14 DAY TRIAL // When Rebecca Jane Weinstein was just 9 years old, her own grandmother told her to forget about love because she would never find a man to sweep her off her feet and love her. Today, she's setting out to challenge the notion that love is somehow exclusive to small and normal-sized men and women.
Weinstein is the author of a new book that aims to prove just how wrong this misconception is. She was on The Today Show the other day to promote it.
Video of this segment is below.
She has struggled with her weight ever since she was just a kid, so she knows only too well how it feels to be considered outside the norm in all respects.
After speaking to others in her situation and people who simply love the feel of a fuller body, she has come up with the idea for the book, which she hopes will help destroy this myth that only normal-sized men and women can enjoy lovemaking.
“I started to get a little chubby around age 6... I've done a lot of work to be comfortable in my own skin, but whatever size you are, you never get over that entirely. Those comments stick with you your whole life,” Weinstein said during the interview.
She was put on a diet when she was still a kid, and this started a lifelong cycle of dieting and yo-yo-ing weight, she confessed.
Today, even though she's large-sized, she's comfortable in her own skin – and believes she can help others feel the same way as well.
“I interviewed many people both men and women, and it's not just large size people who share their stories. Some people have eating disorders, some have had a lot of surgery. There are also those who appreciate large people as their partner preference,” she said on the show.
“There are many themes [in the book], but primarily it is about the messages people are given about size starting from very, very young. They believe that they just aren't worthy,” Weinstein explained.
Nutritionist Keri Glass agreed that body image is closely linked to one's love life, stressing that it mattered very little whether a person was 5 pounds (2.26 kg) underweight or 105 (47.6) overweight: the impact on self-esteem would be just as damaging.
“This is a message of acceptance and understanding and empowerment,” Weinstein chimed in.