Body Image

I don't feel one way all of the time. I can be feeling great about the way I look, and seeing an unflattering photo can throw me into self-doubt. I can be feeling bad about myself and someone can compliment me and brighten my outlook. What doesn't seem to work well for me is telling myself how I should feel.  Read more

In April's issue of Vogue, Dara-Lynn Weiss shares how she put her daughter on a diet. The piece, not online but in the magazine only, has created a flurry of opinions -- in support and against -- on the concept of putting overweight kids on diets and the manner in which it is or should be done. The controversial essay even landed Weiss a book deal. Jamila at Beyond Black & White recently wrote in support of the mother's actions, claiming that good parents put their kids on diets.  Read more

I didn't lose the baby weight quickly after our last son was born, despite breastfeeding. I laughed at a certain line in Kami at The Fence because it was totally my experience. I also loved as she shared her journey -- in a bathing suit -- of learning to accept her new and different postpartum body. I'm still working on it. Are you?  Read more

Jennifer Molica became concerned with her weight at 11, by 13, she was regularly purging. In this piece, she details the steps that eventually helped her stop. This piece is not meant as a substitute for the advice provided by a health care professional, but it's worth a read if you or someone you love is struggling with bulimia and needs a dose of tough love. If there is one thing Molica doesn't do is sugar-coat.  Read more

As if our girls don't have enough messages flying at them about their size and shape and how it contributes to their worthiness, there's now a diet book being marketed for girls as young as four. FOUR. Obviously, some controversy surrounds the book, Maggie Goes on a Diet. SAHM Answers tackles the subject and asks what your thoughts are... so share them. I bet you have some!  Read more

[Editor's Note: When I found out that Donna Simpson was gaining weight to try to break the Guinness World Record and making money for doing so on her blog, I was sad. But when I found out she was involving her very young daughter in the experience, I was mad. See what The Mouthy Housewives had to say. -Rita]  Read more

I only had a few stretchmarks after my first pregnancy. The pregnancies that followed made their own maps upon my belly, and as Hillary at The Sassy One said, upon my soul. Her post talks about her various thoughts about those marks and scars... and might just be what an expectant mom finding her first stretchmarks needs to read.  Read more