By means of full disclosure I’m compelled to share Ive known Dara Chadwick, author of the book You’d be so pretty if…, for longer than even she realizes.
I followed her year long journey of self-exploration & weightloss each month in Shape magazine way before I had the pleasure of meeting her in virtual life.
As a result, one of my favorite things about the book You’d be so pretty if… is that Dara is precisely whom she always portrayed herself to be.
Yes she’s smart, beautiful & funny—-but she’s also courageous (in her honesty), real (in sharing how she doesnt always adore her body) & human (in her struggles with motherhood & simply trying to be the best role model she can).
In her book You’d be so pretty if… Dara opens up about her body image issues, her ‘brief flirtation’ with an eating disorder, and her desire not to pass any of this baggage on to her daughter, Faith.
The book’s subtitle, however, teaching our daughters to love their bodies - even when we don’t love our own is what most made me want to crack the cover.
Subtitle perfection in that it nails a fear so many moms have yet so few ever say aloud.
The nagging “but I dont adore how I look all the time—how on earth can I help my daughter grow to find self-love & acceptance?” worry.
I think, if we’re honest with each other & ourselves, the majority of us fret about that from the very moment we’re given the it’s a girl news.
Through sharing her story (and weaving other mom/daughter quotes & stories throughout) Dara helps the reader realize she can be a self-acceptance work in progress and still help her daughter(s) navigate the rocky path to body-love.
I really liked this book.
There were places where I found myself wanting to yell at Dara (hello BUN POLICE page 46!) and others where my heart ached right along with her (*sigh* page 150 At what age do we let our daughters start shaving their legs? As women of dark & hairy descent my sisters & I ponder that one already.).
It’s a book Ive already recommended to friends without children as it caused me to look back and re-examine my own relationship with my mother.
I am aware that I’m really, really fortunate to not struggle with body image issues —–yet does this mean my mother didn’t either?
Or was she simply able to not pass them along to me?
A single friend I lent You’d be so pretty if…. remarked that it powerfully shifted her attitude toward her mother.
She’d always resented how she perceived her mom to be highly critical of her (the daughter’s) weight and this book triggered the Oh it wasnt about me! moment my friend had not yet had.
As I yammered about on Mother’s Day, all I want for my daughter is to be 100% at ease and comfortable in her own skin.
I truly believe that once we experience that all other facets of our lives slide into place.
Reading You’d be so pretty if... is definitely one crucial step in that direction.
Dara has generously offered to give one reader a copy of her book and you can be entered to win for the lowlow price of a comment below.
The question? If you had the opportunity ask her absolutely anything what’s the one question you’d pose to your mother with regards to body image, weight and self-acceptance.
Winner announced tomorrow. USA only. Male USA residents you’re welcome to chime in!
(To see Dara & her daughter, Faith, interviewed on the Today Show CLICK HERE.)
By means of full disclosure I’m compelled to share Ive known Dara Chadwick, author of the book You’d be so pretty if…, for longer than even she realizes.
I followed her year long journey of self-exploration & weightloss each month in Shape magazine way before I had the pleasure of meeting her in virtual life.
As a result, one of my favorite things about the book You’d be so pretty if… is that Dara is precisely whom she always portrayed herself to be.
Yes she’s smart, beautiful & funny—-but she’s also courageous (in her honesty), real (in sharing how she doesnt always adore her body) & human (in her struggles with motherhood & simply trying to be the best role model she can).
In her book You’d be so pretty if… Dara opens up about her body image issues, her ‘brief flirtation’ with an eating disorder, and her desire not to pass any of this baggage on to her daughter, Faith.
The book’s subtitle, however, teaching our daughters to love their bodies - even when we don’t love our own is what most made me want to crack the cover.
Subtitle perfection in that it nails a fear so many moms have yet so few ever say aloud.
The nagging “but I dont adore how I look all the time—how on earth can I help my daughter grow to find self-love & acceptance?” worry.
I think, if we’re honest with each other & ourselves, the majority of us fret about that from the very moment we’re given the it’s a girl news.
Through sharing her story (and weaving other mom/daughter quotes & stories throughout) Dara helps the reader realize she can be a self-acceptance work in progress and still help her daughter(s) navigate the rocky path to body-love.
I really liked this book.
There were places where I found myself wanting to yell at Dara (hello BUN POLICE page 46!) and others where my heart ached right along with her (*sigh* page 150 At what age do we let our daughters start shaving their legs? As women of dark & hairy descent my sisters & I ponder that one already.).
It’s a book Ive already recommended to friends without children as it caused me to look back and re-examine my own relationship with my mother.
I am aware that I’m really, really fortunate to not struggle with body image issues —–yet does this mean my mother didn’t either?
Or was she simply able to not pass them along to me?
A single friend I lent You’d be so pretty if…. remarked that it powerfully shifted her attitude toward her mother.
She’d always resented how she perceived her mom to be highly critical of her (the daughter’s) weight and this book triggered the Oh it wasnt about me! moment my friend had not yet had.
As I yammered about on Mother’s Day, all I want for my daughter is to be 100% at ease and comfortable in her own skin.
I truly believe that once we experience that all other facets of our lives slide into place.
Reading You’d be so pretty if... is definitely one crucial step in that direction.
Dara has generously offered to give one reader a copy of her book and you can be entered to win for the lowlow price of a comment below.
The question? If you had the opportunity ask her absolutely anything what’s the one question you’d pose to your mother with regards to body image, weight and self-acceptance.
Winner announced tomorrow. USA only. Male USA residents you’re welcome to chime in!
(To see Dara & her daughter, Faith, interviewed on the Today Show CLICK HERE.)