How has your view of overweight people changed from your (style conscience?) teenage years till now?

Not a whole lot. In my youth I assumed overweight people were overweight for whatever reason and it wasn't my business to get into their business.

How I feel/felt about it for myself? I've crossed my comfort line twice.

The first time when I was still undiagnosed and could not understand why I gained the way I did. The second time I was pregnant, so I had a good reason for crossing a line again I swore I'd never cross again, but it still sucked and screw it. With number two I'm not going to get suckered into going more conservative like I did the last time. I'm staying on the vegan path and I'm going to have to find docs who will support me in that choice. The "conservative" pregnancy diet leads to an uncomfortable pregnancy, people. And it isn't just me who noticed this, but I've had playgroup moms verify this was their experience as well.

But the comfort line? I know exactly where it is. It's where I become so big my circulation becoms poor, arms and legs and feet and hands fall asleep and wake me up with tingling when I'm trying to sleep, my joints hurt, mobility is impaired, your thighs chafe from rubbing together, sweat collects in crevices on your body and chafes, putting on pantyhose is an exercise in the ridiculous, a flight of stairs leaves you winded, sex is not comfortable, people treat you differently...

It's all so undignified.

None for me, thanks. The more distance between me and that line the better for me.

How has your view of your body changed in that time frame?

In my teens, I tended to live in my head and ignore the needs of my body as long as possible. Skip meals, stay up too late, etc. Took it for granted my body would work fine whenever it was I wanted it to.

With the rude awakening of my thyroid/PCOS issues in college, I was forced to try to live more in unison. Mind and body together, searching for harmony between the two while at the same time seeking a proper dx.

The dx was long in coming, but I'm lucky. I only had to wait 5 years. Some PCOS patients waited almost a lifetime before more info about this condition was known and circulated not just with specialists but GPs so they could spot it. Imagine living all that time seeking help and treatment and being told it was all in your head and then going home to wonder if you really were crazy. Humph.

But for those 5 years, with no health insurance and little recourse, I had to make an effort where I could. And that's how it began for me in 1998. Trying to eat better, exercise more, make some kind of an effort to support my health within my capabilities at the time, until I had an answer and could seek fuller treatment.

The short answer? I learned to treat my body with a little more respect and pay more attention to it's care.

It's so easy for girls to go in both directions. Be pushed to be ornamental and then think of nothing BUT their physical selves or the other direction. Be pushed to reject "vanity" and "foolishness" and retreat into their heads and thing nothing OF their physical selves.

I hope I do a better job with my kid and teach her to care for both her body and her head.