Thin-spiration my booty!

So last night I saw a VERY disturbing news story about the new web and blog craze of "Thinspiration". If you haven't guessed, these are websites and blogs that encourage women to be thin. And I don't just mean thin, I mean been-in-a-concentration-camp-too-long-needs-to-eat-a-sammich thin. As a lady, I understand the social pressures to be thin. I too, at one time, had an eating disorder. It started as a stomach virus and then I just kind of stopped eating all together. Now, this was about 10 years ago when I was a senior in high school. I was so busy all the time with school, work, plays, choir stuff and friends that it was easier to hide. However, there weren't all these websites devoted to this life style. There are sites that will show you how to hide your eating disorder from friends and family. There are even pro-annie sites, as they are called. It wasn't until a good friend of mine stopped me one day and said "What are you doing?" It was then that I realized that I had a problem.

Now, being a theatre major, I understand the pressures to be thin. I watched many girls in my classes go from healthy looking to yuck. In the bathrooms, there was always someone talking about how they were able to drop 10 lbs last week by living on caffeine and nicotine. Or there was the diet coke and wheat thins diet. Then of course it was very common to walk into the bathroom and hear someone chunking their lunch. I will admit that there were times that it was very tempting to get back into that habit. I knew that I would have been taken a lot more serious as an actor if I was thinner. When I worked as a costume person, I was always hearing about how these 95 lbs girls were "so fat!" I finally had to come to the point that I couldn't care about being thin and being 115 lbs.

Yes, there are some people out there that are just naturally thin. I get it. They can eat and eat and it burns quicker then a spider with aqua-net and a lighter. That's great. I have nothing against thin people. I even know of people who are trying to gain weight. I think people can be beautiful at any size, depending on what's on the inside. I don't care if you're an obese lady or a super thin super model - if you're a bee-otch, you're a bee-otch! I know that this all sounds very cliché, but it's true.

I also know that being over weight isn't healthy either. That goes to the other end of the spectrum. It's ok to be big and beautiful...but there's a point in which it's time to do something about it. There are so many healthy alternatives to weight loss then starving yourself or purging after every meal. It takes effort and will power to stay with this. I need to encourage myself more. But when it comes down to it, I will never 115 lbs and still be alive. I will never wear a size 4. I will never be able to shop at 5-7-9 or be a Victoria's Secret model. I will always look stupid in skinny jeans...mainly because I can't fit my size 11 feet through the bottom of the leg hole!

But guess what? I'm ok with all of this. I am fine knowing that my body isn't built for that. So all those people who are encouraging this unhealthy life style full of thin-spiration and eating disorders can kiss my wide back side! They are sick people and karma will come back and get them ten-fold! I know that this is one of Satan's tools to pull people down and ruin their self-esteem and dignity. Just remember, curves are beautiful...your hip bones sticking out is not.

PS - I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with family and remember to give thanks to He who has blessed you with these things. Happy Turkey Day!