Body Image

kylith

I had a touch of an ED when I was about 16. I'd tell my parents that I'd eaten in town or had a sandwich when I got home from school, then I'd eat packs of Polo mints and run on sugar. It was for control more than for looks. Having to grow up, apply for colleges, all that lark. Food was something I had control over. I had a bit of a relapse about 5 years ago when having a row with a family member, again it was about me feeling that I had some kind of control.

I put on some weight after that and got quite chubby. My mother started telling me I looked disgusting (like she's a supermodel :rolleyes:) and that I'd looked better when I was thinner. When I told her I'd been starving myself she said that maybe I should try it again. To say I was shocked is an understatement. I think she realised what she'd said had upset me because she hasn't mentioned my weight since. I lost the excess weight by cutting out biscuits and walking more.

iwantmydinner wrote: »

I have no first-hand experience at all either. I just assumed that if someone thought about the simple mechanics of it though, they'd realise that her bump couldn't possibly be back flat after 24 hours. As in, you know yourself that if you over-exert your, say, quad muscles, they take a couple of days to get back to normal. Apply that logic to stretched uterus and stomach muscles and you'd very quickly realise that a post-partum bump is inevitable.

I'm not being argumentative here, I'm genuinely shocked that people were a) so clueless about the mechanics of having a baby in your body, and b) so bloody disparaging.

What bugs me are the articles lauding celebrities for getting back into shape within a week or so of having a baby. These women should be relaxing, recuperating, and bonding with their child, not working themselves to the bone in the gym or living on juice diets because Heat says they have to be back in a bikini ASAP.

loalae

I have to say that the biggest influence on me and my body image was and is my mother.

I've always been all arms and legs but I've a very thin chest and shoulders and my hips and bum are pretty much in proportion with the rest of me. When I was 13 those tight blouses with the 3/4 length sleeves were in fashion and I begged my mam to buy one for me. She brought me shopping and I took a size 10 into the changing room and I thought it fit me. She disagreed and insisted that my bust was too big for it and got me a size 14. I was swimming in it!

Sine then and up until last year I was wearing clothes that were either a size 12 or 14. One of my friends asked me at the start of last year why I always wore my clothes so baggy and I didn't know what she was talking about. When she pointed out that I'm actually kind of thin and not really what my mother calls "voluptuous" it was an absolute revelation to me.

I've pretty much given away all the clothes that are too big for me and most of the things I wear now are a size 10. I just can't believe that I got to the age of 28 without having an accurate idea of what size I am.

My mam still tells me that I'm curvy, voluptuous, and that I am broader than her and that I have bigger boobs than her. None of these things are bad in themselves but they're also not true. I'm not "skinny" at all but I don't have the large frame I always thought I did because of the way she spoke about my body.

Lia_lia

Why are peoples Mothers like this

Tigger99

Jealousy or could be the way they were treated by their mothers.

loalae

In my case, my mam has always liked wearing loose clothes so I think initially she just thought that I'd be more comfortable in looser clothes too.

She gets ideas into her head and runs with them regardless of the facts. This happens with everything, not just my body.

I really wouldn't like to think that she's jealous of me. She's decided I'm voluptuous and there's really nothing I can do or say to change that. I've asked her to stop commenting in my body and she assumes that I feel fat and reassures me that many men like curvier women.

Ilyana 2.0

I think my mum encouraged me to lose weight when I was younger so I wouldn't have the same yo-yo weight issues she does. Like she did mean well, I was definitely overweight as a teen. Unfortunately her efforts achieved exactly what she had sought to avoid.

CathyMoran

It has taken me a while to accept my body shape - I have numerous scars from cancer surgery, the result of with I never have the capacitity to put on much weight. I have only recently wearing clothes to suit my body shape (petitle small (size 6-8)). I have had mean comments from other women though.

Censorsh!t

I've always been very self conscious and have had low self esteem my whole life, so unfortunately I've had some trouble with my body image.
Especially in the last year I've put on some weight and it's really made me feel down at times. It's kind of silly, because people would still consider me to be 'slim', but no matter what people say, I'm still unhappy with how I look.

I never read 'women's' magazines, I think their a pile of ****e really, and I'm not engrossed with that type of gossip culture. As someone else said, it is prboably a mental issue, but false images of amazing looking women don't help.

meeeeh

loalae wrote: »

In my case, my mam has always liked wearing loose clothes so I think initially she just thought that I'd be more comfortable in looser clothes too.

She gets ideas into her head and runs with them regardless of the facts. This happens with everything, not just my body.

I really wouldn't like to think that she's jealous of me. She's decided I'm voluptuous and there's really nothing I can do or say to change that. I've asked her to stop commenting in my body and she assumes that I feel fat and reassures me that many men like curvier women.

I think tgere are plenty of people who can't dress for their body type or size. Usually we flatter ourselves with smaller sizes but there are people who wear clothes which are too big for them. For some is also a modesty issue.

I loved shopping with my mother. We had plenty of disagreements and arguments but I would get a honest opinion. I remember trying on a pricey bikini that I thought it was too slinky and mum actually talked me into buying it and 13 years lster I still love it. She also told me when she thought clothes were too revealing or too tight. I come from a family where you had to grow fairly thick skin but the advice was good. I wouldn't be told to diet and mum never did and she wouldn't need to until her fifties when her bmi probably got into overweight range. Dad was always overweight but we gave up on him.

m'lady

I try to avoid women's mags too, but when I do cave in for a bit of juicy gossip and stories, I will hide them from my 13 year old girl- for the reasons we are all talking about.

I have about 1.5/2 stone to lose, so really not happy with my body, and have a scar on my back which makes me very conscious, but I've learned that it's part of me and what I have gone through, and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it so no point in worrying!