The Dressing Room Project has added some new cards to be printed off and leave in dressing rooms, bathrooms or wherever you think women will see them and feel somewhat empowered.

I printed a sheet off yesterday and then copied them at Kinko’s for only .50 a sheet. Make sure you ask first if you are going to adhere to the wall or the mirror.

This is not about “fat acceptance.” This is about showing women that it is ok NOT to be a size 0. Showing young girls that they don’t have to look like the Olsen twins or Paris Hilton in order to be beautiful. Eating disorders, whether they are purging, control or binging, are not healthy. While we fight constantly to find our place in society, there are those who are purposely shrinking because they feel they have no place.

Here are the 2008 designs.

Print them
Post them
Start a conversation over them.
Leave them in diet books @ the bookstore or the library.
Post them in your gym.

above Love yourself for being YOU.

Instead of creating body positive images for everyone, the Today show continues to promote the down side of obesity. Yes we all want to be healthy but instead of having people on there who are positive, up beat, HEALTHY and happy with their roundness, they show all these “biggest losers” including those who did it via surgery. Most recently a 17 yr old girl who weighed 250lbs. That’s BARELY obese especially since she is taller. and 17 years old. How many ‘diets’ could she have tried?? AND why continue to plant this idea into young and impressionable woman.

Recently on a forum that I am a member of, one of the girls mentioned that she was unable to gain weight and had a “fear of food.” When asked what she thought was the cause, she stated because her mom made fun of the way she ate AND all of her family was Fat and she didn’t want to be fat. Truthfully I don’t know what is sadder: the fact that she’s letting her “mom” dictate how she eats OR that she is Fatphobic.

Surprisingly enough, I know quite a few thin women. And an ongoing thread with them is no matter how much they try to gain weight, they can’t. Most of them would like a curvier figure but are unable to maintain this. I also know a few who have anorexia and bulimia. So afraid are they of putting on a single pound, they are constantly binging and purging. What they fail to realize is that this is a MENTAL issue, not a physical one.

But rather than have a BODY POSITIVE episode on the Today show, once again they are freakishly obsessed with body image rather than mental health.

As noted in many other editorial posts that have been made on here, I am a “fat girl” who lives a healthy lifestyle. I walk for my job, over 20 miles per week. I eat healthy, making sure I drink at least 100-120oz of water per day, include in my diet fresh fruit and vegetables, and try to get at least 6-8 hours of sleep per night. My gene pool predisposes me to be a very curvy girl, subjects me to a variety of heath issues and inherited heart disease. I am Indian.

But this does not prevent me from fighting against it every day. Being body positive doesn’t mean that I endorse going out and indulging in a daily ritual of McDonald’s followed by dessert at Cold Stone. Yes I eat McDonalds and Yes I go to Cold Stone. But I balance that with exercise, water and eating a healthy portion of fruit, vegetables and grains. I also take heart healthy vitamins.

Until a few years ago, I never considered a regiment of exercise. I figured that any is better than none. Through one of my jobs, I met a fantastic woman named Tiffany. She had such a fabulous outlook on life that we hit it off immediately. When we finally met in person, we were already good friends. There was no “judgment” on either side. About a year later, she left the company to open her own gym and personal training center.

LifeBody Fitness promotes total well being. Mind, body and soul. Tiffany personally oversees every aspect of the program and custom tailors it to the client. While companies like Curves, LA Fitness etc are “one size fits all” gyms, Tiffany embraces all sizes and lifestyles. Not everyone fits in the 9-5 niche or a size 4 dress.

Unfortunately for me LifeBody Fitness and Tiffany, is located in Portland, OR. That a bit of a commute for me. But if you are serious about being healthy, you should really consider getting a personal trainer. Talk with them about your needs. If they try to force you into a program you are just not comfortable with, move on.

Being body positive means being YOUcentric. Love yourself and what makes you special.

And if you are in the Portland area, give Tiff a call. Tell her the Goddess sent you.

You can see the whole article over here

1) Memphis Tn
2) Birmingham AL (now there is a surprise–NOT)
3) San Antonio, TX
4) Riverside, Cali (That IS a surprise given how close it is to phatphobic LA)
5) Detroit, MI
6) Jacksonville, FL
7) Nashville, TN
Oklahoma City, OK
9) Kansas City, MO
10) San Diego –Which for me was the MOST surprising of all)

Vegas came in at #18.. Not a shocker there given the lack of walking/bike paths, lack of public transportation, and abundance of fast food and cheap buffets.

at least they used a decent BMI to identify what is considered obese, 32.

did i mention there is a clinic here running an ad for WLS that says if you are 40lbs overweight you should see this?? I would be jumping though HOOPS if I was 40lbs overweight.

I think that we all should try to disspell the myths that go along with obesity such as the fact that we are unhealthy. To do this I am starting to actively participate in the Dressing Room Project. Here is the link to my original article. It’s the small things we can do that will truly make a difference in how the world views us, no matter what we look like on the outside.

I thought I’d post a little bit on this before the Madness that overtakes people every year on the day after Thanksgiving and last until about January 6th.
SHOPPING.

But there is something YOU can do. There is an ongoing girl-powered organization that promotes healthy views of ourselves in and out of the dressing rooms.

The Dressing Room Project was started to empower young women to love themselves as they are. Various groups have sprung up around the country that leave behind in dressing rooms, on bulletin boards, etc. small inspirational cards that say things like:

“You are overflowing with Beauty”
“Its ok to be you-Keep it real”
“Worry about the size of your heart-not the size of your body”

It’s these kinds of viral messages that will get the word out. Everyone in their heart of hearts, no matter how callous they may seem on the outside, cannot possibly believe that being fatphobic is healthy. Even the skinniest of people. This is a way to humanize what we as “Fluffettes” already know.

On their website you can find a pdf of 6 cards you can print and leave in various places around your town. Make sure that if you use them as stickers, that you ask before you stick.

This is a great way to promote body positive images and tomorrow is a good day to start!!

A recent study seems to think so. Apparently those who have a wider hip to waist ration store more Omega3 fats which is needed for a healthy brain.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California at Santa Barbara looked at data from a study of more than 16,000 women and girls from 1988 to 1994 that detailed their body measurements, as well as their education level and their scores on various cognitive tests. What they report is that women with waists that were about 70 percent of the diameter of their hips scored slightly better on intelligence tests and tended to have a slightly higher level of education than women with a higher waist-to-hip ratio, or WHR.

The study was published in the journal of Evolution and Human Behavior.

From ABC News Article