Years and years ago, I worked with an amazing lady. She was my manager in a retail store at the time, an outgoing and vivacious person who could make a connection with anyone, no matter how young or old. She was warm and hilarious, quick-witted and had an enormous sense of empathy. In short, she was our hero and when she moved up in the company, we were so sad to see her leave our store but the days she made visits, the non-scheduled staff would come in, just to see her.
Now, you’re probably wondering just where this is going, right? Shortly after I got married, we saw a picture of her on her wedding day – and we couldn’t believe it. The bride in the photo had a great dress, and we knew it was our manager, but she was smaller. Like, almost eight sizes smaller. At the time we knew her she was a healthy size twelve and she looked great, and prior to her getting married she was in the size ten to twelve range but on the day she walked down the aisle, she was a size four. By her own design and choice at the time, she dieted, worked out incessantly, sweated and sometimes starved her way to her dream size, to go along with her dream dress. For us who knew her for the awesome person she was, we thought she was already beautiful - long curly blond hair, a pretty face with a great complexion and a classic hourglass figure – we couldn’t believe that she felt like she had to be a smaller version of herself for her big day. The worst part? In retrospect, she wished she didn’t go through such a transformation because she felt like her wedding pictures didn’t look like her at all – she, and everyone else, didn’t recognize the person in the picture standing next to her husband!
I always remembered this story, because I think every bride we’ve met has a definite fitness and health plan in mind. Whether it’s to target trouble areas for a sleeker dress fit, or to use the upcoming nuptials as motivation to put a long-held weight loss plan into action, there’s always a plan in mind. But when does that plan become too much pressure?
I came across a really thought-provoking piece in the Huffington Post and I knew I had to pass it along…..
I think that Casey’s story is a great thinkpiece, because it helps to really dissect the issue and reshift the focus from what we think we should look like, to having strong bodies that take us through our journey – down the aisle and way beyond.
Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April
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