Living in So Cal is tough on non- skinny gals

iwanttobehawt2

Anyone from So Cal here on the same journey as me?

PirateJenny

I was born in Long Beach and raised in Los Angeles and I lived in San Diego for over 20 years, but I am living in Washington (state) right now.

While I was in California I was much thinner than I am now (long story) but I caught more crap about my weight. I mean, people yelling stuff from car windows while I was out running and insulting me to my face if I went out to clubs. I am 5'7" and was generally between 135-140 pounds and very physically active, so I was reasonably toned. I don't think it helped that I didn't fit the "California Girl" image in other ways. I wear glasses, am pale (as in sun allergy pale) and dye my (strawberry blonde) hair dark colors. I was also in the music industry, so that is a whole other level of craziness about appearance. I also found that rail thin = beautiful for many people, despite fitness level or other physical attributes.

Since I moved here I have seen more women of different shapes and sizes wearing what they want, when they want to. There is still an amount of negative feelings shown towards people who are heavy, but it is far less than what I experienced there.

smittycat1234

I have never lived in California but I visited friends that lived in LA several years ago. I was astonished. I am from Missouri and was never happy with my weight but I never had anyone comment on how I looked or make fun of me. When I was in LA I couldn't buy anything! I normally wear a large in things like t-shirts but a large in LA was literally what would have passed as an X-small in Missouri. I don't think my self-esteem could possibly survive living there though it was a very nice place to visit. Good luck...I feel your pain.

makena78

I live near Long Beach. You're right, it is tough being overweight here. I was always that skinny girl who never worked out and could eat whatever. That changed when I had kids, then it just got tough and stressful to stick to any diet plan since I wasn't used to dieting. But, I'm really determined to lose something this time. I'll throw a party if I can just lose 10lbs at this point. Feel free to add me to your friends list if you want. I'm a newbie here. anyway good luck.

Cytherea

So true! I live in LA. The "image" is pretty crazy out here. I never really went shopping much before I had lost some weight; I used to hate when friends came out to visit and they wanted to go to all the fancy upscale shops and try on expensive clothes just for fun. I basically just stood there and watched. I've never really been ridiculed much, luckily, but I think that may be because I don't really go out all that often- I don't go to a gym (I have a mini-gym in my apartment complex), I don't run/walk on the streets for exercise, and I don't go to the typical places where the rail thin girls are (clubs, restaurants, etc.). Feel free to add me as a friend if you want some local support!

sculptcha

Lucky for me (I guess you could say it's lucky) I don't live in LA proper, or a beach town or a really rich area, where you typically find all the girls with unbelievable bodies in droves, so it's not as difficult. And I don't have a gym membership, so I don't have to deal with that either. If I go to those places, however, obviously I feel very self-conscious, which is why I don't often go to those places.

I don't even bother going into clothing stores when I'm shopping on Melrose or around there. Most stores only have sizes 0-5, sometimes even 0-3. Once when I was in high school I went shopping in Santa Monica. I was a lot thinner then, but not small (I was probably a size 10 or so). There were some skirts with elastic waists on a rack outside that I thought were cute, which drew me into the store, but as soon as I walked in, the sales girl suggested I try another store with "more selection" (which meant larger sizes) and she was clearly disgusted that she was forced to talk to me. That's really the only nightmare story I have regarding being non-skinny in socal, besides just generally feeling self-conscious in public. I try not to put myself in embarrassing situations like that anymore by avoiding the tiny size shops. That's frustrating and disheartening in itself, of course. So yeah, I feel your pain too.