"Am I thin enough? Am I thin enough?" This question has been driving me nuts since I hit puberty, and this is the picture of my belly above. This is my belly after having two kids. This is my belly at being 40. That's thin enough, right? Nope. Apparently not. I'm still under control of the messages that have been drilled into my head.

The message I heard from my mother was about the value of being pretty, and by being pretty she meant thin. She wanted me to become a model, and models are scary thin, but it didn't matter what you did to your body. The important part was to make money being thin and pretty, either by working as a waking clothes hanger or by marrying a wealthy man who, naturally, wouldn't marry you if you were fat.