Julia Roberts told one of the Entertainment TV shows that she insisted on being awake for the long, lugubrious process of having forty pounds added onto her for one of her roles (she plays her star sister's assistant in that John Cusack film, the name escapes me.) She said something along the lines that she would have been mortified/petrified to wake up and suddenly find herself fat. That's one of the advantages, says I, of having been chubby as a youngster, having put on a few extra with each child and gradually becoming more fully myself--or perhaps more accurately, more fully of myself--over time. I look in the mirror and there's no desperation. No loathing. Just myself as I've come to know and love me.
Some of these pounds are my birthright, and the rest, well, let's just say I worked hard for these extra pounds. I'm healthy (thank God), I exercise, I eat right (mostly) and, blush, people tell me I look good (and if anything, it's that I look good enough, which is enough.)
So fast-forward to Julia post-twins, Kate Hudson, Britney etc. etc.: who are back to the gyms nano-seconds after giving birth. I remember the fog after giving birth of one of survival mode, in which I was up and down all night long, sleeping when my kids slept, forgetting to comb my hair, let alone do something like take a walk or, gasp, go to the gym--for hours?
And I say, okay...so some (no, many) of us have hit our 50's with a few extra pounds--and the kind of soft, squishy relationship with her husband, friends and grown kids and growing grandkids that came about because we wanted to invite them to dinner, and not make a big deal about only eating the salad. We wanted to hold our children while they slept, instead of running off to the gym. We wanted to sit on the floor and divide the Halloween candy, etc. etc. We weren't "indulgent" or "lazy" or anything else that Julia equates with those extra pounds. We had different priorities. And so, a salute to you and a salute to me: may we wear our priorities proudly! So, enjoy the stuffing this Thanksgiving...(the next diet starts the day after Thanksgiving.)
Carol Orsborn