…who’s the fattest one of all?
If Barbie was life-sized, her measurements would be 39-23-33 (in 2004 the average woman in the USA measured 40-34-43). According to studies done by both Yale and Duke Universities, in order for Barbie's measurements to be "normal" she would have to be at least 7 feet, 4 inches tall.)
When I was obese, I used to obsessively compare myself to others in a room. I mean, my judgement was obviously off since I didn’t even realize that my weight had gotten so out of control! At first, I would constantly ask my husband to find someone else in the room whose figure compared to mine. He did not like that request (and he never did comply). Each time I would find someone who I thought “looked like me”, he would insist that I was skinnier than that… Oh, he’s a good man.
Once I got back into a healthy weight range (and I felt so much better about myself overall), I stopped comparing myself to others. We all compare, though, right? It’s easy enough to compare to the models on television and in magazines. It’s not a fair comparison, but it’s natural to do. I was worried that as my waist line decreased, I would try to compare myself to those whose bodies I would never realistically equal (I never aimed to be a size 4, for example, but I worried that I would start to want that once I reached the single digits in general).
The point is, once I regained a healthy focus, my body image issues diminished. Do I still have a “mommy pouch”? Sure! It’s my badge of honor! Do I still have flabby arms? You bet! I have body fat, but I’m healthy. More important than my healthy body is my healthy mind!
How Did You Do It? 
Comments on: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…" (2)
I like this blog… what is really discouraging is the magazine covers. We as adults know these phots are airbrushed to make these models look “perfect”. However being inundated with these photos everytime we are at the supermarket, still can make us, “wish we looked like that”. Even knowing that these photos are unrealistic. IMAGINE what this does to young girls? It is very disturbing!! No wonder why they have low self confidence about how their bodies look. It is very sad. I applaud the model who went on the Today show a year or so ago, and compared her original photo to that on the cover of what ever magazine it was and showed how much the people in charge changed her photo to look “perfect” I wish all teens could have seen that episode!!
[…] ago, I compared what we see in the mirror to what we think in our minds. The post was entitled, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”. I inserted a picture of the Barbie doll and made a caption of how unrealistic her actual […]