Looking fat

When was the last time you looked at yourself in a full length mirror? I am asking this because the more “over fat,” you are or “out of shape,”you are the harder it is to look good in your clothes.

I must confess, that for some time now I have been looking at myself in the mirror only from the chin up. Yes, I use my full length mirror before I leave the house but recently I only quickly glance at my self from head to toe. The other day I had to get a pictures taken of my silhouette in fitted non-camouflaging clothing for a sewing project I am doing. I am still in shock.

I have always had an apple shaped body with narrow hips, flat bottom and muscular legs. When I gain weight its usually in my stomach and waist area. My previously flat derriere is no longer flat. Because I know how to dress for my body shape I had even fooled myself, until I saw those pictures of me without camouflaging clothes. I know I must take action for my health and of course I am concerned about how I look and finding clothes that fit me. The areas I need to work on are my eating habits, exercise and sleep.

My eating habits are better than most of the other people I know, but they aren’t perfect. I consider myself a flexitarian. I eat mostly steamed vegetables plus small amounts of chicken and fish and dairy such as non-fat yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, almonds and walnuts. My weakness is rice tortillas and gluten free cookies. Also, because I am a night owl and stay up late at night, I tend to eat a snack before I go to bed. I have read that this is not good because those calories are not burned off and eating right before bedtime disrupts sleep because the body is busy digesting food and can not completely relax.

I have been watching the Dr. Oz show lately. Dr. Oz says to be healthy a woman should not have a waist over 32.5 inches. If your waist is larger than this, it means your belly fat is beginning to crush your other organs, especially your kidney function. One way to determine a good waist size is to take your height in inches and divide it in half. According to Dr. Oz your waist size should be half your height or less than half your height.

What is your waist size in relation to your height? How do you make time for exercise? What do you eat that isn’t good for you? When was the last time you looked at yourself in a full length mirror with only your under ware on?

Because I needed a “jump start,” to start exercising again, I applied to be in a research study at Johns Hopkins Hospital Bayview in Baltimore, Md. Its called “Shape Up.” There are two components to this study a nutrition component and an exercise component. I am hoping to be assigned to both the nutrition and exercise parts. The exercise would be at the Hopkins facility. As I write this, I am realizing that besides getting more sleep,and not eating before bedtime what I really need is, help with “building in” exercise to my daily life for a long term change in my habits.

How have you built exercise into your busy daily life?

How many times have you stood in front of the mirror and asked yourself, “Does this make me look fat?” Have you asked your significant other this question too many times?

I suggest you stop torturing yourself and others by asking a different question and start to look at yourself in a new way. Ask instead ” Where does my eye go first?” This is called a focus point. This is the place people look at first and the place their eye will be drawn back to.

When I first became a personal image consultant I took a woman client shopping who was very short and about 100 pounds overweight. She put on a navy pant outfit that looked really nice on her. I commented, “: You look thin in that outfit.” She responded, “At this weight, I will never look thin, no matter what I put on.” She was right. What I should have said was, “The outfit is flattering.” The color and style of the pant suit caused me to look at her face first. I did look at her body, but the neckline and color of the outfit kept drawing me back to her face. The outfit skimmed over her bumps and bulges and as a result my eyes did not stop at her body parts but instead went back to her face.

Where do your eyes go when a woman has a very low neckline and the top of her breasts are showing? When you are talking to someone and they have a piece of spinach in their teeth, where do your eyes go? These are examples of focus points. Where do you want your focus point to be? If you want to look your most confident and competent, you will want your face and eyes to be your focus points.

Here are 4 easy steps to determine where your focus points are :

1. Stand 5 feet from a full length mirror

2. Make sure you have good lighting, either daylight or full spectrum bulbs

3. Close your eyes and quickly open them.

4. Ask yourself, “Where does my eye go first?”

If your eye goes to your face first or to your face and the color you are wearing simultaniously and your eyes sparkle and your skin looks radiant this means you are wearing a flattering color and probably a good neckline shape. Avoid clothing that is too tight, because not only will you be uncomfortable but the horizontal creases will cause the tight places to become focus points. You can change your focus points by changing how high or low your neckline is, by adding a scarf or pin and by adding earrings, changing the length of your hair and by repeating colors.

Nancy Goldblatt, “Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore, ” is a professionally trained personal image consultant. Contact her at nrgoldblatt@gmail.com www.WardrobeWiz.com/

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Looking fat

Avoiding Looking At Your Body In The Mirror?

Does This Make Me Look Fat?