The Whole Size Issue

I just read the following article on msn.com about "plus" size models: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34766041/ns/today-today_fashion_and_beauty?GT1=43001. Articles like that really infuriate me: A. because "plus" size in the fashion industry starts with size 10 and B. because people assume that if you don't weigh 115lbs you must be unhealthy. Those of you who have read my blog before know about my weight-loss journey. As someone who used to be a size 16, I think it's complete and total bullshit that the fashion industry considers a size 10 to be a "plus" size. The average clothing size for a woman in the United States is a size 14. Of course there will be women who are smaller than that, as well as women who are larger than that. I'm not advocating being big for the sake of being big, but there are some women who will never be smaller than a size 12 or 14. Because of their genetic makeup and their body type, being any smaller could actually harm their health. Their BMI might say that they're overweight, but a better indicator of good health is the ratio between your waist size and your height.

We're so used to seeing super-skinny models in fashion magazines that when we do see a woman that looks "normal", there are those who have a negative reaction. They think "We don't need to see her fat hanging out everywhere." By saying that, they're actually announcing their insecurity about how they look. Because fashion magazines have made the standard of beauty that of a skinny (possibly borderline anorexic) woman with no curves, the average woman doesn't think she's good enough.

When I chose to lose weight, I didn't do so in order to attain some ridiculous standard of beauty. I did it because I am genetically predisposed to certain health problems and I also wasn't satisfied, personally, with how I looked. According to the current BMI standards, my goal weight is the maximum healthy weight for my height, but according to my standards, it's the perfect weight for me based on my body type. If I were to go smaller than that, I don't think that I'd recognize myself. Right now I'm the smallest that I've been since I was 14 years old. That was 20 years ago, and the weight has shifted to new and interesting places since then. I don't want to look exactly like I did when I was 14 because my boobs were about 3 cup sizes smaller, LOL!