Unrealistic standards and eating disorders.

[muppet]

Sometimes I feel like the reason I over eat, or used to over eat , is because I just thought about it too much. I've always.... always... thought I was fat. Even when I was far from it. I wonder if I had been confident and secure in my appearance, that maybe I never would have had a weight problem.
Why did I always feel so fat? I think I compared myself too much with some super skinny friends, and models and actresses. I can remember obsessing about my stomach -- I thought you had to have that six pack look. That's not what I called it when I was younger, but that's what I thought I should have. I just could not accept myself for the way I was. And I really don't know why I was so obsessed with that. My stomach was just fine. I had a 'hot' figure. I didn't know it then though.
I think me thinking about it so much, made me think too much about what I shouldn't eat, and that made me want it that much more. Food became so important. I think this is when I became an emotional eater.
But anyway, what got me to thinking about this was a little article I had read about Nicole Kidman. Apparantly she's doing a remake of an old Marilyn Monroe movie. OK -- fine. But someone made a comment about how the old star ( Marilyn) was fat. The article made a comment about how no wonder girls have body image issues, if now they are saying Marilyn Monroe is too fat and that super skinny Nicole Kidman is the norm. Yeah -- no wonder. How are you going to make yourself 6 feet tall ( or whatever she is) and bean pole thin? And as for Marilyn being fat -- I guess she was by today's standards, but she was gorgeous. With a gorgeous voluptuous figure. Why can't that be ok too?
Why do body types become trends? It's not like clothes, where you can just buy new ones. Sometimes the big boobs are 'in'. So, what if you don't have them? Are you supposed to have surgery? Sometimes the tall boyish figure is 'in'. Don't have it? Well, there's not much you can do to get it, so I guess you have to feel bad about yourself.
It's so much rubbish! Because in reality, there are tall skinny girls, and there are short curvy girls, and everything in between. And for each body type, there's going to be someone else who thinks it is the hottest thing going. Beauty isn't a trend. It is truly in the eye of the beholder.
I am all over the place here -- I guess I should have called this thread ' random rant', or something....
But I feel bad when I think about girls ( I suppose it happens to boys too, but I don't think as much) feeling bad about themselves, or that something is wrong with them, when they are just fine. It's wonderful that we are all unique. We are all so hard on ourselves-- thinking we have to live up to some kind of standard. Who sets these standards? Fashion and media? Who cares what they think.
Follow the trends in clothes if you want, but never ever feel bad about who you are, or how you look. Be proud and realize that are beautiful just the way you are. And for those of us here who are trying to make some changes and improve ourselves-- be realistic and understand there are some things you can't change. Just try to be the healthiest you can and do what's best for your body.