Re: The fantasy of being thin

[Guest guest]

Thanks, that looks like some great reading!

-- The fantasy of being thin

Evening all.If you've never read any of Kate Harding's excellent, thought-provoking and occasonally funny blogs (on Shapely Prose), this would be a good place to start - particularly if you do find yourself fantasising about being thin, and what becoming thin would mean to you. A looonng post, but highly recommended (and lots of the people who leave comments on Kate's site are tremendously interesting writers/contributors too). You may find something here that speaks to you:http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/CheersS

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the link - it truly is a great read. Here's my reply that I

posted there -

Dang near all the women in my family have a 'refrigerator' profile! I

used to joke that this is due to coming from good peasant stock, which

isn't so far off base either. Yet all the 'ladies' married, had

interests, many dressed quite nicely etc. They accepted their 'Ma

Kettle' image with humor and a shrug at being 'fashionable' as their

supposed guide line in life.

I hardly ever had excess weight until I hit menopause, then it was

like hitting a brick wall with the bricks sticking! After hearing my

doctor (woman) say - loose weight, loose weight etc. as the be all,

cure all for USUAL aging things like increasing cholesterol, blood

pressure, joints creaking etc. etc. I opted to go IE/normal eating. I

am just now getting my head reset to MY dictates instead of all the

'input' from the EXTERNAL world regarding how I 'should be'. Such an

attitude has served me extremely well in my life so far and I suspect

it will do just that with my 'aging' health too.

Afterall, my one granny at 102 years of age has outlived every doctor

who told her to 'loose weight'. You can't argue with TOUGH genes :)

>

> Evening all.

>

> If you've never read any of Kate Harding's excellent, thought-provoking

> and occasonally funny blogs (on Shapely Prose), this would be a good

> place to start - particularly if you do find yourself fantasising about

> being thin, and what becoming thin would mean to you. A looonng post,

> but highly recommended (and lots of the people who leave comments on

> Kate's site are tremendously interesting writers/contributors too).

> You may find something here that speaks to you:

>

> http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/

>

> Cheers

> S

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for sharing that link! I've always been one to think my life

would be so much better, everything would fall into place if I were

thin. It didn't help that in high school (when I was at my heaviest),

we watched a video in my psychology class that basically stated that

thin women had an easier time getting a job than heavier women did.

They set up a hidden camera while two women were getting interviewed

for the same job. The heavier woman was very qualified for the job

and had her interview first, and was told the job was already taken.

The thinner woman had little to no experience, had a later interview

and was offered the job on the spot! Great stuff to drill into our

heads at a very vulnerable age, right?!

>

> Evening all.

>

> If you've never read any of Kate Harding's excellent, thought-provoking

> and occasonally funny blogs (on Shapely Prose), this would be a good

> place to start - particularly if you do find yourself fantasising about

> being thin, and what becoming thin would mean to you. A looonng post,

> but highly recommended (and lots of the people who leave comments on

> Kate's site are tremendously interesting writers/contributors too).

> You may find something here that speaks to you:

>

> http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/

>

> Cheers

> S

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the link Sigi!

Oh yeah. For some odd reason you do think that you're going to be

envied, adored, etc. when you reach that magic number.

Well, I was there and let me tell you...NOBODY CARED!

LOL!

My life was still the same only with less of me. However, when

someone did notice, it freaked me out. I got so scared about

regaining the weight because I didn't want to feel like a failure!

Well, almost 3 years later and back it came.

I still struggle with having people see me all " voluminous " . I am the

queen of the saddlebags I tells ya!

>

> Evening all.

>

> If you've never read any of Kate Harding's excellent, thought-

provoking

> and occasonally funny blogs (on Shapely Prose), this would be a

good

> place to start - particularly if you do find yourself fantasising

about

> being thin, and what becoming thin would mean to you. A looonng

post,

> but highly recommended (and lots of the people who leave comments

on

> Kate's site are tremendously interesting writers/contributors

too).

> You may find something here that speaks to you:

>

> http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/

>

> Cheers

> S

>

[Guest guest]

I totally know what you mean! When I was thinner, my life didn't just

magically take a turn for the better. In fact, my family stopped

talking to me, my mom would only make negative comments about my

weight and my being TOO thin, and to be honest, I was miserable. Now,

my sister and I are friends again, and I hang out with my mom and

brother on the weekends. I had quit my previous job because it was

taking time away from exercising and focusing on food, and I just

recently took the step to get a new job and I absolutely love it.

Also, I applied for school and am getting ready to start in the

spring. My quest to be thin was actually taking my life away from

me...the complete opposite of what I was hoping it would do. So I'm a

little bit heavier now, I'm still healthy AND I have somewhat of a

life! Best of all, when my eating disordered thoughts aren't busy

gnawing away at my brain, I'M HAPPY!

> >

> > Evening all.

> >

> > If you've never read any of Kate Harding's excellent, thought-

> provoking

> > and occasonally funny blogs (on Shapely Prose), this would be a

> good

> > place to start - particularly if you do find yourself fantasising

> about

> > being thin, and what becoming thin would mean to you. A looonng

> post,

> > but highly recommended (and lots of the people who leave comments

> on

> > Kate's site are tremendously interesting writers/contributors

> too).

> > You may find something here that speaks to you:

> >

> > http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/

> >

> > Cheers

> > S

> >

>

[Guest guest]

>

> I totally know what you mean! When I was thinner, my life didn't

just

> magically take a turn for the better. In fact, my family stopped

> talking to me, my mom would only make negative comments about my

> weight and my being TOO thin, and to be honest, I was miserable.

Now,

> my sister and I are friends again, and I hang out with my mom and

> brother on the weekends. I had quit my previous job because it was

> taking time away from exercising and focusing on food, and I just

> recently took the step to get a new job and I absolutely love it.

> Also, I applied for school and am getting ready to start in the

> spring. My quest to be thin was actually taking my life away from

> me...the complete opposite of what I was hoping it would do. So

I'm a

> little bit heavier now, I'm still healthy AND I have somewhat of a

> life! Best of all, when my eating disordered thoughts aren't busy

> gnawing away at my brain, I'M HAPPY!

>

All these things sound great! Maybe you might want to make some

lists or jot down some thoughts of all the good stuff in your life,

and all the good things about yourself just the way you are, and read

and remind yourself of them in those " gnawing " low times.

Good luck.

s

xo

[Guest guest]

I tell myself that I don't do this - yet this morning I caught myself

thinking about a special occasion in a few months, and thinking about

how I could be smaller by then, and how things would be different if

I was.

> >

> > Evening all.

> >

> > If you've never read any of Kate Harding's excellent, thought-

> provoking

> > and occasonally funny blogs (on Shapely Prose), this would be a

> good

> > place to start - particularly if you do find yourself fantasising

> about

> > being thin, and what becoming thin would mean to you. A looonng

> post,

> > but highly recommended (and lots of the people who leave comments

> on

> > Kate's site are tremendously interesting writers/contributors

> too).

> > You may find something here that speaks to you:

> >

> > http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/

> >

> > Cheers

> > S

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I think “Amen Sister!” and I

do think it is IE. I’m still working on that fantasy…it’s

hard to eradicate and she is righ about that idea of thinness…a thinner

me seems so much cooler than my size now me. I will say the one thing that

helps me feel more comfortable in my own skin is exercise. Really. Not “exercise

to lose weight” but just exercise. Well, here’s to us and working

on our self acceptance!

From:

IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ]

On Behalf Of blitz_icestorm

Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008

12:38 PM

To:

IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

The Fantasy of Being Thin

I found this EXCELLENT article on one of the sites

linked in a recent

post, and I think it would help a lot of people out to read it.

What do you all think of it?

Carolyn

PS: I do hope that post was appropriate. I know it's not " strictly "

IE, but as it relates very strongly to the idea of Health At Any Size,

I thought it was relevant.

[Guest guest]

This article is really getting me to add some more questions to my journal. What would I do differently/or at all that I'm not doing now if I were thin? What do I really want to be/do and how will I get there? What am I using my fat to prevent me from doing? And, Is my fat a part of me - part of who I am or is it just a part of my body?

Thanks for sharing this. I really need to get onto her website and read more of her blogs.

Alana

<None of that is because I’m fat. It’s because I’m me.

Accepting my fat really wasn’t the hard part. Accepting my personality — and my many limitations that have jack shit to do with my thighs — was. But oddly enough, once I started to do that, my life became about a zillion times more satisfying. I found the right guy, I took up yoga, I started taking my writing more seriously, I stopped apologizing for taking vacations in the U.S. and Canada instead of somewhere more exotic, etc. And lo and behold, things got a lot more fun around here. The thin person inside me finally got out — it just turned out she was actually a fat person. A reasonably attractive, semi-outgoing fat person who has an open mind and an active imagination but also happens to really like routine and familiarity and quiet time alone.

That was never who I expected to be — it was just always who I was.

The question is, who do you really want to be, and what are you going to do about it? >

--Alana eis

-------------- Original message --------------

I found this EXCELLENT article on one of the sites linked in a recentpost, and I think it would help a lot of people out to read it. Let me write my own teaser here. Ever wondered why, aside from"superficial" concerns about your outer appearance, the wish to bethinner could possibly have such a dominating, suffocating hold onyou? One possibility is that we are still caught in the trap known as"the fantasy of being thin" -- the idea that, once we are thin,everything about our lives will change radically and dramatically forthe better. But there's a reason it's called a fantasy. Go here to read more:http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/I hope this will help some wheels start turning regarding thesometimes seemingly unshakeable perception that losing weight MUST bea goal at all costs. Because, frankly, I think this is false, but Ihad no idea how to maybe help jangle those ideas a little... but thenalong came this article. :)What do you all think of it?CarolynPS: I do hope that post was appropriate. I know it's not "strictly"IE, but as it relates very strongly to the idea of Health At Any Size,I thought it was relevant.

[Guest guest]

Carolyn,

Thank you for sharing this with us. I was

actually going to post the link to the current post at Kate’s blog: http://kateharding.net/2008/03/17/introducing-aunt-fattie/

I thought it was interesting. Kate is so

funny and intense, I tend to pick and choose what I read there, but I applaud

her for what she is doing.

And this is appropriate. I don’t

want anyone feeling like they shouldn’t post something in light of recent

conversations. See my last post if you haven’t read it – there is a

lot that falls under the IE discussion umbrella.

If anyone has any doubts or concerns, feel

free to send me a private email and I’ll check it out. J

Thanks!

Gillian

Gillian

Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Get your report, " The 6 Steps to

Guilt-Free Eating " by visiting http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com

Check out our upcoming Am I Hungry? seminars

beginning March 6th and April 1st: http://www.BreakOutofDietPrison.com

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of blitz_icestorm

Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:38

AM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject:

The Fantasy of Being Thin

I found this EXCELLENT article on one of the sites

linked in a recent

post, and I think it would help a lot of people out to read it.

Let me write my own teaser here. Ever wondered why, aside from

" superficial " concerns about your outer appearance, the wish to be

thinner could possibly have such a dominating, suffocating hold on

you? One possibility is that we are still caught in the trap known as

" the fantasy of being thin " -- the idea that, once we are thin,

everything about our lives will change radically and dramatically for

the better. But there's a reason it's called a fantasy.

Go here to read more:

http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/

I hope this will help some wheels start turning regarding the

sometimes seemingly unshakeable perception that losing weight MUST be

a goal at all costs. Because, frankly, I think this is false, but I

had no idea how to maybe help jangle those ideas a little... but then

along came this article.

What do you all think of it?

Carolyn

PS: I do hope that post was appropriate. I know it's not " strictly "

IE, but as it relates very strongly to the idea of Health At Any Size,

I thought it was relevant.