Body Talk and reality
Dec. 12th, 2007 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brightrosefoxBody Talk: Hayden Panettiere and other celebrities discuss body image in Hollywood
I love you, Claire.
On a more personal note, I have found yet another reason, not that I needed one, to adore my husband. Saturday night, after that hellish nicotine fit he'd had from not taking a Chantix dose on time, he and I were smooshed on the couch with me pressed against him to keep from falling off. I'm not sure how we got on the subject, possibly something on TV prompted it. I patted my belly and said that I had "too much fat on my abs." Adam countered by also patting my belly and insisting, "No you don't, you're fine, and that padding is supposed to be there. You're healthy." We got into a back and forth dialogue, with me adamant that I needed to "slim my midsection." Finally, he said, "You don't need to do that. Your abs are fine. Look, if you really want to tone up a muscle group, try here--" and he ran his hand across the back of my thigh, "because if your leg muscles are stronger it'll make things easier for you."
And I loved him for that. I loved him because he didn't give a stock answer, he gave a real answer. He didn't placate me with the standard, "Oh, honey, you're perfect the way you are" response, which I didn't want anyway. He actively suggested that I focus on something that does need focusing on. I do need to tone up my leg and butt muscles. It would make exercising a lot easier, it would increase my stamina, it would lessen the pain from fibro and CP flares, and it would certainly make me feel better. And it's realistic. Part of me knows that my midsection is fine and well-toned and that my insistence that it is pudgy is my own skewed perception. But the lack of good tone in my leg muscles is much more of a reality.
Sometimes all I want to hear is that my lover adores my body the way it is. And sometimes I want to know exactly what can be done to make my body stronger and fitter. Either way, it builds my self-confidence and self-esteem.
I won't be afraid to face my body's reality, no matter what it is.
I love you, Claire.
On a more personal note, I have found yet another reason, not that I needed one, to adore my husband. Saturday night, after that hellish nicotine fit he'd had from not taking a Chantix dose on time, he and I were smooshed on the couch with me pressed against him to keep from falling off. I'm not sure how we got on the subject, possibly something on TV prompted it. I patted my belly and said that I had "too much fat on my abs." Adam countered by also patting my belly and insisting, "No you don't, you're fine, and that padding is supposed to be there. You're healthy." We got into a back and forth dialogue, with me adamant that I needed to "slim my midsection." Finally, he said, "You don't need to do that. Your abs are fine. Look, if you really want to tone up a muscle group, try here--" and he ran his hand across the back of my thigh, "because if your leg muscles are stronger it'll make things easier for you."
And I loved him for that. I loved him because he didn't give a stock answer, he gave a real answer. He didn't placate me with the standard, "Oh, honey, you're perfect the way you are" response, which I didn't want anyway. He actively suggested that I focus on something that does need focusing on. I do need to tone up my leg and butt muscles. It would make exercising a lot easier, it would increase my stamina, it would lessen the pain from fibro and CP flares, and it would certainly make me feel better. And it's realistic. Part of me knows that my midsection is fine and well-toned and that my insistence that it is pudgy is my own skewed perception. But the lack of good tone in my leg muscles is much more of a reality.
Sometimes all I want to hear is that my lover adores my body the way it is. And sometimes I want to know exactly what can be done to make my body stronger and fitter. Either way, it builds my self-confidence and self-esteem.
I won't be afraid to face my body's reality, no matter what it is.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 07:50 pm (UTC)Okay...end of rant. ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 12:03 am (UTC)It sounds like you're in a good place right now, which is good. I always like it when I'm in a place where I can recognize my own skewed perceptions.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 12:03 am (UTC)It sounds like you're in a good place right now, which is good. I always like it when I'm in a place where I can recognize my own skewed perceptions.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 12:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 06:18 pm (UTC)