Photoshop and a (late) New Years Resolution

For years I've been reading articles and following blogs about body love. This blog is mostly full of fluff and pictures of Nola, but something happened in Vegas and I can't stop thinking about it. So, as the saying goes... 

What happens in Vegas, gets written about on your blog.

Rob and I got to Vegas around 2 our time, checked into the hotel, and walk next door to one of our favorite restaurants. While we were eating, a woman came over and took a souvenir picture of us. She came back at the end of our meal with the photos. When I looked at the pictures I realized that they had been Photoshopped to make my husband and I look thinner. 

I looked at her and said, "These have been Photoshopped."  

She said, "Just the colors, a little bit."   

I said, "These have been Photoshopped, I don't want them."

She took the pictures and left.  

This is what I should have said, "What makes you think that I need/want to be Photoshopped to look thinner? What is so wrong with my body that you felt the need to "fix" it?  It's things like this that make children go on diets because they don't fit the mold of what society thinks is pretty. Would you have Photoshoped a picture of a ninety-year-old? A teenager? A child? A cute little baby with chubby cheeks? Now go shred those pictures and bring me a free dessert."

Guess what lady?!?!? I like myself and I like my body. I like my body despite the fact that I have to shop exclusively in the plus size section. I like my body despite the fact that it doesn't look like the bodies I see in magazines. I like my body despite the fact that I still have a pouch where my now 3 year old use to live.

  And I'm not going to feel bad about myself because some chick at a restaurant (who sucks at Photoshop, BTW) thinks I should be thinner. 

My New Year's resolution, like so many others, is to be healthier. Not because I don't like what I see in the mirror but because I want to set a good example for Nola that you can be healthy and not be a size 2. Not everyone was created to be a size 2!!! Being healthy doesn't mean I don't like my body. For a long time I thought that losing weight would make people think that I didn't like who I was, but that's not true at all. And I really need to stop thinking about the opinion of others <---- resolution #2??

So, in 2015, do yourself a favor. Love the body you're in. Do something to make that body feel good. And don't let a soviner photographer in Vegas make you feel bad about yourself!!

And if she does, make her bring you a free dessert.