You don't have to be a size 6 to be fit and fabulous

By Heather Hatfield

Look and Feel Great at Any Weight

"I am a size 14, I'm curvaceous, I work out every day, and I feel great," says Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, author of more than 20 books. And not only can larger-size women be healthy and feel terrific, they can look every bit as stylish as their size-6 friends, says full-figured supermodel Emme (who knows all about looking fabulous).

It is possible to have a body image like Magee's or Emme's -- one that's healthy and positive -- even if you aren't skinny.

Why, then, do so many full-figured women feel so bad about their bodies, even when they're at a weight that's healthy for them? And how can they, like Magee and Emme, start to like what they see in the mirror?

Several body image experts interviewed, offered practical tips for feeling good about your body. And Emme has style hints that will help you dress to look your best.

Getting Over the Norm

"As we develop and grow, we begin to place a value on what we see in the mirror -- which is based on experiences but also on the cultural norm, with a thin body being the preferred type," says Kathy Kater, LSW, a psychotherapist in St. Paul, Minn., who specializes in body image and eating and weight disorders.

But the problem with the cultural norm in America is that human beings aren't meant to be one size or one shape.

"The research on body diversity is conclusive: Even if we all ate the same optimal, wholesome diet and exercised to the same high degree of physical fitness, we would still be very diverse in our shapes," says Kater. "Some quite thin and some quite big, but most in the middle."

Of course, she's not promoting obesity, which brings health risks. But many of us can be quite healthy even if we wear a plus size. So how can you accept the fact that your body is meant to be a certain size -- even if that size isn't skinny -- and feel good about it?

First, accept the fact that big doesn't mean bad.

"The most common body image complaint for women, and increasingly for men, is the 'I feel fat' body-image distortion," says Kater. "It's a learned perspective that says to be bigger is a bad thing. But it's not. And actually, it's quite possible to be big without being unhealthy."

People of all sizes and shapes, explains Kater, should learn to define health by making healthy choices rather than by their size or weight.

In fact, if full-figured is your natural body shape, you're better off sticking to what you were born with than depriving yourself to reach what can be a dangerous goal.