Yes I am happy with my in general body.

Sure I am nit-picky about low slung boobs, saggy upper arms.. but in general I know that I am extremely lucky.

I am flexible, slim with zero cardio. I have very little muscle mass but I am small boned and light and not afraid to jump, run, bend ... do anything. At 56 , and after four children and years of breast feeding... I have won the lotto. BUT you know, I am the oldest of seven and all five of the my sisters are the same way, same non-athletic but slim build. It may have something to do with who your grandfather was... and who can control this ? Nobody now. It is what it is...

Clothes fit me- right off the rack... and although I have always taken this for granted, NOW I know it is a present.

IF I do complain, I am immediately chastised- which I hate. Everyone else can complain... I do ... it is dead silence or someone tells me to be quiet. Unfair... so I keep my body insecurities to myself. We are women... we ALL have them... look at the media and what is held up as the standard. It is non-attainable.

I do see enviable figures out there... but I am OK with my lot in life.

I'm generally happy, as I am able to fit into off-the-rack clothing most of the time, and I am in very good general health. What I'm not happy about is the chronic pain I have to endure.

I am happy with my body. It is fitter and stronger than it has ever been before. It has helped grow and birth two beautiful boys. There are areas I would like to work on but I am trying very hard to appreciate my body for what it is, rather than focus on what I would like it to be.

I wouldn't say I am happy with my body but I am most of the time OK with it. I have always struggled with my weight but have managed to keep it pretty consistent so I think this is just who I am. I'm 54 and trying to get used to wrinkles and sags that weren't there before. And I know when I am working out regularly and eating better I feel a lot better in general so I try to do that.

Love the poem Ladonna posted!

And I appreciate those of you who admit you have it a little easier because genetically you fit the accepted norm. It's nice to hear that you understand that it isn't easy for everyone but I also get that you may also have your own issues to deal with.

I am very happy with my body. However, I'm 63 and this hasn't always been the case. I was raised by a mother who, to this day, has a serious eating disorder and a very poor body image. It has taken me years to actually realize this, and unfortunately her issues were passed along to me. Fortunately, I have always been active, a bit of a tomboy really, and that has kept me healthy and trim. Also, my diet has always included fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Growing up, my weight has always been fine, but my mother convinced me I needed to lose weight, even though I was never overweight.

Only in my 50s did I come to actually begin to appreciate my body, and give up on being elusively "thin". My body is toned from daily running or swimming, and my posture is good due to my yoga practice. I'm in better shape than a lot of 30 year olds. I can run 6 miles or swim a mile easily. At one time, I thought that if an article of clothing didn't look good on me, it was my fault. Now, I only buy things that fit and look great. If they don't, it's not meant for me!

I echo much of what Linda said. My mom passed her body image issues on to me, and I also married two men who criticized my body all the time (because, I guess, I thought that people who love you tell you that your body isn't good enough -- crazy!).

These days I'm pretty darned happy with my body, after a lifetime of serious body issues! I struggled with my weight beginning at age 9, and six years ago I had weight-loss surgery that was really life-changing for me. I love that I can walk into a store and find clothes to fit, I love that I can ride my bike 30-plus miles, I love that I can crush it at the gym. As I get older (I'm 57 now) I am so, so grateful that I'm still reasonably fit and agile and active. And I'm engaged to a lovely man who loves my body just the way it is, which has been incredibly healing. I have bits I'm not crazy about, but generally I'm feeling okay about my body at last.

I'm pretty happy in spite of having gained weight. I love Staysfit's response - yes, I'm happy with my brain!

I've always liked my body, even as a teenager, but I suspect my liking has a great deal to do with my measuring stick.

Since my broad shouldered IT body shape never fit conventional feminine norms, I've always been more interested in clothing it for a functional, active lifestyle than for fashion. I suspect this focus insulated me from a lot of the body image angst which was rampant in my peers. I was also lucky enough to marry a man who admired my strength, fitness, and endurance. As the sole female in a family of males, I could keep up with them and enjoy the activities they enjoyed.

It was only in my forties, when I had more time to spend with my girlfriends and to play with fashion, that I realized how out of step I was with prevailing female norms.. Most non-athletic clothes were not cut for my body--my shoulders were too wide, my arms and legs were too muscular, my waistline was too large and in the "wrong" place, my feet were too large--the list of ways my body wasn't "right" was so alarming it was almost laughable. And, as if that wasn't enough, the first signs of aging were starting to appear.

I honestly think it was the overwhelming number of ways my body wasn't going to fit into prevailing norms of feminine beauty that made me just turn away from the whole cultural expectations thing. I had zero interest in re-shaping and re-designing a functional body I had enjoyed inhabiting for almost half a century just to fit some arbitrary notion of feminine beauty.

By my standards, I'm just fine as I am--and my liking extends to the signs of aging I'm seeing as the years pile on. I'm more interested in keeping my body strong and flexible than I am with fighting wrinkles and cellulite.

Staysfit, you are a lovely person. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Puts it all in perspective.

I'm happy with my body, yes. Do I think it's perfect? No. But it is a pretty amazing and resilient gift.

I see body appearance and function as two very different things. I'm not going to carry on about appearance here -especially after Angie's forum post yesterday- so re: body function and ability ? You bet I am happy. The only thing I regret is that I can't run or do anything high impact anymore due to a permanent knee cartilage issue. But I am very very happy with my strength, athletic ability , coordination , and overall health. I am so mindful of that part because of what my own mom had to deal with (a degenerative muscular disease that had no cure) starting when she was about my age. So I am pretty darn thankful every day of the week that I have a high-functioning body with really strong legs, shoulders and arms. I can hit a golf ball really well, hit a tennis ball really well, bike at a high speed for ages, walk forever, haul things around in my garden (I pulled a crappy old Juniper bush out by the roots last week !) , push stuff around, lift my bike high over my head etc etc. And I will NEVER take that stuff for granted. I work for it, and appreciate it.

What Lisa said. I am actually writing what is turning out to be an Atlantic length essay to express my thoughts on all the recent body posts. But as far as function, I can climb, hike, ski, surf and hopefully get back to mountain biking again. I look at my body the way I do my house - there's always something that needs painting, fixing or maintenance, but would I move out altogether at this point? I don't think so.

OK, now I'm seriously fascinated. How can body appearance and functionality be two very different things?

I understand the social benefits which accrue from being aesthetically pleasing to others, but to see that quest as being separate from functionality seems to be rather unworkable unless you have a very particular lifestyle where form is everything. For the rest of us, as Staysfit so eloquently puts it, form needs to be balanced by functionality to live a full and satisfying life.

Which, to me, is the point Angie is making. Focusing on form to the point where we get depressed or miserable tips the scales too far. It's fine to work towards an aesthetically pleasing appearance as long as the aesthetic is of MY choosing and doesn't relegate function to the sidelines.

We are human beings with lives and families who operate in a myriad of settings and responsibilities, not static works of art.

Gaylene, I have an idea of what Lisa means: our clothes and shape and style don't always match our self-image or abilities. A dear friend of mine is, as she would put it, of stocky Teutonic build and shaped like a barrel. She has fought against it with diet and exercise, but there's nothing she can do to change her basic build, any more than I can change my shoulders. Point being, she can more than keep up with the rest of my intimidatingly fit friends and kick our butts at certain activities like biking or weight-lifting. She finds it very insulting (as do I!) when people talking about their latest athletic feats- which is what people do here - don't think to include her because she doesn't resemble their idea of a mountain biker or rock climber.

This happens to me sometimes too - fit young things look at me and see an "older" Indian woman, with all the stereotypical connotations that brings (I can list them if you want, but they are not me). It's that cognitive dissonance between how we look and what we can do, both with outsiders and in our own minds.

I will add my voice to those who are perfectly happy with their bodies. Its not perfect...but that is not the point. It is perfectly capable.

I have to say I am not "proud" of my body because I have never had to work on it - I am proud of my poor brain because it has worked very very hard these last few years. I am proud of the effort it has been willing to put in. Proud of the times it has been willing to bravely face difficulties...knowing full well that it will take months to heal from the damage the "difficulty" will do. Proud that it is still willing to work tirelessly towards health.

As I said, I always had a nice figure, which is purely genetic. And I would look in the mirror and say, "Hello Gorgeous" when I got dressed.

About a year ago I twisted my back and I could barely walk for a few weeks. The pain was excruciating. Then a few months ago I got a swollen nerve on my foot and could hardly stand for 2 days. Ever since then, whenever I looked into the mirror to get dressed, after saying "Hello Gorgeous" I would do a few stretches, leg lifts, whatever, and think, "YES!" So now I not only am grateful for my body once a day in the morning, I get a thrill every time I get back from a walk, a jog, gardening, playing with kids, etc etc etc.

I like my body because it is attractive. I love it because it works.

OK, I get the external cognitive dissonance, but I kind of enjoy smashing those smug preconceptions. Blowing by a youngster on a black diamond run and whipping off my googles to get a better look at the consternation on his face when he sees my 65+ face makes me unreasonably happy.

I can see how the internal fight, though, is more troubling. Still, it strikes me that part of coming to know my own worth is know how to pick the measuring sticks that have meaning for me instead of assuming I share those of others--and that includes family and friends.

It has taken me a long time to figure out how I'm going to reply to this. How much do I divulge? So here goes. I was treated for an eating disorder in my late teens. I won't get into why it developed in the first place, but by age 19 what I saw in the mirror (fat) did not agree with what everyone else saw (skeleton). So far, so familiar. By 23 I had the warped body image sorted out, but the voice inside that repeatedly reminds me to prove that I am worthy never really goes away. I've had a lifetime to practice fighting it, though, and I've got pretty good at silencing it.

Ironically, at middle age, just when the signs of aging are starting to appear, my body image is actually really good -- the best it has ever been. And with all the disease and death that has touched the people in my life lately, I am profoundly grateful for the fact that my body has not yet betrayed me. Everything still works.

One thing that's worth pointing out. If you go from ugly duckling to pretty swan, and enjoy a huge boost in popularity because of it: it's very hard not to base your whole self-worth on your appearance. I think if you have a good solid family behind you, and you are sure of their unconditional love, the self-worth comes from inside and you'll be OK. But if you're insecure to begin with, becoming beautiful does not make you a happier person. It makes you believe that being beautiful is the most important thing.

I'm not sure *happy* is the right word, but at age 63 I'm definitely more at peace with my body and when things stop working or working as well I'm definitely more appreciative of what works.

Because of this forum, I no longer take for granted that I have a somewhat defined waist. I no longer take for granted that menopause didn't cause me to gain weight and that I am about the same weight I was as a teenager. I no longer take for granted that I am the same size on top and bottom which means it is easier for me to find a fit than my extremely IT DD-22. I no longer take for granted that I rarely have to worry about a skirt, dress, or pants/jeans being too short, because after all it is easier to shorten garments than to lengthen them.

I don't go to a gym; I go to a track, or at least I did before I had to wear this darn boot. Maybe I would feel unhappy if I went to a gym? I certainly don't compare my body to those of 20-somethings, 30-somethings, and 40-somethings; just a different ballgame. And I try not to compare at all because I think it's a real buzzkill.

Definitely, age has given me perspective. Plus, I think YLF has enabled me to out-style all those age groups!!!

Gaylene, I enjoy it too, especially in the climbing gym when a 17 year old boy's jaw drops at a move I can make. I'm a rebel and iconoclast at heart, and I love challenging people's assumptions and biases.

But explaining who I am to people over and over can get exhausting, just as for my friend, getting people to realize that she knows how to tie an anchor or ride single track becomes frustrating.