Tag Archive: Body Image



Wake Up, I'm Fat!Wake Up, I’m Fat! by Camryn Manheim

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

‘Camryn Manheim. Isn’t she the beautiful woman with all those earrings on that legal show?’ That’s what I thought a long time ago when I didn’t quite know who she was. She still remains the one I remember. The others were men or skinny minnies. They all look and acted the same. Not much has changed since in Hollywood’s movies and television. For someone that has a hard time differentiating faces of actors and actresses (remember how I told you I had a hard time with Rob and Jon on Game of Thrones?) Give me individuals! Ms. Manheim is a grand individual. I have tried to catch her on every show on the big screen or small. I was sorry to see her leave Ghost Whisperer. But then again I did love Aisha in the friend role. She, too, is unique. Both these two friends were more interesting that the overly sexed main actress.

So when my friend, Michele, offered to let me read this gem I was excited. A couple years later I have taken it off the shelf and actually read it. Sorry it took so long, Michele.

Now to the meat of this book. Fat. I’ve been skinny, I’ve been–well the size I am now. But I always felt fat. In my family were folks of all sizes so I felt accepted no matter what size I was. But go to the store and I often couldn’t find my size or the styles were ugly. The worst was when my daughter wanted to go shopping together. She didn’t inherit my size or anything else. We were at opposite ends of the rack. We rarely could find a store with both our sizes. But she liked the younger looks so I would get relegated looking at jewelry or standing around doing nothing. We stopped shopping together.

Camryn had it worse. Her chosen profession was into the world of men who only love skinny actresses. Her parents didn’t accept her. Well, don’t let me tell her story. See what one of us has gone through. Watch how she handles her life and grows. If you didn’t love her from the beginning like I did, hopefully, you will love her at the end of the book. Even more, this should be required reading for everyone who doesn’t shop Lane Bryants, or the flowered muumuus at the XX end of the rack. You think skinnies are the norm? They’re not. If you think telling the larger person to diet is going to change things, you are wrong. How about love. What happened to kindness and love?

By the way, the reason this book took me so long to read was the font size. I had to take it in bits. But those bits with a bookmark and bright light got me through. Still I would have liked the Kindle version better.

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Review: Ravenous


Ravenous
Ravenous by Heidi Loney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was given this book free for review. If it wasn’t for that and a fascinating plot, and characters I cared about, I would have not finished reading it.

If there is one thing for sure, that drew me in, I love dystopia books. Not fond of zombies, oops, lombies. (Still not sure where that come from.)

Then I am a frustrated greenhorn farmer living in an apartment, so reading about the commune type living was a welcome relief.

Try as I might, I couldn’t get past the present tense method of presenting the story. It didn’t, as it sometimes does, make the story more gripping. In fact, I felt, it made the characters seem self absorbed, even conceded. I don’t think that was the author’s intent. And then, at the end, it changed suddenly as we learned of Madge’s recent history. Once I was used to being in Madge’s mind I wished the story had included her more as she had a sort of toughness that Calla didn’t show.

As a maternal person, I was glad to see the attitudes of sex and protection, etc. Good things, I think, for young adults to read.

The sequel is still calling to me as I long to see what happens with everyone. I bet the author’s writing has improved. I look forward to seeing more.

Thank you for letting me read your book, Heidi Loney.

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Since I started to seriously blog here my health has been an issue. In looking for answers I reacquainted myself with …

Blogs I Love

 

For one of those blogs I needed to write a letter to the owner describing me here and now. Here is what I wrote to her:

 

Hi Golda,

I love your website! I found it through the blog: Dances With Fat.

I come from half heredity of big people and half skinny-minnies. My children, four adults, three males and then the youngest of the family, female. Only the oldest carries the fat cells, the others took after the skinnies.

My weight has always been a problem for me. But I would love to go back to my fat days of 135! Now I am nearly 75 pounds more than that. I have been a vegetarian for nearly 20 years. When people look at me they don’t believe me. The only thing I have been able to offer is that hippos and elephants are vegetarians also.

Elephant vs hippo

Elephant vs hippo (Photo credit: andrew.napier)

Last Friday I learned that I am now diabetic and was told, again, my cholesterol is still high. I did learn my thyroid needs a pill. And more pills on top of the ones for depression/social anxiety, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, arthritis, etc. No surprise, see above. Cold, changeable weather of Winter causes such pain and mental fogginess that I can’t even get up to shower much less getting into some sort of exercise routine.

In the late spring when the weather is warmer and stable I get out of the house into the sun and have a regular life. So meanwhile, how do I lose the unhealthy weight? I have decided to finally give in and go vegan. Since I hate fish, chicken, eggs and milk, the choice to give up butter, oils and cheese seems easy. With the exception of coconut oil.

English: Coconut oil in solid state

English: Coconut oil in solid state (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Meanwhile, I am thinking about the last time I lost a lot of weight and how it was due to a shopping trip to Pic-n-Sav, now called Big Lots. I was pushing my cart through the aisles and spotted a huge beautiful woman. Her hair, make-up, clothing, demeanor reeked of glamor and awesomeness. I took one look at her and knew she had some secrets. I could tell SHE LOVED HERSELF AND HER BODY. And pound for pound she was easily three times my size. And though she seemed to tower over me I was looking her in the eye. We were the same height.

She didn’t know it but she saved my life. I walked down the next aisle a little embarrassed that I had been gawking. I looked down at my mouse clothes that were hiding me from the world and decided it was time to start loving me. I was able to go out and get new wonderful clothes. I took pride to look my best and to walk with confidence, ‘fake it til you make it.’

Within a couple months, without really trying, my clothes were too large for me. I didn’t even notice it. A friend took me to shop for clothes and I was flabbergasted to find I was a size 8!

And so, now, at 63, I am hoping, through accepting me and these nasties my body has thrown at me, that I will find that version of myself.

Thanks for the opportunity,

Dar

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