DANGEROUS CURVES

I rarely read women’s magazines because I find most of their content useless. My Mum gave me a few to take to the beach, so I thought I’d take a look.

I was disgusted. I’ve never read such drivel or seen so many pictures of undernourished women.

Article after article of quotes by stick figures saying they can eat what they like and never have to work out. What kind of role models are these people for our young girls?

Out of five magazines, I could only find a couple of articles worth reading. I found this quote from Kate Beckinsale quite refreshing, “I have days when I feel great and then I have days when my arse won’t fit into my jeans. I guess when you become an actress you hope those fat - arse days will go away but of course, they don’t”. Yay, finally some honesty.

I struggled with my body image for years. I hated my curves when I was a teenager and experimented with diet pills, laxatives, smoking and exercising to lose weight. I lost a lot of weight but I wasn’t any happier.

I remember finally coming to my senses after reading an article about bulimia and thinking vomiting after eating would be worth trying. What a wake up call that was.

I eventually accepted the fact that I would never be the shape of the women I saw in magazines. I still have days when I wish I were slimmer but most days I am happy just the way I am. I’m a woman, I’m supposed to have boobs, hips and an arse - there’s nothing wrong with that.