Body Image.

A fun topic or not? For about every American woman I know it's not something we enjoy delving into. And when I look across the world, each culture has their own views on beauty creating their own sense of negative or positive body images. Think one African culture thats mothers force feed their daughters milk because frankly, obese is beautiful.

I found "How To Talk To Your Daughter About Her Body." It was intriguing to me so I read and what I found what something that resinated with me. I can't say I have body image issues. My friends would say that's because I'm thin and always have been. But while my friends were worried about their new hips and not eating carbs for the week, I never had the slightest inkling that my body was "wrong" or that I needed to cut foods to make myself look better.

Was that because my family ate a fairly real food diet? That we ate fresh green beans from our garden in the summer and canned them for the winter months. Or maybe it was because we didn't use nor usually even own a scale in my home- we don't have one now. Food was never a crutch. We ate because we needed to, it was a family affair but never to grieve or cover emotional issues. Celebratory dinners were fun but they were not the end all be all. The fact that my mother never once had conversations about going on a diet or not eating or eating this or that I'm sure helped. Her own body was never a point of contention or even discussion.

I was never told I was too skinny, I was instead approached as unhealthy when I lost about 15-20lbs my freshman year of college. And they were right. Basically my mom got the body image thing right. Because today I am healthy, I am secure, I look for healthful, real, and nutritious foods. Not low fat, zero carbs, sugar free options. I was taught health not an overbearing and condemning way but in an empowering and informal way. It was just what we did. It was just the way we were.

So in a land of magazines, tv shows, and so many other media types the body image talk may seem complicated but it's really not all that big of a deal. No need for a production. Check out the post I linked above. It's worth everyone's time.

Blessings!