Good’ay mates!
Great hockey game last night. It is so nice to have some of my favourite Canadian players all on the same team!
I received a great response to one of my answers in yesterday’s FAQ post.
Someone asked me what size I am and I responded, ‘Size Healthy’
Since I recovered from disordered eating, I have tried to stay away from numbers. I never liked the number on clothing. It is so inconsistent and it varies so much by the store. I could walk into a clothing store and leave upset because I wasn’t the size I thought I should be. Some stores have vanity sizing and in some stores the clothing runs really small. You just can’t win!
I think it is important to realize that sometimes the number really is just a number. The number on my clothing does not reflect how happy I am. When I was struggling the most with my eating disorder and when I was the smallest in body size, I was also the most unhappy I have ever been. A small number on one’s clothing does not necessarily equal happiness.
The tag on my pants now reads healthy because I know that I am being good to my body and that is all that I need. I know that the size my body is at today, is the size that it should be. I eat when I am hungry and I stay active and challenge my fitness. My confidence has also gone way up since I started being nice to myself and not expect perfection.
I thought it would be a really fun idea to write this message on my pants!
I took a black permanent marker and went to town. It was actually really liberating and fun…
Size Healthy Contest:
I thought it would be fun to have a little contest today!
My challenge to you is to take a permanent marker, write ‘size healthy’ on your clothing tag(s)!
TO ENTER:
1) Email the picture to me: angela [at] ohsheglows.com. Make sure the subject says SIZE HEALTHY CONTEST.
OR
2) Post about it on your blog and email me the link to your post: angela [at] ohsheglows.com. Make sure the subject says SIZE HEALTHY CONTEST.
The prize:
THREE lucky people will receive a gift certificate worth $15 CAD for Glo Bars!!! Draw will be random.
Contest ends: Friday Feb 19th, 2010 at 8pm EST.
I’m going to have a big size healthy blow out post after the contest is over featuring your pictures!
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I’m curious about your thoughts on these questions:
- Do you think there is too much pressure on women today to attain that size 0 or even 00?
- What do you think about vanity sizing?
- Have you ever been asked by someone what size you are?
The next time you are asked what size you are…you can say with a big grin on your face ‘SIZE HEALTHY!’ :)
I love this contest!! So inspiring! I am going to get my “size healthy” on when I get home from work tonight! Woohoo!
As a small and short woman, I feel pressure within MYSELF to be a size 0 or 00, in addition to outside pressure. I’m 5’1″ and I’m afraid that people would think differently of me if I were anything larger than a 0. When I was at my smallest and most unhealthy weight, I was indeed a 00. I now realize that was too small, even for a tiny petite woman. I do wear a 0 now in some stores, but I also fit into a 2 at others, and am at a much healthier weight. I go by how my clothes of various number sizes fit, rather than what number it actually is. Thank you for bringing this up!
I will do this tonight when I get home :)
I’m a little afraid for you and your inbox, it’s going to be a crazy scene today with all the (fantastic) pictures flooding in!
PS. I love my GAP Long and Lean jeans. LOVE THEM!
that is such a great idea! you can actually get custom-made clothing labels (like for people who have etsy shops and stuff to put in their wares), that would be such a cute idea too!
I googled vanity sizes to learn more about them and got a list of standard sizes for bathroom vanities lol..
I love the size healthy idea! I find that I notice the discrepancy in sizing the most when I shop at Winners. The numbers on the clothes are soo useless, you’ve got to eyeball everything to tell if it’ll fit. Annoying.
Vanity sizing actually reminds me of the controversy over nutritional information/recommended serving size on food labels. Both use unrealistically small portion/dress sizes to make people feel better about what they’re buying, and play into an unhealthy focus on the things we consume!
I just love reading Oh She Glows because it always makes me feel goof about myself! You are so encouraging, Angela! I don’t feel pressured to be a size 0. I think I sometimes put those pressures on myself but no one in my life projects that onto me.
What a great idea! I am always so hung up on a number even though I know how silly it is. Can’t wait to take a sharpie to my tags and also post on my blog!!!
I love your improved labels! I have been asked what size I was before, and it really bummed me out. It was the first phone conversation between my (then) future college roommate and me. We were getting along really well, and I was so so excited to meet her, up until she asked what size clothes I wore. I was a good deal heavier then and probably wore a 16 or 18, and was way too embarrassed to say that. I said something about being “big” and she said “oh, like a 12?” I was so embarrassed – how do you tell someone who’s never seen you that you’re heavy? Fortunately she is NOT a superficial person (she was just wondering if we could share clothes), and we are still best friends now, 9 years later.
Vanity sizing just KILLS me. When I go in a store and end up buying a size 4 in jeans despite that fact that I know I DO NOT wear such a size, it doesn’t make me feel better about myself in the least. It makes me feel about a million times worse, because I feel like I’ve just been coddled. It’s as if the company has held my hand, patting me on the head, and said in the most sugary voice possible, “It’s okay sweetheart. We see that you’re not tiny. But how about we just play pretend for today? Using your imagination is fun!” But it isn’t fun; it’s not fun at all.
What a fabulous idea!!! I will be posting on this TODAY! :)
Vanity sizing, sizing in general is something I wish we could do away with! If I had the money, I would hire a tailor to come and custom make all of my clothing! That way my only size is MY SIZE! It’s me, my body, my size regardless of what that means to anyone else.
I can remember at my lowest size when I was struggling with such disordered eating that I bought the smallest size jeans you could in GAP. I came home, put those guys on and never felt more horrible about my body. 20 pounds earlier I would have told you that if I ever reached that small size…life would be perfect. Well, life was actually much worse at that size.
That was a turning point for me but it took another 8 years for me to fully recover from my disordered eating. my heart goes out to all the ladies and gents out there struggling with similar battles. Size means nothing. Balance, health and peace of mind is what really provides your soul the happiness it needs!
What a great idea! I used to get hung up on the size number on the tag, but over time I learned that if it fits you properly, you will look your best.
I have been cutting the size out of my pants in case I have a bad day and see a number I don’t like. From now on I will be using your method :)
I don’t feel pressure to be a size 0, because I know my body type and for me to be a size 0 I would have to be hospitalized I’m sure. But I always want to ‘lose weight’. I have never been satisfied with my size and know I can be healthier, which is why i read blogs as encouraging as yours! I think I put the pressure on myself to be healthier, not just smaller, but I am definitely a victim of marketing and its hard to look past it in real life. Ie, i have 3 brothers and all three of them have always had GF’s who are underweight super skinny. seriously.
I think vanity sizing sucks when you go to a store that doesn’t do it! lol.
The only people to ask me my size have been sales associates at stores. I wouldn’t be offended if anyone did though, and I’m sure only my closest girlfriends would ask, and i have no shame in telling.
What a wonderful idea! I read your post last night, and gave you mental applause for saying “size healthy”! I’m going to do this to my pants tonight!!
Also: the 2nd to last picture you have there, it looks like the style of your pants are “Chewy” which made my laugh into my soup!
I love the size healthy! But… as a smaller person who happens to be a 0/2, I am HEALTHY. I just happen to be small, I workout to be healthy, I eat (A LOT!) and that is my natural size. I have had people say very mean things about my size, especially when younger and I was very thin.
Please remember that there are people who are small and healthy. I do not have disordered eating, I eat what I want and try to live my healthiest life possible.
Size “0” confuses me…does it mean no size? I’ve never understood how there can then be a size even smaller than “0”…
But that’s beside the point. Love the size “healthy”. I’ll have to start marking my clothes :)
haha it is funny to call it 0… like “so small she doesnt exist”.
i know some women are naturally a 0 and healthy that way so i dont want to hate on that. but for the rest of us who are healthy at a larger size, if you want some amusement, just ask a guy what he thinks of “size 0”.
we are so wrapped up in sizes and measurements its funny to realize that its such a foreign concept to guys. we discussed it in one of my classes and the guys were like “what? what do you mean 0? how can a size be a 0? does that mean the girl is microscopic?”
I totally agree with the above point, I think it’s women that put pressure and competition on other women to be the smallest size possible. Men don’t care and seem to like women of all sizes etc.
OMG… I am doing this as soon as I get home! I struggle with this. So badly I can’t get myself to go buy new jeans. I need them in a bad way but the thought of having to pick “my size” makes me well want to curl up into a ball and hide. I mean I am hiding from myself since no one sees the size of my pants but I just can’t get myself to the store. I have needed jeans for months!
People always think I am smaller than I am, so when they say “oh what size are you, like a zero” it makes me think that I should be a zero (which I totally am not). I feel ashamed at my big size because they think Im smaller.
:) thanks for the awesome advice!
This is such a great idea!!! I absolutely love it!
I think there is a huge pressure on women to be a size zero jeans. Since overcoming my disordered thoughts, over the years I haven’t been concerned with numbers either. I don’t even own a scale!
Vanity sizing, I believe, could be making the issue worse. It’s like saying “you should be this thin in real life but you’re not and you’re a failure.” Maybe not that extreme but possibly for some!
I actually haven’t been asked by someone what size I am, I’ve been told and they were way off (thinking I was smaller than I am). It upsets me because I don’t base who I am on the size of my jeans and don’t want other people to do it either.
LOVE this post!!! I think that it’s a fantastic idea! Sizes are so inconsistent… I hate vanity sizing actually. I don’t even know my size because it changes based on where I’m shopping. I think there is major, major pressure on girls to be a size 0… it’s ridiculous. And size 00? There are very few people that small (naturally so) and it’s silly to try to attain to that.
Such an awesome concept and contest! I’ll totally participate! I’m size healthy :D
I love this post! I used to be completely obsessed with sizes and weights and all that jazz that the media is always talking about, but you’re right, when I was at my smallest I was at my most unhappiest as well. Small size does not equal most happy! Thanks for this amazing post (and the cool contest too!)
Size 0… even with bones and skin and no muscles, I’d never fit into size 0. And I don’t mind. Really. And I am not comparing myself to anyone, I put all my energy on working to be happier, stronger, healthier, better… towards myself. Nobody ever asked me what size I wear and I’ve never asked anyone either, it is really the last of my worries to care about other people size! My sister (who is a year younger than me) is very much thinner and smaller than I am, I don’t care : I always go shopping with her and I never find myself comparing or been somehow ashamed of asking for a jeans a couple of sizes bigger. We’re both healthy, we’re both sexy : different frames! Been healthy = confidence = sexiness! Rock size healthy!