On Japan

[Guest guest]

Hi. I visited Japan almost 20 years ago, and I'm of Japanese descent. Yes,

the sizes are tiny--but you have to understand, the FRAME size on a

Japanese body is smaller. This is why their " normal " BMI range is 19 to

23, overweight is 23.1 to 24.9 and 25 is their obesity (which is

" overweight " here)--because Asian peoples have bodies designed to be

smaller--and we also develop things like diabetes at a lower BMI than

other races. I have a horrible time buying bracelets that don't fall off

because my wrists are 5 3/8 inches around... if you don't have a small

frame, you're fighting your body if you want to wear Japanese clothes.

When I was at my heaviest, my BMI was just shy of 27--and I had horrible

blood pressure (as in the bottom/lower number was 100!) I'm five feet

tall and I looked pretty heavy at that weight--and I wore size 10 petite

at the time. I have friends who wear sizes 8 and 10 petite who don't look

heavy at all--who are not Asian. If you're not of Asian heritage, odds

are that your body is designed to carry a different weight.

Interestingly, when I was in Japan, I discovered something that enabled me

to like my thighs for the first time. The Japanese call it " daikon ashi. "

Daikon are those long white radishes in Japan, but they are thick at the

top and thin at the bottom like a huge carrot. " Ashi " is the word for the

legs or feet. I totally have this shape to my legs--thick at the top,

thin at the bottom. And because of the public baths and skinny jeans, I

looked around me in Japan and realized MOST JAPANESE WOMEN are built this

way... whether they wear a size 00 or are a little plump.

Anyway, it might make you feel better about the slimness of Japanese women

if you look for their " daikon ashi. " It made me feel better about my

legs. On the other hand, I now have middle aged woman's build with more

belly fat and knowing that most women in their 40s and 50s do too doesn't

help me feel better about that... and it's actually the slimming down that

made that more noticeable.

Take care,

Sue

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue,

Thanks for your reply! Actually its very interesting you mention daikon ashi

because this is just the kind of thing I think about when I am trying to justify

a binge. I think, well most women have fat here, here, and here, so I can

afford to binge and gain a tiny bit of weight there and most people won't

notice. This makes little sense, but what I'm trying to get at is, it doesn't

really matter what " ideal " I'm trying to achieve (be it a skinny torso or to

grow pink bunny ears). The problem is that I'm comparing myself to others and

looking to fit myself into a box. When I hear that some people just have a

small frame my mind has 2 completely different reactions- one is to starve until

I can be my very best self ever and get as small as possible and the other is to

give up completely since I can never achieve EXACTLY what I want so I binge.

This reaction is an especially ridiculous reaction because I do fit some of the

" ideals " I aspire to, but I just have so little self-confidence and so much

self-hate that I focus instead on the negatives. I have a pretty small frame

myself (i'm 5'4.5 and my wrist is 5.4 inches around) and even though I'm at my

heaviest, I'm only a size 6 but this is pretty huge for my family and genetics.

Everyday I find myself wondering what my " true " body would look like if I'd

never had an eating disorder. I bet I'd be a lot smaller, healthier, and

happier. I bet I could go to Japan confidently, knowing no matter what fits or

doesnt fit, I'm still worthy of love and happiness. Instead I seem to be in a

never ending cycle of continuing to feel deprived and thus binge long after I've

stopped restricting!

>

> Hi. I visited Japan almost 20 years ago, and I'm of Japanese descent. Yes,

> the sizes are tiny--but you have to understand, the FRAME size on a

> Japanese body is smaller. This is why their " normal " BMI range is 19 to

> 23, overweight is 23.1 to 24.9 and 25 is their obesity (which is

> " overweight " here)--because Asian peoples have bodies designed to be

> smaller--and we also develop things like diabetes at a lower BMI than

> other races. I have a horrible time buying bracelets that don't fall off

> because my wrists are 5 3/8 inches around... if you don't have a small

> frame, you're fighting your body if you want to wear Japanese clothes.

>

> When I was at my heaviest, my BMI was just shy of 27--and I had horrible

> blood pressure (as in the bottom/lower number was 100!) I'm five feet

> tall and I looked pretty heavy at that weight--and I wore size 10 petite

> at the time. I have friends who wear sizes 8 and 10 petite who don't look

> heavy at all--who are not Asian. If you're not of Asian heritage, odds

> are that your body is designed to carry a different weight.

>

> Interestingly, when I was in Japan, I discovered something that enabled me

> to like my thighs for the first time. The Japanese call it " daikon ashi. "

> Daikon are those long white radishes in Japan, but they are thick at the

> top and thin at the bottom like a huge carrot. " Ashi " is the word for the

> legs or feet. I totally have this shape to my legs--thick at the top,

> thin at the bottom. And because of the public baths and skinny jeans, I

> looked around me in Japan and realized MOST JAPANESE WOMEN are built this

> way... whether they wear a size 00 or are a little plump.

>

> Anyway, it might make you feel better about the slimness of Japanese women

> if you look for their " daikon ashi. " It made me feel better about my

> legs. On the other hand, I now have middle aged woman's build with more

> belly fat and knowing that most women in their 40s and 50s do too doesn't

> help me feel better about that... and it's actually the slimming down that

> made that more noticeable.

>

> Take care,

> Sue

>

>

>

>