The Ladybug

Tag: Body Positivity

  • Before and After Photos in Reverse: My Story Part 2    

    Trigger Warning:  

    Eating Disorder Patients: I show a before/after photo and discuss weight! 

    Dear readers of The Ladybug, I have already written an entry regarding before and after photos that display weight loss.  I expressed it at the time, and I still believe that these photos can be extremely harmful!  Western society places a huge pressure on women to be rail thin, and on men to have rock-hard abs.  The standards of what a body should look like are so out of control in our culture that weight-loss injections are having a major moment.  Unfortunately, these medications can cause extremely harmful side effects and can transform their victims into starvation models.  I do not endorse forcing weight loss.  I am fine with people wishing to maintain healthy nutrition and joyful movement routines, but it is not safe to force one’s body to meet societal expectations.   

    When I wrote the piece last summer regarding my own before and after photos, it was perhaps easier for me to express myself because I had just lost a significant amount of weight.  I had lost most of the weight by building up stamina exercising and by eating my mom’s healthy homecooked meals while I stayed with my parents frequently.  I was then able to maintain the same lower weight for about a year and a half.  I remained active and helped my parents with physical chores around their homestead.   

    However, now a lot has changed!  I am sharing a vulnerable post today about the truth of a before and after photo which displays weight gain, Not loss.  Let me explain.  To my readers who may not know, I have been battling a tick-borne illness, Anaplasmosis, for a full year now, since April 2025.  This illness is quite serious, and mine has proven to be pretty damn resistant to treatment.  I start to feel a little better, get a little active, and then crash again.  Recently, I moved apartments, and I moved to a whole new town.  The move build-up and now unpacking has caused a big relapse in my illness.  I am taking a strong dose of medications with little results. 

    Therefore, I am currently living a life of mostly lying in bed eating Campbells chunky chicken soups and watching Netflix.  While I understand that that life may sound like Heaven to some, when you are very ill and are forced to recover, it is not easy.  The point?  I have gained weight!  Oh my God!  So, here is an honest photo of what I look like now, compared to last summer 2025.  No flatter belly and tiny boobs.  Now the girls are back and so is my belly!  I have taken a photo revealing my body because I want to make a stand against encouraging weight loss.  It is perfectly acceptable to have a before and after picture in reverse.  Flaunt those curves ladies; you want him (or her) to have something to grab onto! 

    I do not want you to get the wrong idea; I am not encouraging unhealthy living.  I simply would like to free women (And men!) from the feeling that they need to meet anyone’s ideas about appearance besides their own desires.  The right partner will love and accept you for you; there is nothing to prove.  If you take my advice, do not force your body to a breaking point so that you can conform.  Your body knows what it is doing, trust it.  And, if you are a woman approaching middle age like me (40 in October 2026!), then expect your body to look different than it did at 20.  Why must we try to uncover the mythical fountain of youth?  It does not exist.  One’s body is meant to change with aging.  I say Love Yourself!!!  Loving a body that is uniquely yours and beautiful in your own eyes is about the most radical thing you can do these days.  So, please join me in celebrating whichever style of before and after photos are in your life story.  Life is a wonderful adventure! 

    In body acceptance, G.  

  • I Will Not Shrink Myself for Anyone: A Woman’s Perspective!

    Hello Readers!  I am disturbed by a trend that has been gaining momentum in American society that encourages women to shrink themselves both physically and in their roles as participants in this country. I see these ideas as problems, and I would like to address both types of shrinking behavior that is encouraged.

    First, my body has been on an incredible journey this past year. I will thank her for surviving by not starving myself.  I have been sick, stressed, sleep deprived, and pushed hard mentally, and somehow my body kept going.  There has been A Lot going on in my life!  I am disturbed to see that thinness ideals, body shaming messages, access to birth control methods, and identities other than heterosexual cis-gender persons are all under attack now, or should I say again?!  Why can society not accept the beauty in differences?!  I want to be free to have a curvy figure with a “fat” booty and “thunder” thighs.  Not to mention that my sex life is no one’s business.  You may ask why I am being so defensive? 

    I will be completely honest: I believe that the current political atmosphere is an attack on women, and is attempting to shrink their roles in public life.  JD Vance (our vice president) has bragged about having his wife pregnant and “barefoot in the kitchen.”  Donald Trump (our president for a second term) has multiple sexual harassment cases filed in court against him, and is a suspected pedophile.  The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and Republicans in charge have defunded Planned Parenthood.  Not only can I no longer safely access abortion in most states, I now have limited access to other female reproductive care such as the birth control pill.  Now, even a woman’s right to vote is being questioned once again by conservative politicians.  In addition, childcare services, such as daycare subsidies, have been cut by the current administration.  AND, SkinnyTok is making a comeback online.  Need I say more?? 

         Okay, I will!  I have begun reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and I suggest that you read it for a dose of current reality.  A world dominated by men, with women only valued for being fertile and compliant, is where we are headed.  I am afraid that in the fascist regime of our government that has taken over the once blissful days of democracy in the USA, women are being expected to shrink.  And the ones who think they have power, such as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, will wake up to see they are completely disposable if the men who truly hold power want them gone.  She has begun to get her boss Trump bad press through the endless defense of murders by ICE of innocent American citizens.  I do not feel sorry for her; all I can say is good luck on your job search Nazi Barbie!   

    You may have seen at this point that I am a “mad woman ” as Taylor Swift would sing on her Grammy winning album “Folklore.”  However, I encourage all my female readers to get mad, because our rights and freedoms are being taken away.  It may be obvious in some ways, but a lot of it is a steady sneaky campaign by the current administration to tame opinionated women such as myself.  So, this is my warning: resist!  Resisting must always be peaceful, but use your unique talents to make it effective!!  My way of resisting is to write.  In addition, I persist in prayer.  God is not indifferent to our struggles.  Active prayer is a powerful, yet peaceful, weapon.  I believe in a Higher Power who cares about our struggles, hears our petitions, and comes to our aid.  Please listen to my advice ladies: Do Not Shrink!!!  We will prevail in body, mind, spirit, and action!  Women must stand and not disappear!

    In Power and Peaceful Resistance, G.