Change Starts Here

I love fashion (seriously, I subscribe to about 50 fashion blogs on Google Reader) and I’ve always thought that clothes were made to fit you, not the other way around.

There are funny quotes about the relationship between weight and fashion, like the one from Bride Wars when Kate Hudson’s character proclaims, “You do not alter a Vera (Wang wedding dress) to fit you, you alter yourself to fit Vera!”

But these quotes don’t seem funny to people who may take them as a fact. I’ve seen a few acquaintances of mine virtually stop eating to fit into their wedding dresses and that seems sad to me.

As women, I think weight is one of the biggest problems we face with our self-esteem. Every magazine, TV commercial, billboard, or window display seems to be telling you to be smaller. Even magazines aimed at minority women don’t portray women with curves (which a majority of us have)—they show women who have been airbrushed so much, they portray a false ideal for minority women to achieve.

But it doesn’t stop some women from literally killing themselves to achieve the ideal body.

There’s nothing wrong with being small (I know a lot of people who are naturally thin), but there’s nothing wrong with being big either. The goal should be our health. And you don’t have to be thin to be healthy (I know some girls thicker than I am who are in WAY better shape than I me).

Before you lose or gain a pound to get the body you want—you have to accept yourself for who you are. You need to learn to love your body or you won’t be happy with it at any size.

The world wasn’t made to be “one-size-fits-all.” We are supposed to come in different shapes and sizes.

So, embrace your curves, hips, thighs, legs, neck, face, ears and even fingers. It may sound silly, but when you love yourself the way you are, then REAL change is possible and that type of change only happens when you focus on your mind, instead of obsessing over your body.

This isn’t easy. I love my body, but I still fall into the trap of looking at vintage clothes that only come in a size small and thinking about losing weight just so I can buy that dress that looks like it just came out of an episode of “Mad Men.”

But then I realize I’m perfect the way I am and if I change my lifestyle, it needs to be for me and not for a dress.

Let’s make a deal: You and I will tune out the noise. We will focus on loving our bodies more ever day and if we do decide to make weight changes, it will be for our health and not for the sake of fashion.

The shirt pictured above is from Urban Outfitters. The shirt has been taken off of the website, but not before it caused a small stir in the media. “One Tree Hill’s” Sophia Bush has spoken out publically about her feelings on the shirt. You can read her statement for more information on her position.