Feeling so FAT

[ElenaSkacenko]

When I feel i've taken a bit of weight, I usually buy clothes that make me feel sexy anyway like peplum tops. They really give you back confidence!

[Virtopia]

When I feel i've taken a bit of weight, I usually buy clothes that make me feel sexy anyway like peplum tops. They really give you back confidence!

 

 

I love peplum tops! They look great with a pencil skirt for a nice evening on the ship.

[NorthernLite]

I am on a very slow but steady menu change in general. The first part is to lose 15 pounds by Christmas. That puts me back in the safety zone of my physician's BMI suggestions for people like me. She meant fulltime wheelchair users, normally using a powerchair around home and town as my shoulders are shot after so many years of pushing. The bad part? No one will notice. When muscles are paralyzed they do more than stop you from walking. They stomach muscles I had kept up after the Army disappeared by the time I woke up 2 weeks later looking like I had had 5 kids in 4 years and yet my legs and arms suddenly resembled those seen in Auchwitchz film clips. Those we managed to do something about the first 10 years with electrical stimulation, what fun, and weights. But with no abdominal muscles to hold in intestines and other organs many of us, no matter how "skinny" will always have quad guts and para bellies. Anyone else on 900 calories a day?

[SeagoingMom]

Though this thread may have played itself out, I stumbled across it and found it interesting.

 

I don't know if any of you are familiar with "What Not to Wear," a TLC make-over show broadcast from 2003-2013, starring Clinton Kelly and Stacy London. In season 8 (2011) they had a "contributor" (as they called their participants) named Maggie. She was a spunky, full-figured young mother whose proportions were not ideal, and who pictured herself as kind of a fat frump. Clinton and Stacy put her in a well-fitting black dress (with the right undergarments, no doubt) that both revealed her figure and made the best of it. Clinton described her as "luscious" in that dress. And Maggie lit up! She looked in the mirror and she, too, knew she was luscious! It was a fabulous moment.

 

I have never forgotten the impact that scene had on Maggie, and by extension, on me. Put a woman in the right clothes and she goes from a down-on-herself fat girl to a sparkling, hot, delicious, self-confident woman! (Stacy and Clinton accomplished this time and time again, btw.)

[calliopecruiser]

I have never forgotten the impact that scene had on Maggie, and by extension, on me. Put a woman in the right clothes and she goes from a down-on-herself fat girl to a sparkling, hot, delicious, self-confident woman! (Stacy and Clinton accomplished this time and time again, btw.)

 

Don't forget that you have no idea what happened after the show, or in the weeks and months later. I can dress up to be what might be considered "luscious" and looking great, but I can't stand it for more than an hour or two.....it's uncomfortable and I no longer look "lit up" or happy. And if I actually have to pay for those clothes, I won't look happy for long either ;)

 

My point isn't that wearing a certain outfit won't make one look great, only that wearing that outfit might not fit well into the rest of one's life. It's not as easy as having a fairy godmother snap her fingers to change one's looks. That's a problem with those shows that make it all look so easy and effortless.

[SeagoingMom]

Don't forget that you have no idea what happened after the show, or in the weeks and months later. I can dress up to be what might be considered "luscious" and looking great, but I can't stand it for more than an hour or two.....it's uncomfortable and I no longer look "lit up" or happy. And if I actually have to pay for those clothes, I won't look happy for long either ;)

 

My point isn't that wearing a certain outfit won't make one look great, only that wearing that outfit might not fit well into the rest of one's life. It's not as easy as having a fairy godmother snap her fingers to change one's looks. That's a problem with those shows that make it all look so easy and effortless.

 

Sorry, I was only trying to express the encouragement I felt in hearing Clinton enthusiastically compliment a very womanly body (like mine) in a flattering garment. Thought it might encourage the OP. After all, womenly bodies don't get much cred these days...

[calliopecruiser]

After all, womenly bodies don't get much cred these days...

No kidding! But I'm not at all encouraged by shows like that -- in fact, it does the opposite for me, as if I only get cred if I will take time, money, wear "foundation undergarments", and get celebs to boast about me in front of audiences who are already prepped to applaud. I'd be much more encouraged to see womanly bodies getting credit in ordinary media (TV series, advertisements, etc.) doing ordinary things without special prep.

[ledelstein]

What is a "womanly body"?

 

 

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[calliopecruiser]

What is a "womanly body"?

 

 

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Bodies that aren't shaped like men's bodies ;)

[dulcimergirl]

This is pretty much my heaviest weight ever!

 

Just not feeling like myself. Just wish I could shake this "woe is me I'm fat" feeling.

 

I mean I hate to dwell on something as vain as weight when things could be so much worse and for many others things are worse with serious health issues.

 

BUT on the other hand, I want to feel comfortable in my skin, I'm working on losing weight and doing much better, but I wish I was alot closer to my goal weight for this cruise.

 

It's soo silly to have this wonderful cruise planned, with my son and our great friends and being worried about being overweight.

 

Trying to make sure I preplan all my outfits and know what I plan to wear each day, being overweight makes this alot harder.

 

I just want to feel better about myself.

Please don't worry about being a little "fluffy". In the end, it doesn't really matter. What matters is going, and enjoying the cruise for what it is. I will be going on my last (probably) cruise in early Sept, (since my cancer has spread to my liver) and mean to make the most of it. I will be cruising with my sister, and I'll be enjoying every minute. Being overweight is small in the scheme of things, now, isn't it?

[ledelstein]

Bodies that aren't shaped like men's bodies ;)

 

 

[emoji23][emoji23]

Good answer.

 

 

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[ansoninc]

[emoji23][emoji23]

Good answer.

 

 

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I agree!

 

 

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[simplelife]

When preparing for my first cruise I worried about how I would look. After the first day, when I saw the many shapes and sizes of people aboard, and realized that others either didn't notice or didn't care about my appearance, I put aside that worry. Now I pack things I like and that are comfortable. One rule is that I don't bring anything that requires special undergarments ( Spanx, shaper, etc).

[Mummble]

This is such a hard topic for so many women. My weight has always fluctuated and I'm near the highest point of the roller coaster right now. I am working on a lifestyle change, and it is slow... but the tortoise wins the race, right?!

 

There has been a lot of great advice on this thread, but wanted to add to it. Focusing on things I'm grateful for about my body always helps my self confidence. I am grateful for this body that moves and takes me to a job I love everyday. I'm grateful for this body that hugs friends and family. This body is a vessel that I try to be grateful for, regardless of its current condition. :-) It doesn't always work, but frequently makes a difference!

 

The other thing I think about is how ALL women can struggle with body image. I have a dear friend who is very fit, strong, and gorgeous who has shopping days where nothing fits right or is flattering. She gets fed up and goes home, just like I do after those shopping days.

 

Anywho, goodluck to everyone on this journey! And we will all be our own fabulous on our upcoming cruises!

 

 

 

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[SeagoingMom]

What is a "womanly body"?

 

 

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As was said by others, not a masculine shape, but also not the shape of a girl. A "womanly body" has hips, breasts, and if she is a mother or a mature woman, often some extra padding in the thighs and belly. Of course not all women have these characteristics. But it is these characteristics that often seem to be considered unacceptable in popular media, and that American women seem to have such a sense of inferiority, even self-loathing, about. Of course there are famous examples of women who are celebrated for just these characteristics, but the average American woman who has not been able to parlay her "curves" into wealth seems so often not to be satisfied with her body. Sad.