A Year In The Cover Life of Ricki-Lee

Less than a year ago singer Ricki-Lee Coulter found herself decidedly 'over' criticism she was receiving for her curvaceous, size 14 figure.  She stood up for herself and proudly claimed to Who Magazine - "I'm proud of the size I am!" and that she could not be happier with her body.  Even prior to this Ricki-Lee had always spoken very confidently of her body and that she felt no need to change herself to fit the usually thinner body 'ideal' found in the music and celebrity spheres.  I was a fan of hers for her saying so.

Six months later at the beginning of this year, Ricki-Lee again displayed her body confidence in a swim suit spread for Woman's Day Magazine stating she was "not afraid to show her curves to the world" .  Even though I questioned if the photographs of her were competely natural,  I thought she looked amazing and that there was merit in what Woman's Day said, which was that Ricki-Lee's "decision to skip the airbrush shows her willingness to embrace her body in the competitive showbiz world, which is largely dominated by size 10 or smaller."   What's not to love about that?

It is now not even a year since Ricki-Lee appeared in that original story in Who proclaiming her proud and confident feelings for her body shape and size, and she is again a cover girl with her body a hot topic.  This time though, things are different.  Very different.  As can be seen by the cover below.   

I have a confession to make.  When I first saw the magazine cover staring at me from the supermarket shelf - I was shocked and gutted.  My instinct was to feel angry at Ricki-Lee, thinking she had somehow personally betrayed me and others for recently claiming she was happy with her body, then mere months later losing more than 15 kilo's to state "The goal is to feel as good as I do now. If I can feel better than this, then oh my god, give it to me!"   I then pulled myself into line remembering that only a few months ago I had blogged about Sophie Dahl and the negative backlash she had received for her own weight loss  and how it is anyone's right to do with their body as they please in order to have loving and positive feelings towards it. 

I have now also reminded myself that this cover and Ricki-Lee's weight loss is a reminder that all we have at any given time is the present moment when it comes to loving ourselves.  Even though someone may, for whatever reason, want to change something about themselves, it does no good to hate themselves at the time when that change is still not a reality.  Maybe Ricki-Lee did love her body 12 months ago and 6 months ago - and still loves it now even though it is a different size and shape.  Could we ever really expect anything more of ourselves than to just love ourselves in the present moment - even if we are not exactly where we may like to be?

Where we 'want' to be may never become a reality, or even when it does, not ever bring the happiness or loving feelings we think it will.  This is incredibly common when it comes to weight loss.  So many people believe that if they were just thinner they would be happier, sexier, and all round live a better and more amazing life.  So many people lose weight to find out that none of these things become a reality for them.  Why?  Because having great body image and body confidence is something that can only ever come from within.  No exceptions.  Hence why we have people who are all shapes and sizes other than the culturally accepted thin who have very loving and happy feelings towards their body - which is just as it should be.

All I hope and want for Ricki-Lee, (and you all), is for her to be truly, deeply happy with herself.  She is a very talented young woman, just 24 years of age, with her whole life ahead of her.  I only hope that even though in my eyes she never needed to change one thing about herself, she has chosen to do so for reasons that came from a loving, strong and confident space.  I hope it has not been the result of media creep she has been feeling to lose weight or change herself. 

I also hope that if she truly means what she says about her actual weight not being important to her, that if she gives interviews about her personal appearance in the future she chooses not to reveal what she weighs, doesn't weigh, or has lost or gained.  If she doesn't and chooses to engage in weight loss talk, you can be sure the magazine will immediately lock on to just that, as WHO have done here.  It's their bread and butter - stories that scream weight loss (cue praise), or weight gain (cue shame), and it will continue while high profile people and indeed us all, think that our health and positive body image is entirely dependant on the number on the scale.