I’m a 36 year old woman and I’ve struggled with my body image since I was quite young. By 3rd grade, I was developing breasts. By 6th grade, I was 5ft 6in. with an hourglass figure. I’m sure I’m not the only one who dealt with early development and being mocked by the skinny girls. It’s a common scenario and a struggle for many.
My stats:
Height- 5’7.5” barefoot (all my medical records have me at 5’8” or 5’9”)
Highest Weight- 155 lbs (only hit this a couple times in my life- thank you college)
Lowest Weight- not sure. When I was 17, I got sick and dropped to 118 but that was brief.
Additional weight history: For most of my adult life, I’ve been around 138 to 150, sometimes a little lower, sometimes higher. This weight is healthy and perfectly fine but we all have our own idea of what we want, right?
Current Weight- Somewhere between 122 and 127lbs I guess. I don’t own a scale.
Current Measurements- 34-25-36
As I said, I’ve had body image issues for most of my life, but I’ve always strived to be healthy. I know the dangers of low caloric intake but I was tired of the constant up and down. Often, I found myself restricting my eating but this led to more depression, anxiety, and erratic behavior. I have finally turned to Bikram yoga and I can’t believe how much it streamlines the body. I’m leaner, healthier, stronger, and more emotionally stable than I’ve ever been. Currently, I am doing Bikram every day, but as long as I do it 3 times a week, I’m golden. Hopefully, Bikram yoga will keep me on the right path because it would be all too easy for me to fall down the slippery slope of crash dieting.
Even though I look as healthy as I feel, I’ve gotten some negative comments from people that were used to seeing me athletic and curvy. I never thought I’d hear someone say to me, “Eat a sandwich”, but it happened; more than once. I don’t understand why people feel entitled to make comments and even suggest that I have a problem. They weren’t worried about me when I was crying every day, struggling with depression. Now I feel fantastic, inside and out. But it was embarrassing to have the people I work with make such inappropriate comments. I'm so proud of the way I look now (finally), but I'm afraid to post pics for my friends to see; afraid they'll either say I'm bragging or speculate about how I lost the weight. You can't win, can you?
I guess that’s all for now. I wanted to say hi to everyone. I admire anyone who is willing to put themselves out there and blog about their struggles.
Peace, Love and Happiness to All
Amelia
I know I am a bit late. I'm sorry I am catching up on everyone. But your before and after pics are amazing!! Congratulations on your weight loss. you look great!!
ReplyDeleteDont mind people that are negative. Believe me 9 out of 10 of them secretly wish they could be as strong as you, and lose weight themselves. So dont even pay them any attention.
Oh and thats amazing you found a healthier way to lose weight. I've never heard of Bikram yoga. I like working out, and finding new things to do, I'm going to look into it too.
So thanks!!
Tara
Thank you Tara for your kind words. You're not late- that's the beauty of blogging. I'm surprised to have any comments or followers for that matter. Again, thank you. Even though no one knows me it's hard to post pics of myself.
ReplyDeleteBikram Yoga is a form of hatha yoga performed in a heated environment. It can be expensive but most studios offer a beginner package. It has done more than help me with my weight. It has fixed all the injuries and pain from aerobics. It has helped me with depression, anxiety and insomnia. Almost anyone who practices it regularly will say that it helps with cravings and many addictions. Check out www.bikramyoga.com. There are Bikram studios all over the world. Let me know if you need any information.
Thanks again. All the comments and followers have boosted my confidence. I hope I can return the favor.
Cheers!
wow you lost so much weight, you're looking amazing
ReplyDeleteYour so brave putting up your photos- good on you! they're an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks for following me...following you right back!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate about co-workers making inappropriate comments about your weight. I'm currently getting this on what seems like a daily basis and I'm not even thin!
I say congrats for your hard work. It's so rude when co-workers make inappropriate comments about weight. You'd never say to an overweight person "stop eating that sandwhich" so why is it fine to tell a thin person to eat?
ReplyDeleteAlso, when someone has an ED the pressure & comments to eat usually make things worse...
~Harlow