Just wanted to share that I have my new hair style and exhilarate in the feeling of no hair on the back of my neck. I’m also celebrating the progress I’ve been making in the group of crazy assignments I’ve had for the quick summer class I’m taking for my Masters in Library Science. It is a whirlwind of Management Principles work over here I tell ya!
Also if you’re looking for meatier interactions to fill your time between this and my next post; please stop by at the comments back and forth on this post or over at this blog between myself and Veronica (and Patsy too here). Perhaps some folks would argue that it is best mentally to stay away completely from anyone not fully on-board with everything proposed at FA blogs (such as my own here)…but I think we all had to start somewhere on this crazy self-acceptance train ride. And I’m just too much a sunshiny person not to let “Hope Springs Eternal” fill me up when pulled into a discussion with people who are willing to actually engage with anything other than eye-rolling-ly blatant troll-speak. Breaking down the barriers between my safety zone and speaking to people outside of the small sphere here might indeed bring new ideas to both of us… I refuse to think otherwise! 
Gotta get my sunshine anyway I can at this rate (1 day without rain in the past 10 or so). So, from the still soggy state of Massachusetts… Have a great weekend and remember to do something crazy fun; even if it is just a slow-motion Slow-Loris Leap (as I’ve dubbed this pose)
Slow Loris Leaps...slowly.
June 19, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Hair looks great!! Are you a natural redhead? It is gorgeous. By the way, I edited my last post with updated info… just thought I’d let you know…
June 19, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Thanks! (Both on the hair and on the revised post; I appreciate them both!)
I’m not naturally red-head but it has just always seemed to work well with my look so I go with it
June 19, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I love your new hair, April, and I admire your “outreach” efforts.
Veronica, I admire your willingness to explore a set of ideas different than the ones you carry.
I think that for many involved in the blogs you refer to, health is something they care about, and have abandoned restrictive eating as a way of practicing self-love. I think many of the people in these parts don’t eat excessively, and move plenty, this is just where their bodies have settled and they would rather focus on health as a goal than weight loss as a goal.
Each of us is free to do what we want with out bodies. For the most part, you will see that as tough as the comment policies seem to be, there isn’t any bashing of thin people for the choices they make with regards to their own bodies, or the bodies they end up with.
I haven’t ever been thin, I was “normal weight” for maybe 5 minutes, so I haven’t “lost” anything by not being thin — I can imagine having had that be part of an identity would make it very motivating to try to get back to a lower weight.
Also, you sound like an amazing cyclist.
June 20, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Wellroundedtype2 – Thank you for the compliment & also for seeing that I am an open minded person. God has given me the opportunity to empower many women to ride their bikes & become strong. I feel very blessed by that.
I understand you are at a place of comfort with your weight, I see many of you here are. I’m happy for all of you. I don’t have a problem with that. I have no desire to convince you to lose weight, if you are happy with where you are. (and I’m not doubting that you are either).
I am gaining information from my research with my weight loss problems & am excited to share it with anyone & everyone, just because I’m happy about it. Also, finding women that have made unsuccessful attempts to lose weight gives me info to fill in the gaps on my own journey. But I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.
Please don’t assume I am trying to lose weight to regain some identity from my past. In my mid-forties, that would be futile. I know a lot of women (some men) that are older, 965-85 yrs old) and some are having problems due to carrying additional weight for several years. I talk with all of them thin & not, to see what problems they have as they age.
I don’t have control over where, when or how I will die. (read this whole part before coming to a conclusion) I do have control over the quality of life I will have as I age. I feel it is a responsibility I have to myself. (This is a very personal thing to me so I don’t feel others have the same responsibility)
I was 40lbs overweight & I could feel it every day. Sluggish, lethargic, thick-headed. Also, cycling with the equivilent of a small child strapped to your waist is not easy. So I had many days where I just did not ‘feel’ like riding. And I love riding, so that was not good. I accept myself just fine, I just don’t make a happy fat person. I’m cranky, I have no energy, I don’t want to do anything. It’s no fun… for me.
I am seeing different things from the women that have commented here than what I saw on the 50 or so F A blogs I read. April, Patsy, you. I’m starting to get a sense of who you all are.
I know that there are really ugly people on the internet. And if you are overweight, you are immediately fair game for the biggest a-holes out here. But don’t lose sight of the good people. We are out here too. We don’t judge you on your weight or your looks, but your person. Who you are. I’m just saying… let us see the real you more. Don’t be so closed off & defensive. I strongly believe God takes care of the hateful people in his own time. That’s why I don’t worry about them. (I always feel I only have to dealt with them for the 10 minutes they are being ugly to me, but they are stuck with themselves 24/7. That must really suck.)
All of you that have struggled with weight at any time in your life have valuable information to share with others. You don’t need to currently be on a weight loss quest to talk with others about your experiences. And talking about what you have done with a weight loss fight doesn’t diminish your place with FA at all, in my mind.
There are alot of women out here on the internet like me. Loving, open-minded, accepting. We have a desire to lose weight and we are struggling. Don’t shut us out – don’t assume we want you to join our fight. Some of us just want to share info, yours & mine, to gain some understanding. Every time you educate someone, it brings you blessings. I know this.
Sorry for such a long comment, but I want all of you to see me for who I truly am — and accept me…K?
June 19, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Wow, April! Your hair looks great!
So does the slow loris leap, incidentally. In fact, I’m doing my best to work slow loris’ into my daily conversation, and that’s a great way to do it.
Slow loris is just so fun to say.
June 20, 2009 at 12:50 am
Glad you are looking and feeling good
June 20, 2009 at 3:38 pm
April, I like your hair—any photos of from the sides and back? I’m considering a new hairstyle, too.
Sincere arguments are different from troll-droppings, but both can take a certain amount of time and patience. I applaud you!
June 20, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Your hair looks lovely April, as do you. I am a natural redhead, btw, will be 60 in September, & have virtually no wrinkles & no grey hair. Hurray for genes & for that late-greying red hair!
I admit that, for preference, I prefer to engage in discussions with other fat positive people, but that is likely partly because I have survived a lot of abuse & dealt with a lot of negativity & many years of being told, whatever the subject, that I was ‘doing it wrong’ or lying about my experiences, etc., & partly because after one has been part of the FA movement for 30 years, one has heard all these arguments, all this ‘but if you just’ or even the ‘but if science & the medical community would just TRY harder, they would find a way to make us all thin, because fat is an unnatural & unhealthy state’ line of thinking gets old & wears me down a lot, though, as you can see, it is still important enough to me that I will at least make a stab at sharing what I know & believe. I think I have probably posted all I will on this particular subject, since if anyone reading is not yet convinced, there is not a lot else to be said. Everyone must find his or her own path.