Rebel, Rebel

[BloodyWonder]

Hello all!

My name is Michelle. I'm a 24 year old actress currently living in Los Angeles. Do you know what will mess up your image really fast? Moving to LA. I've struggled with body weight and image issues for most of my adult life. I was an extremely skinny and active child and swam competitively until I was 14. Once I started high school I gave up swimming and focused on theatre that's when I started steadily gaining weight. At my lowest I was 120 and my highest was 180 at 21. My senior year of college I really started to kick my own ass and get in shape. I lost 20 pounds...before I was hit by a car. Cut to not being able to work out and doing physical therapy for a year and I still managed to lose another 10-15. For the past couple of years I've pretty much stayed between 135-150 pounds. Right now I've settled in at 145.

My big emotional hang up over losing weight is that I already get a lot of unwanted attention from men. Can I say that I'm a beautiful woman without sounding vain? To me, it's like if I lose the rest of the weight I feel like I'm going to be left vulnerable to being attacked which is crazy because if I was fit and in shape I'd be able to defend myself better, right? I really want to become a lean, mean, fighting machine like my heroes Buffy and Xena. Actually, it's my dream to play Xena if the series ever gets rebooted.

I've never really been good at the whole having support and backup thing. I'm really hoping to make new friends on here and find someone who can help me kick my ass when I need it.

Cheers!

[MandyM]

Hi Michelle, welcome ! I hope you stay with us.. and well, i though that i was the only fan of the Warrior Princess, but fortunately i'm not! =)

And it's amazing that you come to lose these 30 pounds!

[Laureleye]

Hi Michelle. I live in Burbank, so we're neighbors. I think that a lot of that attention isn't just about how you look, its about what you project. There is actually a long thread about this in the women's forum. Get in shape and think tough! Anyone who can recover after an accident like that must be tough.

[BloodyWonder]

Hi Michelle, welcome ! I hope you stay with us.. and well, i though that i was the only fan of the Warrior Princess, but fortunately i'm not! =)

And it's amazing that you come to lose these 30 pounds!

Thanks Mandy! I'm looking forward to meeting a bunch of great people on here!

[BloodyWonder]

Hi Laureleye! I think you're right about that. Lately I've been tapping into my inner strength and haven't been getting as much attention. I'll definitely check out that thread you sent me. It's good to know that I'm not the only one.

[Jonesy]

Welcome!

I think it's awesome that you can call yourself a beautiful woman, and no it doesn't sound vain. Least to me it doesn't. To me, it's a type of confidence. Now just put that attitude towards your efforts to be a lean, mean, fighting machine! Good luck!