body self respect

I am a University student conducting a study on body image,  the effects media, personality, family as well as others have on our thoughts about dieting and our self image.this is for my own purpose of interest and is confidential.Body image is how you see yourself in the mirror/ mind, what you believe about your appearance, how you feel about your body(weight, shape,height), and how you sense and control your body as you move i.e. how you feel in your body not just about your body.

The desire for thinness among women is so prevalent that it is identified as a "normative discontent" (Rodin et al, 1985). 42% of 1st -3rd grade girls want to be thinner ( collins, 1991). 81% of 10 year old girls are afraid of being fat( Mellin et al., 1991)and report this is a greater fear than parents dying.

The average American woman is 5'4" and weighs 140lbs, the average model is 5'11" and weighs 117lbs. Media content-  ideal body image promoted for females is: young,, extremely thin, long-legged, tall, an image that is impossible for most women to achieve. The ideal body image for males: young, lean, muscled, 6-pack abdomen, broad shoulders and narrow waist, image may be achievable if genetically endowed and through unhealthy means.

So many of us are taking this image of the perfect body to an unhealthy level, i as well am guilty of this in previous years. The idea that should be promoted is everything in moderation, instead of litterally killing ourselves to get to this much sought out "ideal".Being healthy is best, in my opinion. My question to you, is how far are you willing to let your desire to be "ideal" affect your own personal health and everyday living? Comments please!

I feel that I am as ideal as I am ever going to get.  I was never obsessed with looking like western society's picture of the "ideal" woman.  I am just shy of 5'4" and currently 123 lb.  I used to be about 30-50 lb heavier.  I enjoyed my curves and found comedy in the fat rolls.  I'd imagine a little village of people on one end of the fat and send a fat jiggle tremor from the other side...the vengeful god kills the sinners :P. 

I have a liver disease that two years ago deteriorated my body's neurological functions (tremors, chorea, slurred speech, erratic and impulsive behavior, poor motor skills, slow reaction time).  That is the only time I didn't feel comfortable in my body.  It was broken, but my mind was fine.  After receiving treatment and spending a year at home (not at school), I felt like I had a new lease on life.  My body and mind were once again in sync so I decided to take better care of my body.  I decided to lose weight because I knew I could do it.  My goal was to get to a healthy BMI.  I made that goal, but it was so easy I decided to keep going.  My bone structure is such that any lower than 123 and I will look emaciated.  I look very fit now.  I have become more active and perhaps that has affected my academic performance...I got straight A's last quarter and it looks like I am getting straight A's again this quarter.  I cleaned up my eating only slightly and added more variety to my menus.

How far am I willing to go?  I am not willing to "exercise" everyday.  Meaning I am not going to go for a run every morning at 6am or go to the gym for an hour.  My life is my exercise and any gym exercise is done lightly as stress relief.  I am not willing to have a completely clean diet.  I am not willing to cut out any food permanently.  I am not willing to put in the work for a six-pack.  My abdomen has a one inch pad of fat over it and that is fine.

I am me and I am ideal.

I hope that helped you. :)

Thanks for the reply! And congratulations on your success! You have such a good attitude towards this, you set realistic goals and you respect yourself enough to know how far to go, i admire you!

the average model is 5'11" and weighs 117lbs!

that hit me hard~ thats when i decided to double major in industrial engineering and economics rather than pathetically trying to be the next kate moss...back in my high school years, i was obsessed with modeling but i was too short at 5'7 rejected from the runway and i had to go for photomodeling. however, idea of doing modeling even photomodeling did not impress my folks and they had to pull me out of that obsession and put into a good college, when i am now.

yes, being beautiful and attractive to opposite sex does promote self-esteem but again too high self-esteem actually kills the person slowly (remember there were number of cases, which model died of starvation lol). self-confidence is important for one to perform at his/her best in their concerned field but confidence itself derives from different things; intelligence, physical beauty, personality etc... i have realized one thing as soon as i enrolled to one of the top research colleges in asia...my body, skin and walk did not impress anyone in this particular place, as a matter of fact, my appearance was rather intimadating than pleasing...lol... smart is the sexy here... but i still try to look at my best still after 4 yrs (in my senior yr) aside my 16 hrs studies and club activities everyday...sparing time for my regular workouts and keeping a proper dietary habit is so hard!  i have gained roughly 8lbs and my abs disappeared! but im working on it now to regain the look i had and honestly i believe looking decent is one of the most important aspect in business world...i dont want to spend rest of my life as a researcher in a lab!

currently im still 5'7 and weighing 118.2 which im willing to lose that 8 extra pounds (mostly around my belly, lower back and inner thigh -_-) within 6 months and i will try my best to get my abs in shape. my body size is 34-25-34 (used to be 23~24 around my waist -_- ino im starting to have a flabby body)

i am willing to spend certain amount of time each or every other day to keep myself in shape rest of my life and i love myself. i am willing to spend certain amount of personal wealth to keep my skin and body youthful by supporting it with essentials. i believe i can keep this up till i die, very optimistic about it. however, i do have some so-called unhealthy habits toward like, for an instance, occasional smoking and piss off drinking~ and i dont eat completely clean food but thank to my folks i was fortunate enough to be grown up eating only organics. i love chocolate, its my replacement for smoking and helps my brain as well. i run when im irritated or angry becuz i hate fighting. lastly, i believe that i cannot really put any limit on how far my will can lead me. u cannot measure human strength or power of will... :)

Original Post by kycher:

So many of us are taking this image of the perfect body to an unhealthy level, i as well am guilty of this in previous years. The idea that should be promoted is everything in moderation, instead of litterally killing ourselves to get to this much sought out "ideal".Being healthy is best, in my opinion. My question to you, is how far are you willing to let your desire to be "ideal" affect your own personal health and everyday living? Comments please!

I am willing to make sustainable changes in my exercise and eating habits to get to a healthy weight -- my goal is 160, I am 5'8".  I have no desire to be as thin as a model or as fit as an elite athlete, which is good, because at 52 years old, I couldn't be either even if I wanted to.  But, I am willing to move a little more every day, and eat a little less every day than I used to when I was morbidly obese.

I work in agriculture, where much of my work can be completely destroyed by a whim of nature, so am not a big fan of "ideal" anything.  I always strive for "good" or "better" but not "best".  This might be a useful viewpoint for women to develop about their bodies.  Strive for looking/feeling good or looking/feleing better, not achieving some impossible ideal.

Ironically, even at my highest weight I still "felt" as thin as I was when I was at my goal weight (back in my twenties).  So now, people congratulate me for losing all that weight (I am halfway to goal) and I still "feel" thinner than I currently am.  Others post that even though they are at goal weight, they still feel fat.  Perhaps it is because I gained the weight so slowly (about 5 pounds a year), and was always pretty healthy in spite of my weight.  Or perhaps I simply more delusional than most!

Original Post by dkenworthy:

Original Post by kycher:

So many of us are taking this image of the perfect body to an unhealthy level, i as well am guilty of this in previous years. The idea that should be promoted is everything in moderation, instead of litterally killing ourselves to get to this much sought out "ideal".Being healthy is best, in my opinion. My question to you, is how far are you willing to let your desire to be "ideal" affect your own personal health and everyday living? Comments please!

I am willing to make sustainable changes in my exercise and eating habits to get to a healthy weight -- my goal is 160, I am 5'8".  I have no desire to be as thin as a model or as fit as an elite athlete, which is good, because at 52 years old, I couldn't be either even if I wanted to.  But, I am willing to move a little more every day, and eat a little less every day than I used to when I was morbidly obese.

INRE^^I am 23 and I know I could have the ultimate athletic body, I just don't need it.  Why do I need to have a 6 pack or a super flat tummy?  Who cares? I sure don't.  I am the way I am and that is good enough for me.

I work in agriculture, where much of my work can be completely destroyed by a whim of nature, so am not a big fan of "ideal" anything.  I always strive for "good" or "better" but not "best".  This might be a useful viewpoint for women to develop about their bodies.  Strive for looking/feeling good or looking/feleing better, not achieving some impossible ideal.

Ironically, even at my highest weight I still "felt" as thin as I was when I was at my goal weight (back in my twenties).  So now, people congratulate me for losing all that weight (I am halfway to goal) and I still "feel" thinner than I currently am.  Others post that even though they are at goal weight, they still feel fat.  Perhaps it is because I gained the weight so slowly (about 5 pounds a year), and was always pretty healthy in spite of my weight.  Or perhaps I simply more delusional than most!

INRE^^dkenworthy you are not alone in that feeling.  I feel the same now as I always did.  I was at the low end of overweight.  I know I look thinner, but I don't feel any more thin. What I feel is fitter and healthier.  I actually never saw myself as "fat" with a negative connotation.  I saw myself as "pudgy" as in having excess fat on my body.  I see myself as the beautiful girl I have always been, despite the obvious changes in my appearance over the years.  In fact, it wasn't until I looked in the mirror while I was washing my hands that I noticed how much fat I had lost! I saw my muscles flexing and it scared me lol.