Well, well, well I said to myself when I read an article that my good friend and colleague sent to me last week. It seems that there are more CurvyGirls out there who are not afraid to show their curves than I ever thought possible.

I mean let’s get real here.  Most women have such serious issues with their bodies- curvy or not.  That’s right, you big girls out there who think you have the market cornered on that subject, please know that there are lots and lots of women in the single digits who do not like their bodies for whatever reason. I know it’s hard to grasp this notion and most larger women do not understand it, but it is true.  I hear it all the time. We curvier girls somehow think that women who are smaller or thinner must have no problems with the way they feel about themselves. Wrong.  It is a deep-rooted problem stemming from low self-esteem and self-acceptance problems somewhere in their lives. And maybe also a reflection of the way our culture is often un-accepting of real women. 

Now, that’s not to say that all small or large women have body image issues.  But I will venture to say the percentage is pretty high. That feeling that “I am not good enough” begins with a message that a little girl hears listening to their own mother being negative about her body.  Somehow it just sticks and becomes a problem later on in life. So be careful what you say to and around your daughters, sisters and nieces. The message is heard loud and clear and it does nothing positive for any female.  So, yes, I can say that in my many years of working with women of all sizes I have come across maybe thousands who do not like how they look. So, when the aforementioned e-mail came to me I had to really give it some praise and share it.

OK, we all know who Pierce Brosnan is (see photo below).  He was James Bond. He always reminded me of the Marlboro man. Handsome and rugged but classy and looked great in a tuxedo. I’m sure lots of women probably have fantasies about him.  He was, and still is, a handsome adorable man. He is still making movies with 2 new ones coming out this year. He is still in demand at age 54, but so is Jack Nicholson at 70! It seems men in Hollywood who age can still get work while the women need to look younger and younger, but that is for another blog. I open the e-mail and the title says,,”PIERCE BROSNAN SHOWS OFF HIS BOND GIRL WIFE”. I am wondering why this was sent to me and almost did not read it but there were pictures of Pierce and Keely Brosnan (see photos below) on the beach in Hawaii. Now, I did not know who she was.  But as I read the article I learned she was a journalist and hosted  TV’s “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack.

Anyway, Keely married Pierce in 2001 but they have been together about 10 years and they have 2 children. It seems that Keely who was probably a size 2 back in the day when they met, has now become a very curvy girl herself in the past few years and she has no problem with it. The article goes on to say that she has TURNED HER BACK ON THE HOLLYWOOD SCENE and is a pin-up girl for larger women. She is writing and giving fashion tips for women in American Vogue. It seems that this mother of 2 has more to celebrate.  She has the backing of her gorgeous husband, who rightly thinks she is STUNNING and says “I LOVE MY WIFE’S CURVES”.  Wow, can you believe it?  A sexy, adorable, classy, handsome, rich and famous man that likes a women with curves?  Hear me out, CurvyGirls.  There are large numbers of men who like bigger girls. So, if I know that how come I am not married?  Hey, if anyone has a single father or grandfather who like a curvy girls let me know.  Did I say grandfather?

So, the best part of the article to me was the fact that Keely does not shy away from her body and curves. She like to flaunt it up. Now this is what I am talking about, CONFIDENT ABOUT HER BODY. She never hides in BAGGY CLOTHES as she realizes that the bigger the clothes you wear the bigger you look. She is celebrating her curves and does not shy away from wearing a bikini as a size 18 or 20. I totally agree with her. I have learned in my life that people will talk about you whether you look good or you look bad.  So why not just be yourself.  Hey, we need to get her a copy of the CurvyGirl Workout DVD!

Debra 

Listen to Debra Mazda’s podcast with fitness columnist Kimberly Garrison, of Philadelphia’s Daily News.

Click here for the podcast: http://pdn.philly.com/podcasts/fitness118.mp3

NOTE: You may need QuickTime to view the podcast. To download QuickTime go to http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

http://pdn.philly.com/podcasts/fitness118.mp3

NOTE: You may need QuickTime to view the podcast. To download QuickTime go to http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

 Road Trip

Many of you know that I certify trainers for the NATIONAL EXERCISE TRAINERS ASSOCIATION, known as NETA. Last weekend I had to go to upstate Pennsylvania to teach some new fitness people and certify them. I was really looking forward to the weekend not only to share my knowledge and education but more so to meet women who are new in the fitness industry. The workshops are 2 days long but I always get to my destination the day before to relax, get acclimated to the area, drive around and see what the town has to offer and to settle into my hotel room. This time was no different. The event was in Bloomsburg, PA, about 150 miles from Philadelphia. Past Quakertown and Jim Thorpe, my favorite town near the Poconos. So, I figured it would take about 2 hours or so, depending on traffic.

Although I love to travel and go to new places, I do find myself worrying about a few things when I’m on the road.  First of all, I hate getting lost and although I have a GPS system in my car I still like to have printed directions with me to follow just as a backup.  Another big problem I have when I travel is WHAT, HOW AND WHERE TO EAT.  That is always the issue for me when I am off my routine. I know it is a problem for a lot of women who travel so I wanted to address how I handle this as I have gotten so many e-mails about this.

Also, it can get very lonely when you travel.  That in itself can set me up for binge eating - IF I LET IT. When I have lots of time that is unstructured I can fill the time by eating some junky food. Most of the time it is so easy just to go out and splurge and say I will start back on my food program when I get home.  I have done that once or twice and before you know it, those little splurges can become a binge. Then the “poor little old me” voice starts inside me and then one thing leads to another and the calories add up to thousands.

I got to the Bloomsburg area but I was staying in a tiny town called BUCKHORN, right outside of Bloomsburg. I looked around and thought to myself  ‘where the hell am I’? Buckhorn?  You know us Philly girls, we like the comforts of the paved streets. As I got off the exit, I began to see stores and life somewhere up the road. I must admit it was really pretty and the mountains looked great. Then I saw a mall and the GPS is telling me to turn into the mall. Well, it seems the hotel is right in the middle of the mall.  You know what that means, RESTAURANTS, FOOD COURT, JUNK ALL OVER THE PLACE.  I’m telling myself, ‘don’t panic, it’s OK, you have this under control. Start to breathe deeply and get into those mental skills techniques’. It’s almost 7pm and I’m starving.  The trip that should have taken me a little over 2 hours took me 4 hours.

So I get to the so-called hotel.  I learn there’s no internet access, no coffee shop, no Dunkin’ Donuts to get coffee, no Wawa and my room is in in the back where the traveling truckers take refuge for the night.  Well what is a girl to do?  SHOP!  Now, everyone knows my favorite stores are Kohl’s and Target.  I go to the front desk and the clerk tells me we’re 30 miles from the closest Target and she had never heard of Kohl’s!  Oh my god – who’s never heard of Kohl’s?!  But wait, she said, “We do have Super Walmart up the road.”  I asked her “What’s a Super Walmart?” and she looked at me kind of funny.  I have been in Walmart before, but never a super one…how much more stuff can they sell? Well it seems a lot more. The clerk told me that is the happening place for shopping in beautiful Buckhorn. Finally I decided to go to a restaurant that some of the local truckers who I met in the lobby suggested. They actually told me that they wanted to see my website and had copied it down from the back of my car. It seems they like CurvyGirls themselves. I told them they had great taste in women.

By this time it was almost 8pm and the carpet was beginning to look nasty to me. I’d only eaten fruit, popcorn and some yogurt that day. But I needed to be very sensible about my choices. So off I went to the restaurant. I looked at the menu and decided to order fish since I was told a great salad bar comes with the dinner. I asked the waitress to have some Tilapia cooked in a little bit of butter with lemon and plain steamed broccoli. I knew that tackling the salad bar was going to be a challenge so my dinner needed to be very nutritious and not really high in calories. 

As I got up to go to the salad bar I began to think about how hard I work to keep myself healthy and that food is the fuel that I use to keep myself at peak performance. But then there is that other voice saying come on, you can live it up. Have what you want and start tomorrow. There have been so many tomorrows in my lifetime that I have lived through. At the time when I used to wait until tomorrow I didn’t know any better. But life is different now, I am accountable for my actions and every decision that is made I am responsible for. So, as I stood there looking at 40 different things on the salad bar that I could indulge in I knew had a CONSCIOUS DECISION TO MAKE. I would have a little bit of what I wanted and after dinner if I wanted more then who was to stop me? I did just that and I did want a little more as there was a really good pasta salad. I even let myself have 2 small rolls with butter and my dinner was great. Did I want a big baked potato with butter and sour cream?  Sure.  But I knew that the next day I would have been so tired from all of those calories. I got back to the hotel, had an orange and went to sleep. I felt great the next morning and did it all over again the next day.

I have learned in my life that every day I have the opportunity to make choices and decisions about what I allow to hinder or help my life. Now, you may say it is not that easy. If you keep practicing this CONSCIOUS THINKING I promise you it will get easier. Does it work all of the time? No. But it will work most of the time if you open your mind to it.

Debra

Listen to Debra Mazda’s live radio interview on your radio (900 AM) or on the internet at www.900amwurd.com tonight from 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

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