I vowed not to have another senior year like my high school one, so the roller coaster continued as I dusted off my George Foreman grill, pulled out my yoga mat, and painstakingly turned my entire summer into a one-track weight-loss plan. I lost the weight all over again—and then some—going on to win the swimsuit competition at the Miss America Pageant.
Still, I constantly felt (and STILL feel!) incredibly uncomfortable with my body, always obsessing over my “problem areas” that are invisible to everyone but me.
It makes me angry to think of how I could once look in the mirror and not see fleshy arms or jiggly thighs. Sadly, with the weight, I lost a special innocence with which I loved myself unconditionally.
Even today, I often feel an empty pang in my stomach that isn’t from lack of food; it stems from a different kind of hunger: I wonder if size six Nancy is as happy as size twelve Nancy was . . . at half my size, do I love myself half as much?
This chapter was the hardest one for me to write, which probably makes it the most important chapter of all. Facing your own body issues is truly tough—I should know. After years of hard work, I’ve finally become more comfortable with who I am and how my body is supposed to look. It is extremely liberating! Shape dramas come from the most shameful spaces in our minds and relate to our innermost feelings about these complicated bodies we simultaneously love, hate, and abuse. It’s time to put an end to the cycle of self-hate and shame. Now is the time to be open, honest, and proactive about dealing with our shape dramas!
Fast Facts
While weight will come and go, your body shape will stay more or less the same after your body is done growing. A pancake butt will probably stay flat no matter how much weight you gain, and those broad shoulders aren’t budging no matter what diet you pursue.
Peeved when you find that even a size ten won’t fit when you’re usually a perfect eight? Don’t worry! It happens to us all. Each clothing designer chooses his or her own standard for sizing. Some designers size their clothing smaller, while others leave room to spare.
You really CAN thank (or blame) your parents for your body shape. A person’s frame and body makeup are genetic. Even in the womb, the general shape that each body part will develop in adult life is already predetermined.
Women are built to have more body fat than men, and we store almost 10 billion more fat cells in our bodies. That isn’t a fluke. It’s a necessity! We need extra fat cells to menstruate and to reproduce healthily. In fact, if a woman’s body fat dips below 17 percent, often her period will stop!
Think twice before “super-sizing” your burger combo! A recent study found that over a lifetime, each sixty-seven cent fast food meal upgrade ends up costing a woman over THREE DOLLARS due to medical and other complications. So you might think you’re saving money by upgrading from medium to large for mere pennies, but the subsequent weight gain and health problems will end up costing you way more.
Pick up a copy of USA Today on Thursday, January 10 to read a feature on Nancy Redd, and tune into Good Morning America Thursday at 8:10 AM EST to listen to a BODY DRAMA roundtable with girls talking about the issues from Nancy's book.