Better Body Goals-Accountability Thread

[Mermaid Oshun]

[SeaGlass Siren]

I don't think a lot of us are aiming to be anorexic :s

[Echidna]

Gonna have nightmares tonight :/

[Mermaid Oshun]

I bet the problem was that she bought into this silly thinking that she was fat at first. Probably didnt like her cute chubby cheeks or something. She was perfect at first!

We're all way to hard on ourselves and we're never happy with what we have. We always want more or in this case less , until we arrive at a point where we are destroying ourselves. Skinny is not necessarily better. I think we should all be the best version of who we are and not try to change into someone else.

[deepblue]

I don't think a lot of us are aiming to be anorexic :s

Not at all. It's a very serious illness. One of my oldest, dearest friends is a therapist for women with eating disorders, and a really good one- she's a survivor herself. I've seen her down to 85 pounds and I've seen her at her healthy 110 (for her height and such it is healthy for her) for years now. I've seen her go from so ill to very healthy in body and mind, and I appreciate how much she knows the difference between the unhealthy approaches of the disease working in someone or just not seeing things in a healthy manner, and those who are actually working their body toward healthier goals. I think it's hard for some people to see the difference when they've been in such dire straits themselves. People who have gone down some tough paths in their own fights sometimes see it in everyone else, be it there or not.

And so often, it's not the media causing the problem... we can all ignore the media. I was raised to not give a damn about what the media says about beauty and health, and I don't raise my daughter to put stock in it, either. We are all ultimately responsible for how we feel about ourselves, but the words of others can and do hurt sometimes, and women can be far worse to each other than any media I've ever seen. It comes from insecurity, and it's a part of the problem and not the solution.




As for me, every work out is a victory. Because I've made the effort, I can run up a stair case, and still breathe! Woohoo! lol I haven't been in an ER for asthma in three years, and that feels miraculous.

I've been telling my friends who love mermaids but don't have the body they somehow think is associated with it to come here and see all the women with various body types embracing their inner mer. There is not one body type that belongs in a tail! Anyone who wants it belongs in a tail.

[Mermaid Oshun]

People don't initially aim to be anorexic, it just kind of sneaks up on them when they least expect it and they get sucked in little by little until BAM!... Full blown medical condition from cumulative programming.

[SeaGlass Siren]

from what i remember i dont think its programming.. it's rather like "i shalt not eat".. and i think bulimia is eating but then forcefully throwing it back up. and i dont plan on giving up my food. i love my food o-o food is the essence of life. besides water and sunlight.

i was quite fit before. fit, toned and a healthy 110lbs, but i let myself go. i mean REALLY let myself go. 125 lbs and it fluctuates, plus most of my muscle is just fat now. and that's not good. :[ wonder what happened.

[deepblue]

Like most diseases, it's a lot more complicated than just programming. One of the most common reasons people get started down that terrible path, men and women alike, is a deep, intense need for control (and even that puts it too simply) where they haven't felt they had any elsewhere, and that gets skewed- there's a common thread among many survivors that they had no control anything but what they could eat or not, and it actually has nothing to do with what they think they need to look like. There was also a common thread among a group of survivors (on a documentary about a very successful eating disorder rehab center in the UK) wherein none of them felt they had the right to 'take up space' and quite literally were getting smaller for that reason, which is also skewed and makes no sense outside the disorder. Again, it had nothing to do with perceptions of health or beauty. Even though many ana people do. It's just more complicated than one answer.

But really, this thread has rarely seen anyone exhibiting a problem with an unhealthy attitude toward fitness or weight goals. This is the better body thread, not the 'body I hate and want to make different no matter what it does to my health' thread. So far, for the most part, so good.

If anyone is here to sacrifice their health for a body goal, the rest of us aren't going to support that.

[deepblue]

Getting back on topic, I have to admit I did not work out yesterday or today. My plan is usually every other day. But yesterday we were told the water in the bldg would be out, so that would have meant no shower. So I thought I'd make it up today, but I needed to get some early errands done while the bank and post office were still open.

I really only like working out first thing in the morning. Tomorrow it is, then.

[SeaGlass Siren]

I swam!!!

Also the hubby says my legs are noticeably thinner

[deepblue]

Ah, I'm envious! I miss swimming. My beach downstairs is surfing only, and the nearest public pool is too far to walk. But it is the best form of exercise, it gets every muscle going, so I really wish I could integrate it into my workouts!

[SeaGlass Siren]

i went over to a friend's place cuz her pool just got cleaned and no one feels like swimming in the winter :P it was empty... VERY EMPTY.

[deepblue]

An empty pool sounds perfect to me.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Ok so I started controlling portions of my meal (actually eating meat the size of a deck of cards, picking brown rice instead if white rice, eating more veggies, eating fruit to satisfy sweettooth ..)


Guys I swear my skin is clearing up too!!!!

[Mermaid Ellowyn]

This is a great idea for a thread! I don't hate my body, but I am looking to lose around 60 lbs total. I'm 10 down so far, and very excited to lose more

I'm using a website & app called MyFitnessPal to help me. You can track your calories and nutrition, your exercises, and there's a whole social aspect to it (you can have friends, post statuses, there are groups and forums....) I highly recommend it if any of you lovelies are interested! If you do sign up and you'd like to be friends on there, PM me and I'll share my username

SeaGlass (Andrea?), that's awesome! Healthy choices have amazing effects - stuff you usually didn't even realize you were missing! Great job so far!

[SeaGlass Siren]

Thanks Harley! (any name you want Andrea is my real same, seaglass is my magical name)

[Echidna]

I just learned an extremely rare intestinal illness causes this.
There are only 3 cases known world-wide, Valeria seems to be one of them
(the other 2 victims look like her body- and skin-wise).
Also she mentioned anorexia was NOT the way she came to this.

So the video's title is wrong and misleading.

[Black Akira]

As a multiracial black woman I have a strange body shape, even though I'm losing weight from the way my spine is curved inward, I look fat or pregnant, not to meantion I'm a very tall woman, with four different skin colors.

I'm not the prettiest thing out here, I suffer from a disease known as pcos that affects the hormones and endocrine system, which makes me have male patterned hair (male patterned hair meaning hair growing everywhere on my body very thickly), a very unsightly skin disease that looks like dirt which is called ancanthosis nigericans, and other things, so yes not a very pretty mermaid at all sadly.

[SeaGlass Siren]

That's ok its character that counts.

[PearlieMae]

As a multiracial black woman I have a strange body shape, even though I'm losing weight from the way my spine is curved inward, I look fat or pregnant, not to meantion I'm a very tall woman, with four different skin colors.

I'm not the prettiest thing out here, I suffer from a disease known as pcos that affects the hormones and endocrine system, which makes me have male patterned hair, a very unsightly skin disease that looks like dirt which is called ancanthosis nigericans, and other things, so yes not a very pretty mermaid at all sadly.

That doesn't matter as long as you're a mermaid!

Have you thought of incorporating your unique looks in your mermaid persona? There are so many kinds of sea creatures out there!