Happy Friday!

Enjoy two articles, both of which I found genuinely inspiring, about women and their attitudes to their health and their bodies.

In our first article, Ashley Ford writes about how she felt about herself at 15, at college, and how she feels about herself now. Eating a loaf of bread for comfort certainly sounds like something I might have done, but I can’t be entirely sure. What about you? Where’s the weirdest place you’ve eaten an entire loaf of bread on the offchance that doing so would make you feel even a little a bit happier? Let’s share.

Fast forward to college, where I was engaged in an active battle with my body. It was clear to me, and the members of my family who commented on it, that my Freshman Fifteen was going to be closer to The Freshmen Thirty. Part of this was my homesickness, which literally had me riding the bus to the local Walmart to buy entire pans of the Hawaiian bread my grandma cooked with, and then eating the entire pan on the ride back to my dorm. After making some friends and starting on-campus counseling, I was eating better, working out, and feeling a lot less homesick. But the weight didn't come off.

http://www.elle.com/fashion/a29690/im-the-heaviest-ive-ever-been-and-i-just-bought-my-first-crop-top/

In the second article, Nina Mitchell (no relation, although it’s always great to see Mitchells doing well) writes about having a baby after a stroke. It sounds difficult, in case you thought the answer might be “it’s a total breeze, #live #love #life”:

It’s OK that my stroke put physical limits on certain elements of motherhood. I know many moms who try to do everything, especially at first, and then wonder why they are miserable. The fact that I knew in advance that there would be limits made these choices easier.

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a9167612/stroke-survivor-motherhood-pregnancy/

Enjoy your weekend!

Alex.