freed from the "responsibility" to "watch my weight." I do watch my health, but have realized that there are many other indicators besides the bathroom scale to tell me how well I am caring for my body. Over the last few years I have also realized that my body size doesn't tell me much about my health, either. I have apparently been blessed with genes made for baby-bearing, as breastfeeding has helped me achieve pre-pregnancy size or less within 9 months after each pregnancy. However, I have been progressively weaker since I don't have to "work out" to drop the weight. There are a lot of things that I need to do to be healthy, even though I can still wear my "skinny" jeans.Jessicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12753847168007127855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-48957499366808676192010-09-01T15:50:24.835-08:002010-09-01T15:50:24.835-08:00Ooh, I need to read that.
I am in a similar situ...Ooh, I need to read that. <br /><br />I am in a similar situation as Kate, except it's with a lot of people around me. When I was at a RS activity, the women were all talking about how they gained so much weight after they got married, and I mentioned that I had actually LOST weight. Oh man, were they mad. <br /><br />My mother-in-law also complains about her weight, and I think she looks wonderful! She used to always make comments on how "tiny" I am, until I told her that I didn't like it. <br /><br />The focus shouldn't be how much you weigh, but how healthy you are and feel! <br /><br />And by the way, I weigh a lot more than people think. My Viking ancestry gave me big bones.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13020605792006010879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-31320395987535142772010-09-01T08:23:55.996-08:002010-09-01T08:23:55.996-08:00I gave birth to my first child 5 1/2 weeks ago. I ...I gave birth to my first child 5 1/2 weeks ago. I will admit to being a bit mirror obsessed during my pregnancy - not in such a way as to search out negatives, but in a kind of awed fascination at how my body was changing. <br /><br />Since giving birth, I've looked at my face in the mirror long enough to french braid my long hair back out of the way. (I also stopped wearing the little makeup I used to use during pregnancy and haven't picked it up again. It helps that my skin has been really nice and clear with all the extra water intake.) Part of the lack of mirror time has been lack of time period :)<br /><br />However, I have been examining my body in my full length mirror - again in awe of how much I've changed in just 6 weeks - from an extra 30 lbs pregnant to within just a couple lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight but with the added bonus of stretch marks. And when I look at my son, I can't bring myself to mind the stretch marks at all. <br /><br />STORY: I had a roommate my freshman year of college who had a wonderful personality, but was also several sizes larger than I. We got along great at first until she started comparing her figure to mine and finding herself lacking. I tried to downplay her negativity, but it bothered me. After awhile of almost daily comments, I felt like when she looked at me all she saw was my pant size and not the REAL me. (It didn't help that hearing her constant comments on her looks also made me more self conscious of my looks.)Her obsession with comparing the two of us eventually overpowered the nice personality and I moved out after the year was over.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17027223974027853544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-60397778589961216832010-08-31T19:50:27.940-08:002010-08-31T19:50:27.940-08:00I LOVE to avoid mirrors and take a break from make...I LOVE to avoid mirrors and take a break from makeup and hair. Heck, last summer I probably bushed my hair or did my makeup twice monthly. While I am somewhat self concious at times, I have learned to value myself in the things that aren't about my physical looks- the fact that I completed my first 5k, that I can fly fish... yea.ashley @ ashley's adventures in alaskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13605497528442641979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-88722099130750761192010-08-31T08:47:21.334-08:002010-08-31T08:47:21.334-08:00I've found a great solution: nearsightedness!...I've found a great solution: nearsightedness! I never wear my glasses at home, so my mirror never shows me wrinkles or gray hairs :)Cherylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01539619929764495049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-43626026052340295282010-08-31T07:57:35.178-08:002010-08-31T07:57:35.178-08:00I can't do it today unless I take my lipstick ...I can't do it today unless I take my lipstick off :) I am really bad at wearing lipstick, and I always have to check to see if it is on my teeth. <br /><br />Lately I have been having the opposite problem -- I go into the bathroom at work just to admire my hotness in the mirror. But of course I'm sure I notice my 'inadequacies' as well every time I look.Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16981415125894714419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5551466722529127235.post-26147303564609439022010-08-31T07:50:50.293-08:002010-08-31T07:50:50.293-08:00I haven't had a scale in my house for...I don&...I haven't had a scale in my house for...I don't even know how long, a number of years. I went through an obsession with my weight my junior year of high school, where I would weigh myself 3-4 times a day. It wasn't really an obsession with my image so much as I felt this fascination with the numbers, seeing what things changed my weight, and such things, but always the goal seemed like a lower number, instead of a more balanced look at my overall health. <br /><br />I do, however, love my mirrors. I have a dancing room, where I have one very large mirror on the wall, and I love to watch myself dance. I love to see myself, because I am happy, and seeing my own smile makes me smile even more. <br /><br />I think the solution is to look and see our own beauty. Forget all the things that you think are imperfections, and just embrace the overwhelming beauty that you have. And I think you'll come to see that every part of you is beautiful.<br /><br />The part of myself that I would say detracts from my own beauty the most is that my fingers are all torn up, because I pick at the skin around my fingernails. It's more the habit, though, than the look itself. I still love my hands. <br /><br />But I think what made the real change in my life was having someone call me beautiful a lot, and me seeing the beauty in my son. It was that that made me start to believe it. So listen, when people compliment you, listen, and let it wash over you. And say it to yourself.Jenniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07803401096510721686noreply@blogger.com