Love Yourself Now There's a song by Jill Sobule called "Lucy at the Gym," that really hits hard. It's about an exercise-obsessed woman who dies and goes to heaven which is a gym, "where everyone's beautiful and thin, AND YOUR LIFE CAN BEGIN." (Emphasis mine.) I've seen her perform live several times, but... Read more 1 Comment
It's Summer Troll Season The weather is starting to heat up, and you're starting to dream of summer cookouts, trips to the pool, and leaving the house without a jacket. Sadly, some people continue to be the absolute worst. They think they're entitled to an opinion about us - and that their opinion actually... Read more 3 Comments
Stop Hiding From the Camera A while back, Allegra was at a 60th birthday party - a real fancy 'do with a professional photographer. She noticed that some women kept running away from the photographer. Not because they're in the witness protection program, but because they hate how they look in pictures. You'll be unsurprised... Read more 4 Comments
Flying While Plus Sized You don't need me to tell you that modern air travel is the pits. And fat people (especially women) are treated like we're part of the problem and not suffering along with everyone else. No one complains that the person sitting behind them is too tall. If a man's shoulders spill over... Read more 5 Comments
Eating Out While Plus Size Eating in public while plus size can be challenging. In her debut novel, Good In Bed, Jennifer Weiner writes about the tension between what we want to eat, and what we'll let ourselves eat, and what we'll eat in public. So much yes. Yet we walk that tightrope and we still... Read more 1 Comment
How To Ease Yourself Into Body Positivity I get it. You see inspirational quotes telling you to love your body and you're just not feeling it. You decide that body positivity is fine for other people, but not you. These body positive people sure look happy, though. After decades of hating what you see in the mirror,... Read more 1 Comment
The Plus Size Guide to Self Care Somehow self care has gotten a reputation as something self indulgent. We say self care and think of long candlelit baths. Your BFF tells you that you've been neglecting self care and you insist that you'll get to it when you have the time. But your bestie isn't telling you... Read more
Dealing With Doctors When You're Plus Size A few years ago, I fell and hit my knees on the sidewalk so I went to my newish primary care doctor. I explained the new injury and how it seemed to have aggravated an old injury. And this doctor with a flourishing practice, loads of medical education, et cetera and... Read more 5 Comments
The Plus Size Guide to Surviving Hot Flashes I've got one word for you, ladies: breathable. That may make you think of wrinkly, high maintenance fabrics, but that's not the case anymore. The things they're doing with synthetics these days are amazing. First up, a friendly reminder that I'm not a doctor and I have no idea if any medical interventions... Read more 1 Comment
How to Help Your Kids and Grandkids Love Themselves So many of us were raised to hate ourselves. Our grown-ups didn’t plan it that way, but it was an unintended consequence of their efforts to encourage us to be our best selves. And their own baggage was accidentally passed down to us along with their beautiful eyes and wicked... Read more 5 Comments
Surviving the Holiday Fat Shaming There's a lot to love about the holiday season - the food, the family. There's also a lot to hate about the holiday season, like all the drama surrounding food and family. You can make this year better, no matter how much your relatives work your last nerve. It has... Read more 3 Comments
How to Look Good in Photos When You're Plus Size There's so much to love about parties - the fun, the food, the friends! And much to hate - really bad photos of you popping up on social media. Some of those pictures are unavoidable - bad lighting and poor amateur photographers are as much a fact of life as... Read more 3 Comments
Plus Size is Beautiful Google tells me that "plus size is beautiful" is a phrase people search for fairly regularly. I find this encouraging. People aren't asking if plus size is beautiful - they know it is. Or at least they know that many people have that opinion. Around these parts, we know that plus... Read more
Turning to Plus Size Fashion for Comfort You don't need me to tell you why you could use some comfort right about now. Just pick your favorite thing to worry about. Even locking yourself away at home isn't really an escape because you have to do that anyway thanks to the pandemic. And let's not forget the... Read more 1 Comment
How To Help A Newly Plus Size Friend We all wish we'd known more way back when. So when you see a friend struggling to adjust to a weight gain, it's only natural for you to want to take them aside so you can share your hard-earned knowledge. But it's not that straightforward. Don't Bring Up The Subject... Read more 1 Comment
