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Pages and Tunes

Making Peace with Your Thighs

by Dr. Linda Mintle
©2006 by Dr. Linda Mintle. Published by Integrity Publishers

Weight obsession and physical fitness are national pastimes—billions of dollars are spent on diet and exercise products, and voyeuristic plastic surgery makeover programs are gaining popularity. But Linda Mintle insists that, when it comes to our bodies, we need to turn myth into reality: the perfectly sculpted body does not exist!

Dr. Mintle, familiar to many as the resident expert on ABC Family Channel’s Living the Life, has counseled numerous women who struggle with body image. The problem with body image, she asserts, is that it is based on our overall feelings about ourselves—feelings that, as we all know, cannot be trusted because they’re not necessarily based on reality. The good news is that those feelings—and our body image—can be changed.

The first step is recognizing we struggle to accept our bodies because our perceptions are distorted. Adam and Eve’s view of their nakedness changed drastically when they sinned. Though they were still outwardly beautiful, their perception was immediately distorted.

When we try to deal with distorted images of ourselves apart from God, we won’t be successful. Like Eve, we listen to voices around us who don’t have our best interests in mind—voices that feed our self-deception. Only God, our Designer, is capable of covering our distorted perceptions with truth.

Entire chapters are devoted to the “usual suspects” that spawn dissatisfaction: breasts, stomachs, faces and fannies. Mintle sensitively addresses those who may have suffered abuse or grown up with unstable parents, recognizing that weight acceptance in those instances is much more complicated. Bulimia and anorexia are discussed, as well as a condition that may be new for many readers: body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People with BDD exhibit a heightened obsession with their appearance, and try to hide their imagined ugliness.

Finally, the appendix offers a helpful list of warning signs of anorexia and bulimia.

Mintle quotes C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity to make a powerful point: “Until you have given up your self to Him, you will not have a real self.” She points out that your real self is the one that God defines—and that we need to fix our eyes on Him, rather than on perceived flaws or imperfections.

PATTY KENNEDY is assistant web content editor for the national Women’s Ministries Department. She also writes book and music reviews for Pages and Tunes, a free e-newsletter provided by the national Women’s Ministries Department.

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