This is a sponsored follow-up post to last week’s #WeighThis post, part of Lean Cuisine’s campaign encouraging women to weigh the things that matter most in life.
When it comes to issues of worth and beauty, weight and body image, shielding my kids from inappropriate messages in the media simply isn’t possible. Skewed messages about body image echo from everything from magazine covers to popular music, inviting conversation to reset the tone and change the way we think about ourselves.
Caring about the way we look and feel is a natural behavior, and we entertain those feelings in a number of ways in our home, particularly with healthy discussion.
The best way I’ve found in my own life to deal with it—to balance wishing my skin was tauter with recognizing truer measures of beauty—is to water what I want to grow. Feed the good wolf. Making sure our input—what we see, what we read, who we spend time with, what we talk about and what we listen to—celebrates the many different ways we can be beautiful.
Many of you contributed some of these measures in your own life—how you want your weight measured.
Debbie:
I’ve survived!…cancer, divorce, & financial ruin. I started working on a college degree after being out of high school for 37 years & only have 4 more classes to go! I can’t wait to weigh that diploma!!! In the meantime, I’m weighing my 4.0 GPA!
Erica:
So today and all the days ahead I want to measure myself by….the number of babies I have given life to-4. The number of months I nursed-approximately 56. The number of friends, true friends, the kind of friends you know will truly be there when you need them- 5. The number of half marathons I have run and each time have beat my previous time–5.My body and strength fuels that. And finally–10 is the years I have been married this year. Marriage is hard, but I wouldn’t change a thing!
Lauren:
I am proud that I don’t let a diagnosis define me and that I will fight like hell for my health and the sanctity of my relationships. I am proud of my spunk and my kindness. I am happy that I’ve never let my thirst for learning and bettering myself through knowledge cease.
Sarah:
I am proud of the fact that I am coming into my own beliefs and own way of parenting. I always tried to fit a mold: Baptist, SAHM, Attachment Parent…. But I am me. I believe in things from all schools of thought, especially my own. And I am trying to instill this value of self into my 4 children.
Summer:
I’m proud of being a bad-Ass biological, adoptive and foster super mom. I’ve got 6 amazing kids in my house now, only 2 of which are born from my body. It’s crazy and many days I feel like I’m going insane. But I can lay my head down, at the end of the day, and know I’ve done SOMETHING that matters.
Shari:
I just had my third child. Thanks for the reminder that the only weight that matters right now is 7lbs, 8oz of amazing baby boy!
Beth:
I want to “step away from the scale” so that I can be measured in the way my son’s DS diagnosis has opened my own eyes to the real meaning of beauty. Instead let me be weighed by the laughter I share with others and the humor I bring to my own life. Please, let the scale show how I am weaving together words to: advocate, give loved ones a glimpse into my inside and letting go of the fear to speak my mind. Let my weight reflect the weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders when I really choose to be the real me….
Let the conversation continue!
If you didn’t see the first #WeighThis post, check out this video:
Thank you again, Lean Cuisine, for initiating conversations about weight and worth.
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