What is more important to you: Having a good body image of yourself or having a "healthy" body weight? Can you have one without the other?

Discuss, but be nice about it (meaning this is a size positive forum and anything that comes across as being anti-fat or anti-skinny will be removed).

according to me both are important the healthy body is important for having good body image and good body image need the perfect body so both are important

I think you can be '' large'' and perfectly healthy and beautiful right now I am dealing with my own body image.. I am the mom of 4 kids.. entering the pre-menopause stage.. and have gained.. but I also do alot of physical work.. caring for horses etc.. so I do not feel like I am just ' unhealthy' - and some - alot is muscle.. except,, yep around the tummy..... my father keeps bringing up '' how much do you weigh'' I am feeling like [censored] right now.. any thoughts ladies ?????

You can definitely be any size and be confident and you can be at a healthy weight and have a poor self body image. I struggled with it from the day I was born until I turned 40.

In high school and college my friends made fun of me because I didn't look Mexican enough. In college my friends made fun of me because I looked white but had a Mexican accent (I no longer have that which is another issue now).

When I was dancing for a living I was told I wasn't thin enough. When I became a trainer I was told I was not buff enough or skilled enough or menacing enough. As a wife and mom (both ex-husband and family) often made me feel I wasn't "soccer mom" enough (like it was wrong for me to want to work and be successful and out of the home).

All this outside noise contributes to a poor self image in general so it isn't just about weight. When I was 30 pounds over weight I felt like I wasn't my true self but oddly enough I got more approval from friends and family.

I NEED to be at a healthy weight to feel good about myself. It's who I am. I've been dancing since I was 3, exercising since I was 15 and fit most of my life so I was born this way. I always struggled with poor body image because of pressure from other people but I no longer have that issue. When I turned 40 I decided to tune out the noise and only listen to my own inner guidance about what is right for me.

I think if more people did this they would achieve a healthy weight.

vhawk - I know it is hard but I think one of the first things you should do is talk to your dad about "my father keeps bringing up '' how much do you weigh'". Tell him that it hurts you when he does this and ask him to stop. If that doesn't work, then give him a stern word or two when he does it to remind him.

It sounds like you are pretty stressed right now with kids, work, and hormonal changes. Damn hormones! If you haven't done so already it is probably a good time to have the talk with your doctor and she might be able to offer some pre-menopause suggestions.

Most importantly take care of yourself, eat regular meals, drink lots of water, take a quiet walk for yourself.

Happy Leap Day! I love how open this site is!

Unfortunately, if I am not at a healthy weight, in my mind, I don't have a healthy body image. I see heavy women and can see how attractive they are, but when it comes to myself, my body image has always fallen when the weight climbed. I think the key thing is being healthy. There are heavier women who are more fit than some of the skinny girls.

Honestly, Lyn I don't think anyone has 100% positive body image all the time. Unfortunately for some of us it takes more work than others to even have a tolerable body image. I agree that the "key thing is being healthy" and realizing that health can come in all shapes and sizes. We all need to get past the "healthy weight". We all can eat better, drink more water, and exercise more but it really should be for health of it and not the the number on the scale or the image looking back at us in the mirror. In an ideal world, right? LOL. Thanks for popping in.

I think both a good body image and healthy weight depend on each other. One can't exist without the other.

Unfortunately they do exist without one another. There are many women out there who have a healthy weight that have a poor body image. And vice versa. Now if only we could all balance the two.

For me it's a matter of balance. Body image is everything, but body fat is an important component of body image, and also affects how I perceive myself. Every time I leave the gym I know I didn't lose a significant amount of weight from that specific time, but I still feel good about myself. That feeling is all body image.