I wasn't overweight when I was younger.
As a senior in high school I was 5'4" and about 130 pounds, with a large Norwegian bone structure. I preferred baggy clothes, but I remember one time, when I was about 17, my dad bought me some Carhartts to wear around the farm and the 30" waist was a little big. Even then, I thought I was a whale. And that was before most people in this area had even heard of the internet let alone used it .... God how I feel for the girls growing up today.
But I digress.
I'm about to turn 30 in March. I was married for the past nine years and have five beautiful children. And I now weigh 200 pounds.
Most days I don't feel fat. But I'm newly single and I'm realizing that the way I see myself and the way I actually look are two very, very different things.
When I look at myself, I see a sexy, goddess-like body. I feel curvy yet lithe, ready to take on the world with my devastatingly gorgeous body.
And then, I look in the mirror. And I see a fat bottom. Big thighs. Arms that are way too big for my frame. A belly that seems to have a mind of its own and flops out of even the best fitting clothes.
I want to be the woman I see myself as. Not the woman I am. I wish there were no mirrors. Without mirrors, I radiate self confidence. Looking in a mirror makes me feel old, frumpy, and fat.

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