Body Image

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I prefer to be thin. I hate the feeling of flesh touching flesh on my body and I am hypersensitive in this regard. I hate having ANY excess weight on me. I feel it far more than most other people it seems. THe minute i have a tiny bit of excess weight on me I feel incredibly weighed down and sluggish from it. I now realise later in my life that I was never over-reacting in this regard. It is quite simply that my sensory processing is different and so I feel the ins and outs of every inch of my body in a way that is actually overwhelming. There was also one period in my youth when I had no feeling in my legs for years - very weird.

I feel more pressure from myself to get a flatter tummy, smaller thighs, etc. than from anyone else.

i dont have body image prolems really not about weight as i am as thin as a poke(what does that mean i dunno, my mum just say it alot) sometimes about skin as i worry about tiny blemishes
my dad tells me i have the skin of a peach, which i assume is good as peaches dont have pimples)

I don't want to look like those skinny models. But I also hate fat and I HATE my breasts. I want to have muscles, no breasts and no fat.

In the last 6 months I've given up cigarettes and started taking an anti-depressant called Mirtazipine which has worked wonders but is renowned for causing weight gain. The result of this combination was extreme, maybe 20 pounds. I can't get the clothes ON that I was wearing in December, let alone do them up!! Most horrifying to me is that my breasts went from 34 C to 34 F in about 2 months. I feel humiliated by having them on my chest.

In the last few weeks I've started exercising every day and eating 6 or 7 portions of fruit and veg ( so there's less room for other stuff ) and I am getting a LITTLE bit thinner and surprisingly quite a LOT stronger ! I don't look that different but I can feel the increased strength in my body, e.g. when pulling myself out of the swimming pool or walking up stairs two at a time. I have also given up alcohol as it inhibits protein synthesis and therefore muscle growth ( and also is no good for my mind ). My breasts are still F cup but I am hoping they will start to go down if I keep up the good habits.

Anyway the answer is, I think I do feel pressure but it is the sort of pressure men feel - to be strong and muscular and have low body fat, as opposed to just being THIN.

I don't like my body at all but, a lot of the time, I feel detached from it. Kind of like I'm my mind and spirit just traveling around in this thing. I wish I had the willpower to work out and be healthier but I'm so damn lazy it's not funny.

Exactly how I feel.

I've been like that since I was a young preteen kid. I never wanted to be pretty and sexy the way other girls did. I was a bit more interested in how much I could lift, or how many push ups I could do, or how far I could throw something. I felt very jealous of boys, but not because I wanted to BE one - it was more that I was jealous that their bodies were functional and strong, and mine was basically a baby maker. I hated growing breasts, I felt my body wasn't my own any more.

Well done for getting stronger and fitter. Does it make you feel better about being a female?

You can. Your body has to pull energy from somewhere, and if you eat low calorie foods and continue with excersise, you will.

Thanks mechanicalgirl39 ! ! I've only been doing it for a bit so although I feel stronger I still have plenty of fat on me but if I keep it up hopefully I will start to look more muscular and then I will probably feel better about being female.

I came to a realisation recently that changed how I feel about my body. For a woman I am actually quite capable of growing muscle, more than average probably as I have quite a thick-set body type and I think I probably have more testosterone than average. So it dawned on me that instead of sitting around moaning about looking female I should get of my arse and start exercising, stop eating so much rich food and stop drinking alcohol and then I would get stronger and my breasts would get smaller.

I think this change of heart is largely due to the increased energy and motivation I have on the anti-depressants. I was tired all the time before because I was not sleeping. My mum for example kept telling me to exercise but I was honestly incapable, I was so exhausted. I really had chronic insomnia and I didn't even realise how bad it was until I started on the mirtazapine and immediately started sleeping properly. Too bad it made me put on weight, but at least I have the motivation to lose it again.

Now my goal is to get into a habit of meditating every day as well as continuing to exercise and then hopefully all the endorphins combined with the calming effects of meditation will allow me to stop taking the tablets and be OK by myself.

I don't feel pressured in any way, to look like those thin girls, in those magazines. I think that God gives us the bodies, that he wants us to have. I see myself as a uniquely built woman, in a world, where every woman has her own unique body. Why would I feel pressured to look the way, that I don't want to look. They do make clothes, for larger women.

I'd rather God gave me the body I would like to have.

If he's listening, I'd like to be 6'2, 75kg, 12% fat, and I want naturally black hair and no uterus.

I don't read fashion magazines, but I feel pressure from other media sources: books (does anyone remember Leigh Cabot from Stephen King's Christine, who is described as having no flaws except an overly Aryan look?), movies (self-explanatory), and even some of the blogs I read (alas, sometimes lesbian blogs with otherwise relevant content will spit up "look at this Hollywood hottie!" posts).

I feel like I'm really going to have to work to work to make someone love me unconditionally before I take them to bed, because I need to be forgiven for having stretch marks. In literature, stretch marks on a character who is not and has not been pregnant indicate that that character is pitiable and has poor self-control. In my case, I got sick and gained 40 pounds in six months, resulting in stretching and scarring of the skin.

What happened to you? Cushing's syndrome?

Polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Couldnt answer the poll as my answer was none of the above. I dont feel any pressure at all, I dont care about looking like ones in mags. Im happy with looking just however I myself want to look.

I normally act/dress however I want...but living in a Caribbean country I have to say that sometimes I do feel more pressure here to dress a certain way than I did when I lived in Texas...hmmm...I try sometimes, but it's not really me. Somedays I want to look cute and somedays I just want to wear a tank top and shorts and no makeup and flip flops, even though other women where I live have their hair/makeup perfectly done, etc...

I have heard from my husband's friend stuff like "do this or that or lose some weight or blah"...I think he's an ahole whose wife looks like a Barbie...she really does...fake everything...but he loves her dressing so provocatively, having a great body, etc...he doesn't care most is fake, as long as it looks good...

Here here! I'm right there with you.

I will on occasion be frustrated with some gain of weight, but that's ONLY for the purpose of cosplay (which I do compete in frequently).

I will, though, wear makeup which others find confusing. My clothing can be odd, but not completely outlandish. I attribute all of that not to how I feel others view me but how I enjoy appearing myself. Half the time, though, I'm too lazy to do much to my appearance.