Golda Poretsky's Blog, page 24
August 2, 2011
Staycation Skin Stuff
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Key West sunset (taken by yours truly a few years ago)
Alas, I haven't gotten away much this summer. I've mostly done staycationy stuff, like the occasional trip to local beaches and last minute outdoor music explorations.
I know… this is not very exciting.
However, because I've been writing these skin care posts for a while now, I have a ton of Eucerin products to keep my skin safe when I'm not even thinking about it.
Because I'm one of those people who likes to go to the beach around 5PM when everyone's leaving already, the 30 spf Eucerin moisturizer I use seems to protect me just fine!
Eucerin Everyday Protection Face SPF 30 4oz (Part Of Prize Pack)
Want to see what I'm talking about and win some Eucerin swag of your own? It's easy!
Go to the Eucerin Facebook Page take the Skin First Pledge and tell us what adventures you went on this summer and how you protected your skin.
Leave a comment below (with a valid email address) and a winner will be picked at random from the commenters on August 30th. The winner will receive Eucerin Everyday Protection Face SPF 30 and Body SPF 15 Lotions, Car Sun Shade, Travel Neck Pillow, and Luggage Tags.
Happy swagging!
Full Disclosure: I'm receiving Eucerin products (for my readers and me). The thoughts and opinions, however, that I share in this post are strictly my own and are not influenced by receipt of these products.
Staycation Skin Stuff originally appeared on on August 2, 2011.
August 1, 2011
Body Love And The Inner Peace Movement
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast of this post here.
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A few days ago, I recorded an interview with Sharon Crawford for The Spiritual Path To Food And Body Freedom Summit (feel free to check out it out here). I was asked to speak about Health At Every Size(SM), and bring that different perspective to the summit. I talked about all of the benefits of HAES(SM) of course, but I also went off on some well-worn tangents and some totally new ones (at least for me).
I found myself talking about body acceptance as a major peace movement of our century, and I truly think that it is.
Per Buddha "Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without." (Image courtesy of voluptuart.com)
In our culture, we learn to wage war on our bodies. We fight the battle of the bulge (not the WWII version), we fight our fat, fight our hunger. We strive for control over the size our bellies and thighs. We use chemical warfare (diet pills), surgical strikes (weight loss surgery, liposuction). I can't tell you how many clients have said to me that they've fantasized about cutting off the fat from their bodies. Maybe you can relate to that concept.
This is a war without end, a war that neither your body or your mind can ever win. So the question becomes, how do you end the suffering?
I think that the only way to end the suffering is to make peace.
It may be that neither side really gets what it wants. Your mind is going to have to live with the fact that your body is never going to look like [insert actor/model here, and plus sized models count]. Your body is going to have to live with the fact that your mind's inner critic is going to crop up every once in a while. But that's the reality of peace — it's not always easy. That's why it's called making peace. It takes some work.
So my tip for this week is to actively envision your body and mind making peace. Imagine them coming to the table. Maybe there are some things that need to be hashed out. Perhaps some apologies are in order. And then, imagine both parties committing to peace. Imagine your body and mind living in harmony, in mutual respect and admiration. When discord strikes, practice bringing yourself back into a state of peace. Take a deep breath and envision, hear, and/or feel that state of peace return.
What might happen if you actually practiced holding this place of peace within you? How would you feel? How would relate to others? How might it affect your food choices, your body movement choices, your life choices? Now imagine that everyone around you started to do this. How might it impact the world?
I can't wait to see.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in empowering plus sized women to own their bodies and their beauty. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/free to get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
And, for support with loving your body and amping up your attraction factor, check out Golda's 21-day Body Love Makeover Attraction Program. It starts next week!
Body Love And The Inner Peace Movement originally appeared on on August 1, 2011.
July 25, 2011
The Body Love Reflex
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast of this post here!
I think it's about time that I share another vaguely embarrassing story with you!
Last week, I took a moment to indulge in my latest self care obsession — mani/pedis. There's something so lovely and pleasantly mindless about picking out nail polish color, dunking your feet in warm water, and watching the Food Network out of the corner of your eye with a bunch of your neighbors.
Image From A 1936 Issue of Cosmo (Seriously!)
The woman who usually does my nails, Anne, is Korean and doesn't speak all that much English, so most of our exchanges are of the "nice color!" and "it's hot out" variety. But the last time I went, as she was massaging lotion into my hands, some of the lotion got on my arm, accentuating my arm hair. So she pointed at my arms and asked, "Wax arms?"
Now admittedly, even in my worst moments of negative body image, the hair on my arms wasn't really a focus. Though I distinctly remember a time in my teens when I was worried about my arm hair. I even remember being a 14 year old camp counselor, sitting in a circle with other female camp counselors and distractedly noticing the color and volume of their arm hair. I determined in that moment that while I had more arm hair than most girls, that it wasn't enough to really be noticeable. Back then, I had bigger body hatred fish to fry, like my overall fatness. If I could just get thinner, I thought back then, body hair stuff would be less important.
Even so, twenty years later, I was rather excited and a little surprised by the words that rolled out of my mouth when Anne threw out the "wax arms?" question. I simply said, "No, thanks. I know my arms are a little hairy, but they're mine and like them."
They're mine and I like them? It was amazing to hear myself say that.
Most of the time body acceptance is such an internal game, a practice of dealing with your inner critic, changing your inner dialogue, working through painful thoughts and feelings. It takes a lot of work to go from the reflex of body hatred and criticism to body love and acceptance. So it felt so good to realize that body love is a reflex for me, and one that I can really express and share with the outside world even when potential triggers get thrown my way.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever had your body love reflexes kick into gear?
Here are just a few blog posts to get your body love muscles flexing.
And, if you want support to strengthen your body love reflexes, amp up your attraction factor, and practice love and dating from a place of self love? If this sounds like fun, check out my new 21-day Body Love Makeover Attraction Program and I'll see you in class!
The Body Love Reflex originally appeared on on July 25, 2011.
July 22, 2011
Charity Drive For NAAFA!
Happy Friday!
I'm going to be taking part in the Lingerie Loves Your Curves Charity Blogathon in a few weeks.
The blogathon is an effort to "bombard the internet" with size positive stuff and raise money for NAAFA, so as much as the "curvy" euphemism drives me bonkers, I'm up for it.
About Curves put this together because:
Women are bombarded every day with messages that they are not beautiful enough. About Curves is fighting back with a "Lingerie Loves Your Curves" charity drive. This two-week "blogathon" event is dedicated to size acceptance and self-acceptance based on the philosophy of health at every size. Let's fight back against industries that make money from women's lack of self-esteem, and share our stories so that we can help empower women everywhere. Let's celebrate our curves!
If you'd like to get involved, you can:
Click the banner above to donate.
Put a banner on your website or blog.
Spread the word through Twitter and Facebook .
Or if you are a fellow blogger, join the blogathon. Dates for post and possible topics can be found here!
Charity Drive For NAAFA! originally appeared on on July 22, 2011.
July 18, 2011
I'm Dating Myself Again . . . Literally
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast of this post here!
Yum! Capuccino Date. (Image Courtesy Of Flickr)
I'm bringing back one of my favorite posts this week. Read the magic of dating yourself as a way of upping your self care and amplifying your attraction factor. Enjoy!
Recently, I had the pleasure of going to a lovely dinner with my friend (let's call her Amanda). The subject turned to the topic of dating. She told me how, about a year ago, she had wanted to meet a guy but wasn't meeting anyone who piqued her interest, so she decided to start dating herself. In essence, she decided to be her own lover. She would take herself out to restaurants that she had been dying to go to, she would buy herself flowers, write herself love letters, make beautiful dinners for herself, and enjoy sensual time with herself. She so enjoyed dating herself that she ended up attracting a really great relationship in a matter of months. She joked that she was in a polyamorous relationship — her primary relationship was with herself and her secondary relationship was with her boyfriend.
What I loved about Amanda's story was that she kept dating herself even though she now had a boyfriend because the benefits of dating herself were so great.
So what are some of the benefits of dating yourself?
Dating yourself allows you to get in touch with what you really want in relationships. It allows you to connect with how you want to be loved, how you want to be touched, how much space you need, etc.
Dating yourself allows you to see how much you have and how much you are able to fulfill your own desires, without relying on someone else to do it for you. In essence, you realize your completeness.
Dating yourself allows you to assert boundaries in your relationships in an easy and loving way. Sometimes it's easier to say, "I need to go on a date with myself" than "I need to be left alone".
Dating yourself allows you to spend time enjoying the sensual pleasure of your body, which is so healing in terms of body acceptance (and so wonderful nonetheless)!
If you are looking for a relationship, dating yourself gives yourself a reminder of how it feels to be dating. And, as you may have found, people often get more attention from potential lovers when they're already in a relationship. Therefore, dating yourself can actually make you more attractive because you're already in a relationship.
In the work that I do, I often find that different techniques work for different people when it comes to increasing their sense of self love and well being. If dating yourself sounds like fun to you, I encourage you to do it! In order to support you, answer these questions and start acting on your answers. Your lover is waiting!
What kinds of communication would you like to get from the person you're dating? (Consider: sexy text messages, love letters, loving voice mails.)
Where would you like to go on dates? (Consider: restaurants, movies, museums, parks, boatrides, at home.)
What kind of gifts would you like to get from a lover? (Consider: flowers, books, clothes, jewelry.)
What kind of sensual experiences would you like to have with a lover? (Experiment with exploring your body. There are some great books on this topic.)
What would you like to wear on these dates? (Consider: dressing up, lingerie, perfume, makeup, hair.)
How do you like to set the mood for myself? (Consider: music, baths, self massage.)
Have fun with this. Do the things that sound pleasurable to you and forget about the things that don't. And remember, the first rule of the Body Love Club is it's all research.
Finally, the idea of fulfilling your own desires doesn't have to be limited to dating yourself. Pick a desire that you feel you need someone else to fulfill, and try to fulfill it yourself, even in a small way. For example, if you're looking for a new job, perhaps you want to pay yourself for a task that you do, just to get the feeling into your body of being paid for different work.
As always, let me know how it goes!
And… please join me for my FREE TELECLASS THIS WEDNESDAY: The Rules Of FATtraction: Body Love For Better Dating! I'll be sharing even more flirtation tips, ways to change how you feel about your body, and so much more! To check it out or register, click here: http://www.bodylovewellness.com/2011/07/10/the-rules-of-fattraction-body-love-for-better-dating-new-free-teleclass/
Looking for more support with intuitive eating and getting off diets? Click here to sign up for your FREE Body Love Wellness Consultation.
I'm Dating Myself Again . . . Literally originally appeared on on July 18, 2011.
July 11, 2011
Five Tips For Fat Positive Flirting
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast of this post here:
I used to be convinced that I didn't know how to flirt. I thought that flirting was some weird thing that involved being super-coquettish and devastatingly charming.
From A Flirtation Manual Circa 1900
But I've learned that the thing that I thought of as flirting is just one way of flirting. In reality, there are many ways to flirt, all of them valid, all of them worthy. Connecting with and owning your flirting methods may be all that it takes to flirt your way into the heart of the person of your dreams.
I know what you may be thinking. Flirting as a fatty may be different than regular ole flirting. For one, what if the object of your flirtation isn't into fat people? Could you be taking a huge risk in flirting with someone before vetting them as someone who finds your body attractive?
The truth is, flirting does entail some risk, no matter what your size. By flirting, you're putting yourself out there as someone who finds your flirtee worthy of flirtation. But without risk there is no reward, and the rewards of flirting are great, from just having a way better time in social situations to meeting a really wonderful partner.
So I'd like to share five of my Fat Flirtation Tips with you now. (And by the way, these work just as well with non-fatties!)
1) Identify Your Flirtation Style — It's not all about batted eyelashes, unless you want it to be. I want you take a moment to think of yourself when you are your most charming. Think of a recent conversation with someone, anyone, where you felt in your element, and you enjoyed talking to and/or listening to the other person. Were you bowling them over with your humor, quietly conversing about foreign politics, being an amazing listener? Those skills that you have in connecting with others can be the basis for your totally hot flirtation style.
2) Get Clear On Your Flirtation Assumptions– Assumptions can really burn your ass when it comes to flirting. Do you assume that only certain men or women, of a certain age, certain build, certain profession, etc. will be into you? If you believe that, you will find it again and again. If those particular characteristics are attractive to you, then sticking with your assumptions won't hurt. But if you find yourself attracted to someone who doesn't fit the type that you think will be into you, your assumptions will keep you from going for it. So it's important to identify your assumptions and then drop 'em.
Frédéric Soulacroix "Flirtation" (courtesy of wiki images)
I recommend writing them out and then shredding them or burning them in the sink. Make it really clear to yourself that your assumptions are not going to control your choices anymore.
3) Your Only Goal Is More Fun — The surest way to make flirting just another bit of drudgery on your to-do list is to make it about goals. Flirting isn't about getting a free drink or a date or a phone number or whatever. You may get all of that and more, but flirting is meant to be fun for you. The more you allow yourself to be in the moment, the more you allow yourself to have flirting be about fun, the more you will enjoy it, and the more you make room for whatever it is that you really desire.
4) Practice Makes Flirting Easier — Flirting with someone you're actually interested in is much easier when you've been practicing with friends and the dude at the coffee shop. Low stakes flirting as practice is really helpful.
5) Rejection Is Also A Gift – Fear of rejection is what keeps most people from flirting, but rejection of flirting isn't so bad when it actually happens. When someone rejects your flirtation, it's a gift, a reminder that you shouldn't waste your wonderful flirtation on this person, and that it's time to move on. The more you flirt, the less you even notice rejection — you're just having too much fun. That is the power of flirting!
What's your flirtation style? Let me know in the comments below!
And… please join me for my next FREE TELECLASS: The Rules Of FATtraction: Body Love For Better Dating! I'll be sharing even more flirtation tips, ways to change how you feel about your body, and so much more! To check it out or register, click here: http://www.bodylovewellness.com/2011/07/10/the-rules-of-fattraction-body-love-for-better-dating-new-free-teleclass/
Five Tips For Fat Positive Flirting originally appeared on on July 11, 2011.
July 10, 2011
The Rules Of FATtraction: Body Love For Better Dating — New Free Teleclass
Do you feel unattractive at your current size? Are you putting off dating until you lose weight? Do you have a lover or significant other but find that you avoid or dislike getting intimate because you dislike your body?
Wouldn't it be awesome to move through the pain and shame of body hatred, so that you can really enjoy the fun and pleasure of flirting, dating, and sex?
In this free teleclass, Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. (founder of Body Love Wellness and leading authority on body love and Health At Every Size) will share her top techniques for feeling sexy and upping your attraction factor at any size– the same ones she shares with her private coaching clients.
You'll walk away from this call with surprisingly powerful, yet simple techniques for turning up your attraction and pleasure factor.
Here's what you'll learn:
The biggest mistake that women make in trying to be more attractive
How to increase your attraction factor in 10 seconds or less
Easy ways to start loving parts of your body that you dislike now
How to connect with your inner flirt
Loads of dating tips from a plus-size perspective
And so much more!
Whether you're in a relationship or not, you'll get at least 3 BIG insights into how to turn up your attraction factor that you'll be able to use immediately!
Yes, Golda, please sign me up for this exciting FREE Teleclass on "The Rules Of FATtraction" on July 20th at 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific.
Send me the details at my email address below.
Name
Please note, upon registration, you will also receive a complimentary subscription to the Body Love Wellness Newsletter. We will not share, rent or sell your information to any other organization.
The Rules Of FATtraction: Body Love For Better Dating — New Free Teleclass originally appeared on on July 10, 2011.
July 5, 2011
You Don't Need More Self Control (Independence Day Edition!)
Cover Art For The Gossip's Single "Standing In The Way Of Control" (courtesy of wikipedia)
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast of this post here:
Podcast Powered By Podbean
How often do you hear or say phrases like this?
"My eating is so out of control."
"If I could just get my weight under control . . ."
"I'm really bad at portion control."
"I just have no self control."
Often in my first session with a client, they describe a lack of control as being one of their biggest problems. We all learn to talk in terms of control. We all learn that our bodies are out of control, our eating is out of control, our self control is out of control. And so we think that what we need is more control.
What if I were to say that control is not the answer at all? What if the reason that all of these things felt out of control was a result of trying to control things?
What if relinquishing control were actually the answer?
The concept of control is aligned with the masculine paradigm.* In this paradigm, we use things like control to try to guarantee a certain outcome. For example, dieting is a very masculine paradigm way of thinking. When we diet, we try to control our eating and exercising in order to control the desired outcome of losing weight. This may actually result in the desired outcome for a while, but over time it doesn't work, because control doesn't work. We can never control for everything. As much as we like to think that we can, we can't actually control our metabolism. The old "calories in/calories out" is an utter fallacy when it comes to the complex mechanism of our body.
Also, where there is control, there will eventually be rebellion. Where there is a diet there will eventually be a binge or "slip ups." And in the masculine paradigm, the answer to rebellion, or binges, or messing up a diet will always be more control. More control leads to a bigger rebellion, and the cycle continues.
But what if we stopped trying to control? Sounds scary, right? That's because we live in a society that glorifies the masculine paradigm, and we've all learned that without the stern master of control, everything will fall apart. There is some part of us that believes that if we stop trying to control our bodies, our food choices, our choices in general, that we will be shunned by society. There's a part of us that believes that if we let go of control, we'll gain a thousand pounds, wear a bikini to the office, and lose our friends and family. We've been told that control is good for us.
More control is not the answer. More control keeps you stuck.
You may be wondering, if control is part of the masculine paradigm, what might the feminine paradigm offer in its stead?
It offers trust. Self-trust and intuition.
Image courtesy of inspirationalboost.blogspot.com
From the feminine paradigm perspective, control is not needed, because you have your own internal guidance system. You have a system within you, a collaboration of body, mind and spirit, which guides you on everything from what to eat and how much, to how to approach a situation at work, to which person is best for you to date. You could call it intuition, or you could just call it you. It's that part of you that knows what to do, even when the outside world tells you that you don't. The more you trust this inner voice, this inner knowing, the more loud and clear it becomes. The more you act upon it, the less out of control you feel, because it was never about control in the first place.
So this week, in honor of Independence Day, ask yourself if there are any parts of your life that you want to try to control less. See how it affects your well-being, and tell me about it in the comments section below.
And by the way, if you're ready to stop trying to control emotional or compulsive eating patterns and really allow yourself to start healing, check out my How To Heal From Emotional Eating Home Study Program. It's only $97 through Sunday, July 10th at midnight Eastern. Click this link to get the special rate: http://www.healfromemotionaleating.com/independence.
*I realize that the terms "masculine paradigm" and "feminine paradigm" may be problematic. I'm using these terms to describe a duality of guiding principles for how people look at the world. In no way do I mean that all men are one way and all women another, or any of that. It has nothing to do with anyone's gender or identity. It's more to do with how an overabundance of one paradigm and a negating of the other is damaging to all of us.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
You Don't Need More Self Control (Independence Day Edition!) originally appeared on on July 5, 2011.
July 3, 2011
Taking Care Of Your Skin From The Inside
Mmmm... Berries & Cream
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
The good folks at Eucerin asked me to write about taking care of your skin from within this month, and I'm happy to oblige!
Taking care of your skin in the summer often means doing what comes naturally this time of year.
1) Rest – When it's hot out, it feels good to slow down. If you get some vacation time, try taking a siesta when the day is hottest, usually between 1PM and 3PM. Allow yourself to make time to take it easy, slow down, rest and sleep.
2) Add In Delicious Summer Fruit — Berries are a distinctively summer fruit, and aside from being delicious, they're also great for your skin. Fruit like blueberries and raspberries contain anti-oxidants that protect and support skin health.
3) Sweat!– Sweating gets a bad rap, but it's really good for you. It allows your skin to excrete the toxins and keeps you cool when the temperatures are high.
Eucerin Everyday Protection Face SPF 30 4oz (Part Of Prize Pack)
Want to win some Eucerin swag? It's easy!
Go to the Eucerin Facebook Page to take the pledge, join the movement and share tips on how you take care of your skin. Feel free to post pics of your favorite summer fruit preparations!
Leave a comment below (with a valid email address) and a winner will be picked at random from the commenters on July 31st. The winner will Everyday Protection Face SPF 30 and Body SPF 15 Lotions, a $25 Walmart Gift Card,Better Homes and Gardens Pie Pan, Apron and Oven Mitts. ($75 Value)
Happy swagging!
Full Disclosure: I'm receiving Eucerin products (for my readers and me). The thoughts and opinions, however, that I share in this post are strictly my own and are not influenced by receipt of these products.
Taking Care Of Your Skin From The Inside originally appeared on on July 3, 2011.
June 27, 2011
Profile In Flabulousness: Velvet D'Amour
Velvet D'Amour (used with permission)
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast of this post here:
Velvet D'Amour is a Renaissance woman in the truest sense. Born in Rochester, New York, Velvet went to Paris in her late 20′s to pursue dance and photography, and since then she has walked the runways of Paris (at age 39 and weighing around 300 pounds), been sought after by renowned photographers, appeared in French films, music videos and French, Swiss, and Japanese TV, and continued to take photographs for magazines. If you're here in the U.S., may know her as a judge on M'onique's Fat Chance, and from appearances on Entertainment Tonight, E News and CBS Sunday Morning. In 2010, Velvet was selected to participate in TF1's, La Ferme Celebritie (Celebrity Farm), where she made it through nine of the ten weeks living in the rough, caring for wild animals on a nature reserve in South Africa. Velvet raised over $73,000 for her chosen charity, SOS Enfants Disparus.
But Velvet's road to fat positive stardom wasn't paved with gold stars. In her late teens, she considered modeling. Weighing around 140 pounds, she was told by modeling scouts that she had the face for it but would have to lose weight. She went on a crash diet and managed to get down to 117 pounds, and was told again that she was too fat to model. "The more severely I dieted, the more fat I got," she said. "I'd have these big extremes of eating tons and then starving myself." Because she couldn't maintain the size she needed to be to please the modeling agencies, body hatred set in.
Velvet D'Amour at The Cannes Film Festival in 2010 (used with permission)
As it happens for many body positive folks, Velvet reached a turning point where she started to see her struggle to conform to beauty standards as a larger struggle. "I started questioning our ideals of beauty and why I hated fat and I why I didn't like looking fat. . . . The more I questioned it, the more rebellious I felt about it, the more I tried to find images that somehow related to how I looked and the more difficult it became [to find them]." Part of the reason why Velvet turned to photography was to help herself and others let go of our singular ideas around beauty. "We've evolved so much in society that we don't need to consistently leave people out. We can open up our ideal of beauty to be more accepting and find beauty in every individual." She thinks that one of the reason why fatness is so dreaded and derided in our society is that fat is often depicted as unsexy and non-seductive. "I started emulating photos that I would see in regular fashion magazines but using myself . . . and it ended up helping me and a lot of other people. I would try to make the images so seductive that you had to question something."
It was photography that led Velvet back into modeling nearly twenty years after her original foray. When the first plus sized modeling agency was opening in Paris, Velvet sent her photography portfolio, along with a picture of herself, saying that as a plus sized woman she knew how to make the models feel comfortable. But the agency wanted more pictures of her, eventually asking her to sign with them as a model. "I thought, this is crazy. I'm 39 years old, 300 pounds, and . . . I've gone through this really amazing journey of self-acceptance and now I'm kind of reaping the rewards of that."
Velvet D'amour (used with permission)
Velvet's way of styling herself and her models has a timelessness about it that I've always connected with. In photos she always seems to be inspired by different time periods, from pre-revolutionary France to a 1940′s pinup aesthetic. So I wasn't surprised when she brought up her interesting perspective on broadening beauty definitions. "Instead of honoring what the media's trying to sell us, why not honor the ancestors that have come before you? . . . . For me, thinking about how many people came before me was another way of thinking that I don't need to buy into someone else's idea of what 'pretty' is."
I asked Velvet about how 'pretty' is often limited in the plus sized community too, given that the plus sized models that seem to get the most work (like Crystal Renn and Ashley Graham) are often no larger than a size 12 and therefore don't even need to wear plus sized clothes. "Well, it was interesting. When I did Galliano and Gautier [runway shows] my expectation was that the plus community would be fully behind me and they were actually my most severe critics. . . . [There were] forums on how awful it was that I was on the runway, how I was promoting obesity, what joke it was, that I was dragging down the plus model industry, etc., etc. by being a genuinely fat person on the runway." But for Velvet, this just brings up how exclusionary the whole world of modeling is. "For me, it's just so much more global than plus sized women. . . . You'll never have an actual person in a wheel chair in a fashion magazine. Why is that? There are 90 year old women who are stunningly attractive but you'll never, or rarely, see them in a "women's" magazine. . . . It's 99.9% white women, not any other ethnicity. It's 99.9% very young people. So for my quest, it's about bringing diversity to fashion and all types of media."
Velvet with Dita Von Teese (used with permission)
As for the debate that having more fat people in media "promotes obesity," Velvet has this to say. "There's much more pressure put on [plus sized models] and it's a form of denying our right to be included in media by constantly using the health debate, where no other person is expected to discuss their health, nor should they be. . . . It's an utterly ludicrous notion that we as fat people aren't allowed in media, and if we are allowed in media, it's to berate us and tell us that we need to lose weight and have some thin person screaming over you. . . in order to be in their glorified circle of health."
If you're looking to connect with Velvet, she invites to join her Facebook page and check out her photography. Some of her upcoming projects include, a feature in Vogue Curvy, her inclusion in Valerie Berlin's burlesque art expo in NYC, a feature on Tellement Vrai (Popular French TV show), shooting for several plus magazines in UK and US, an appearance in an Axel Engstfeld documentary film for ARTE, as well as the release of several songs in which she sings lead vocals.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
Profile In Flabulousness: Velvet D'Amour originally appeared on on June 27, 2011.
