I was of average weight growing up but not terribly active. I never felt very confident in phys ed class. Then I started jogging in high school and then in college added tennis, ballet, modern dance, fencing etc. I was a theatre major and it was all about the actor as body. I continued running (at the height I was running six miles a day, every day--sometimes it affected my menstrual periods because my body fat ratio was so low) and tended to eat healthy but not very consciously; I find that when I work out a lot my body craves healthier food and that eating crap when you have a very active lifestyle simply does not work very well. Your body needs a lot of potassium and protein, not to mention ready stores of glucose, when you're active. Our primitive ancestors would eat large amounts of protein after hunting and the stored glycogen could be converted to glucose during lean times. Modern man eats too often and too much and does not expend energy chasing down mastodons or elk.

I have worked in several professions which helped me overcome any form of stage fright and got me very used to being observed by all sorts of people: professional acting, art modelling, and exotic dancing. Seeing beautiful portraits or sculptures of yourself, or having men throw money at you and say how gorgeous you are, is a nice ego boost (that's not to glamorize that job too much, as it had its hair-raising moments as well!). But one must have confidence to begin to do this sort of thing in the first place. And that comes from within as much as it does from without. Not all that different from believing you are a good enough singer or musician to get up in front of people. It took me a few years to feel confidence as a singer, too and when I first started singing traditional music I knew I'd found a type of style that worked for me...but was not comfortable at first because it was still so new to me.

I had to give up running for a number of years after a succession of foot injuries. Coupled with the natural tendency to put on weight due to getting older and having a slightly slower metabolism, I have noticed I do feel a bit more self-conscious when performing on stage as a singer that I would have done years ago. I even sometimes feel this way when attending clothing-optional pagan gatherings, though compared to some I could be called downright skinny. But I think my own changing attitude has as much to do with aging (getting past the age where being sexy is the only thing that matters) as it does with having evolved from a size 5 to a size 10. I think the tendency to accept people exactly as they are is very similar in the pagan community as it is in the folk music community (and of course there is some overlap, although folk festivals do not tend to be clothing-optional! But I do find it strange when people assume this means pagans are "nudists" because that is really a completely different thing. I also have noticed that in the "nudist" community people tend to be leaner and more tanned).

I have noticed a tendency for the sort of discrimination mentioned in the rock/pop music world, too; women especially need to be gorgeous or at least thin to be seen as desirable. I have seen lead singers fired and replaced by skinnier (and sometimes younger) counterparts who weren't half the singers the first one was...merely because it's considered necessary these days to have a sexy front-person and any woman bigger than a twig is not considered sexy...at least a fit, more muscular aesthetic is now in vogue, but that's difficult to maintain, too. I saw a lot of unhealthy behavior aimed at weght control from dancers and athletes and actresses and strippers in my day...no thanks.

Video Killed the Radio Star, as the song says. I remember in the early days of MTV, there was a band that was popular in the alternative college radio circuit called Romeo Void. The singer was overweight but it didn't seem to matter...UNTIL the bands music videos were widely seen. Suddenly, everyone said "God, she's a dog!" This trend has only increased to the point where nowadays pop stars are built almost solely on physical image; men as well as women.

As for the advice given for weight loss, etc. I once read that the healthiest people who'd lived to ripe old age had one thing in common among their many habits (and some of them still smoked or drank daily, in moderation): they exercised every day and did soemthing to break a sweat and get their pulse up. I have found the best way to stay fit is to stay active. I can jog again now but my days of running six miles a day are probably gone. But hiking, walking, cross-country-skiiing, all are great exercise. I also fast occasionally, eating a fruit-only diet for 2-3 days. The Swedish swear by this. It rests the digestive organs and helps eliminate toxins in the body. It works best when the moon is waning. I also think, of all the "diet" systems discussed here, that food combining is the most sensible and the most adaptable to every human being (as has been pointed out, we are all different, and the high-protein or high-carb diet or all-grapefruit diet is effective for some but a disaster for others).

Best advice: get active if you're not, and don't eat processed foods.