Year Of The Plus Size

This has been a great year for plus sized people! Finally, plus size models are getting the attention they deserve. This year, curvy women have been getting recognition with more and more appearing in magazines, on runways, and elsewhere. While I'm personally still not a fan of the term "plus-size", since the average American woman is a size 10, it is still wonderful to see women with shape and a variety of sizes in advertisements and other forms of media. So Let's celebrate every body!

Some notable wins:

• During London Fashion Week, an entire show was dedicated to plus-size fashion.
  
• Old Navy gets called out for charging more money on women's plus-sized clothing, a pettition is in place to make changes
  
• Candice Huffine was the first model plus-size model to be featured in the legendary Pirelli calendar
  
• Vogue had a lingerie photo shoot featuring women of 'all shapes and sizes'
  
• Swimsuits for All recreated the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover with plus-sized models
  
• Plus-size model Denise Bidot walked a straight-size runway at New York Fashion Week
  
• Lammily, a realistic 'Barbie' is created with average hip, waist, and bust size
  
• The hastag #fatkini trended on social media with women of all sizes showing themselves off in a confident manner
   
  
  
  
  

One of my favorite things is the Lammily doll and how she had a huge impact on young girls, in tests, a lot reported loving her because she looked more like them. Barbie is just too unrealistic to be a role model. We have to start at a young age by teaching children (boys and girls alike) to love their bodies and treat them well. Teach them to be healthy and happy.

These statistics are from the Nation Eating Disorder website:

"In the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or an eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS)...By age 6, girls especially start to express concerns about their own weight or shape. 40-60% of elementary school girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or about becoming too fat. This concern endures through life (Smolak, 2011)".

The numbers are staggering, and that doesn't even include non-diagnosed persons. There are millions who suffer and don't receive treatment. This can be prevented with positive body image enforcement. Be positive about yourself and your child will take notice. Go out and play with them, enroll them in sports or other physical activities that appeal to them, and make good food choices.

Try not to use food as a reward. I remember being a kid and if I had a good report card or aced a test, and my parents taking me out for ice cream. I was a good student, so this happened quite often. If you've read any of my earlier posts, I struggled with food and weight growing up. Even though I was active and played sports, my eating choices were bad. Granted I was a picky eater, but my parents who were in control of my food consumption didn't help. They tried, they did feed me full dinners (meat, veggie, starch) and packed my school lunches, and all that. But they also didn't help because they rewarded me with sweets. Even though now, as a young adult I am aware and in control of my food and exercise habits, I firmly believe that if my parents limited my junk food intake it would've made a difference in my weight. Granted, genetics also plays a roll, but we can control our bodies to an extent, IF we start early enough. But remember, it's also never too late to start taking control of our bodies. So don't think because your over 30 you can't change your eating or exercises habits, you can! Start with small changes and incorporate them into your daily routine. You will look and feel better, inside and out.