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Monday Daily Roll Call 12/29/08

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Posted 12/29/2008 4:24 AM (GMT 0)
Tis almost the new year and members will make New Year's Resolution?

 

Here is your question:

 

Am I satisfied with my appearance?  rolleyes

Posted 12/29/2008 4:28 AM (GMT 0)
I'm getting older and I'm learning to accept that because I still think look really young for my age. Don't want to eat right and exercise now for appearance sake but for my general health and well being now :) I love myself for my inner beauty anyway, lol :)

Boy I've come a long way!!!
Posted 12/29/2008 5:35 AM (GMT 0)
no no no no! im a skinny person trapped in a med bloated, fat body that i still dont recognise. my frame is tiny, a very petite skeleton (even though im 6ft tall) and now a combo of my meds and illness have made me overweight, which id like to say doesnt depress me, but it does, every day.

Posted 12/29/2008 6:15 AM (GMT 0)
You are beatiful Maz and you know it :)
Posted 12/29/2008 6:19 AM (GMT 0)
I am dealing with weight issues, but what is making me dissatisfied is not my weight, it is my lack of health. I know I am a beautiful woman, but my lack of activity makes me feel lazy and ugly...not sure if that makes sense. I guess what I am trying to say is that if I were exercising and I was this size, I would be okay with the way I look. It is the fact that I am not trying that makes me critical.
Posted 12/29/2008 7:24 AM (GMT 0)

Green Grove said...
You are beatiful Maz and you know it :)

Thankyou for the compliment Sam, but you're wrong. Im not and i dont know it. I used to be, but ill health has robbed me of any physically attractive traits and i feel that pain keenly.

thanks for trying to cheer me up

Maz

Posted 12/29/2008 9:01 AM (GMT 0)
I am not happy with the way I look at all, or my weight for that matter.

I want to los 40 pounds this year.
Posted 12/29/2008 9:48 AM (GMT 0)
Good Morning...

Personally, I am not satisfied with my appearance at all. I have gotten lazy and really don't care how I dress since I don't work anymore. Everyone compliments me on my skin and hair...I don't wear make up except light lipstick if I go out. I am grossly overweight and this year I intend to eat better and get my physical self into better shape. A general health overhaul sounds nice.
Posted 12/29/2008 10:55 AM (GMT 0)
I am so unhappy with my appearance. I have to take Prednisone for Crohn's, and it makes me look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. It is very discouraging.
Posted 12/29/2008 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
Nope, not satisfied with my appearance.  I needed to lose weight and last Jan at work we started a Biggest Loser competition and at nearly 20 lbs lost when I had a bad case of anxiety which lasted about 45 days and put me in the hosp.  (I was even ahead in the competition) I came out of the hospital on four medications including Zyprexa and Depakote, both which are notorious for causing weight gain, either through increased appetite, decreased metabolism, or both.  Well I put back all 20 lbs I'd lost plus another 4.  I am so discouraged to do all the work of losing that weight then put it back on.  I started Weight Watchers in May but as long as I was on those two meds, controlling my appetite was hopeless.  I went off Depakote due to the appetite and due to liver pain which caused my appetite to become more normal.  Zyprexa causes the same effects but I only have to take it as a rescue med so not feeling the hunger much due to that.  But now I'm in the habit of eating whenever I feel like it.  I need and want to get control of my weight.  ETA:  I know my weight contributes to my general laziness and reduced interest in how I dress and make up. 

ETA:  Reading that several people have my same issues. Isn't it sad that we have to deal with our mental health issues AND weight issues?  


Posted 12/29/2008 2:52 PM (GMT 0)
I don't mind how I look, even though I'm quite overweight. It does irk me a bit that when I'm getting overwhelmed or having anxious periods in my life, I don't dress or groom myself so professionally as at better times.

I should also be far more concerned about the health issues that being overweight brings with it, but I allow myself to get lackadaisical about that. That's not good!

percycat
Posted 12/29/2008 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
I'm very unhappy with my appearance.  I need to lose weight and get healthy. 
Posted 12/29/2008 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
I'm okay with my appearance, but I don't get as much exercise as I'd like and I know it would make me feel stronger if I did. My 2009 resolution is to put myself first instead of letting my worries about what other people think get in the way of my caring for myself.
Posted 12/29/2008 4:33 PM (GMT 0)

Oh My..........we have work to do.  I have always been overweight and at times have done some really stupid things to lose weight and they worked.  One put me in the hospital with convulsion.  I do believe I have lost at least 500 lbs in my life time...........and of course it always comes back.  NO NO I do not weight 500 lbs but I am a yo yo weight loss person.

Well now those drug companies put us in a bind, do we want to live, (Prednisone) or be sane (ADs) or do we want to be thin and anxious and depressed.................Tough decision.  smhair I mean that seriously as people do look at our physical appearance. AS we get older everything goes south on our bodies and all I wanted was a vacation to Florida. sad

We are all beautiful people on the inside but what we see in the mirror is what we live with in our minds.

I am so glad you are all getting this out on the table.  Let it out............I would have been very surprised to hear someone say, I think I am beautiful, the perfect weight, eat all the right things and I take care of me 100%.

I don't think those people are on this forum.  However, for 2009 let us join together and start to learn how we can accept who we are and improve on our health and our weight goals. What we are looking for is to feel good about ourselves.

Bless everyone of you.

Kitt

Posted 12/29/2008 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Yes I am pretty much satisfied with my looks. I don't like my bloated tummy sometimes, but that just comes with having Crohns Disease and my meds. Nothing much I can do about it, thats my life. But my husband always makes me feel pretty. And no, I will not share him:)
Posted 12/29/2008 4:41 PM (GMT 0)

Nanners, I am glad for you and I understand the bloated tummy.  Would you rent your husband out for the right price.  devil

Hugs

Kitt

Posted 12/29/2008 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
I agree Kitt. . . You know it is not just a woman thing :) Guys care/obsess about their looks too and I used to be bad until I learned to love myself. . . And ALL of you ladies ARE very beautiful people to ME. Not all men are pigs that only see the frame of the wonderful painting :)

Take heart and learn to love yourselves. It will open many, many doors for you. I know because it has for me. I've been walking with cane since I was 28 and put on tons of weight that I've just about lost because of that. Before I was into hiking, biking, rollerblading, skiing, jogging, walking, swimming, etc. I think as all of us get older we are sometimes "shadows" of our former selves, or are we just new and improved because we have better knowledge to be able to cope and survive?

I know I'm a survivor and it is up to you to choose what you want to be in life. A huge thing that is related to self worth is being able to accept a compliment. . . I used to be bad at this too. . . felt like I was not worthy enough for a compliment and would make excuses like someone would tell me they loved my outfit and of course I would say thing like "This old thing? It's just been sitting in my closet for years." Accept the compliment because every one of us are worthy and will learn to love themselves. I will make this my mission because I love you all and this thread is so sad. I wish for the peace in your hearts, minds and souls.

Edit: I hope I'm not offending anyone by telling it how "I" see it.  And it's not like I'm bouncing around thinking I'm all that or perfect/whatever.  I am always a work in progress, wearing the black to look slimmer etc :)  The CBT has helped me tons although and sometimes a person may have to work through it a little everyday for the rest of their lives.  As most of you know, I am also a nurse that takes care of my 87 year old grandmother, and I am constantly working with her to boost her confidence ever since she told me a few years back that she quit looking at herself directly in the mirror, because she did not recognize herself anymore. . . That she was all wrinkled and ugly. . . Oh man that pulled on my heartstrings a lot, because in my eyes she is so lovely.  Anyway, not meaning to offend. . . Just some food for thought :)

Posted 12/29/2008 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
Sam, that is great advice. It's so easy to dismiss compliments, thinking we are not worthy to receive them. It has occurred to me that I give compliments easily but have trouble receiving them.

As far as whether or not we are shadows or new and improved, that's an interesting thought... my sister and I both have chronic health problems and we have discussed this concept in slightly different terms. We feel that we have a different understanding of life than other people do because of our health concerns. I don't think we feel like shadows at all, but it's hard to say that I feel new and improved... maybe somewhere in between the two. I'm not sure. But this is something to think about, and maybe it affects how well or how badly we receive compliments from other people... it has so much to do with how we feel about ourselves.
Posted 12/29/2008 7:26 PM (GMT 0)
IMHO, any therapy that does not cover this topic deeply is lacking and is not really helping people. Self worth and love is so crucial to stopping this DD of Anxiety. I think these are the building blocks of education that our children need to be learning at school instead of some of the silly subjects. Survival In The Harsh World 101. . . It is all about perception also, like I know I love and respect myself. I would like to think that everyone else feels the same, but in reality that is not going to happen. Can't "make" everyone love or even "like" you at times. . . That is why a person's self image is everything. When it comes down to it we have to please ourselves because sometimes that is all there is in life.
Posted 12/29/2008 9:28 PM (GMT 0)
Yep for the most part I am satisfied with my appearance (except for my belly area which I can do nothing about).  So I have gray hair and a few wrinkles.  It's all part of ME and being ME is pretty wonderful most of the time.  How is that for positive reinforcement to myself (CBT).  God chose me to be me and I like me.  Does that make sense?!

Posted 12/29/2008 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
I'd say... half-and-half... There are times I feel I'm really attractive (most specifically cute... I mean... I have dimples. You can't get much cuter than that.) But sometimes, especially when I'm sick or just not having a good day, I feel... unattractive... unsexy... :(.... I'll look at my stretch marks... I'll think about how having a bowel disease is so unsexy... I'll look at how tired I look and feel...

Usually, I can perk up with some reassurance from friends, but otherwise, I tend to mope a bit...

(Oh, the stretch marks are from prednisone, by the way. Not pregnancy. Never been pregnant.)

Posted 12/30/2008 1:00 AM (GMT 0)

Lordy, lordy, lordy... What a loaded question Kitt!!! I used to joke around when I was skin and bones ( literally) that there was a 500 lb. woman inside me yelling : LET ME OUT. LET ME OUT!!!Well the joke is on me because when I turned 45 and had what the doctors thought was an MS attack... I was unable to walk etc.. .ended up having to start using a scooter... / and crutches and gained soooo much weight. I don't weigh 500 lbs but I have never been this heavy at 210 lbs ( I'm 5'9'' tall and used to weigh a whopping 110 lbs) I too have a tiny frame so my bones ache all the time from all this excess weight.... and NO I DON"T LIKE THE WAY I LOOK! Someone gives me a compliment and my first response is to ask them if they need glasses.! !!!!! I think its bad enough comparing yourself to others but when you compare yourself to what you USED to look like it is even worse! Must stop doing that.... but oh it is sooo difficult. mad

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