Today’s Tank Top Tuesday submission comes from Deeleigh  (of Big Fat Blog fame). She says that this is a draft entry for the NOW Foundation Love Your Body poster contest. http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/posters/contest.html

So yeah.  Not only am I wearing a tank top in this picture, I’m wearing one
that’s too tight and that accentuates my belly rolls.  I’m also wearing an
extremely short cotton jersey skirt.

Normally, I’m not that much of a rad fattie when it comes to clothing.
Okay, so I do wear sleeveless tops on a pretty regular basis. I’ve also been
known to wear mini skirts, but only with boots and opaque leggings or
tights.  I am actually pretty careful not to offend people’s sensibilities.
I dance around the “inappropriate” line and I don’t call attention to my size.

A too-tight tank without a bra and with a tiny skirt and no leggings is
definitely over that line.  So, even for a fat woman who is actually not the
world’s shyest, this is really daring for me.

There’s a method to my madness.  I took a series of photos of myself exactly
as described in the text.  No makeup, no attempt to hide “flaws,” no attempt
to play down my size.  I tried to choose lighting and poses that made it
clear that I was fat and that my body wasn’t perfect, but that didn’t quite
cross the line into being ugly to an average viewer.  I wanted to create an
image that would be perceived by most people as beautiful rather than
grotesque, but that didn’t look anything like what we see in entertainment
and advertising.  Of course, some people will have been deeply influenced by
media images and will find it ugly.  I’ve got some other photos I could use…

I guess I’d just like some feedback from the community.  Is the photo doing
what I want it to do?  Any suggestions on the graphic design?  Is the
poem-thingy a good idea, or is it too long or too precious?  Don’t worry,
I’m not particularly attached to any of it, and I’m totally open to
constructive criticism.

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms for future Tank Top Tuesday posts! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion/venting area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

This week’s Tank Top Tuesday submission comes from none other than my fabulous friend Jeanette!!! You may have seen her in any of the many pictures I’ve posted on our clubbing adventures. She inspires me and motivates me and I love her for it. She is also a fellow Scorpio lady, which is so nice ’cause I’d never met one before. She just got back from Puerto Rico and I cannot wait to hear all about it! Woo!

I think I started wearing tank tops regularly about three summers ago when I was unemployed and frankly just wanted to be cool and comfortable.  I didn’t really think of it as some form of self acceptance, but I guess it was unconsciously to some degree. It was about being more comfortable.  Prior to this I would occasionally put on a tank top with a skirt for work but would always add a jacket or shrug. I’d get self conscious in meetings if I was sitting close to someone and start wondering what they must be thinking about my arms. Crazy, huh?

I think the summer I started wearing them regularly, it was easier because I was around fewer people. However, when I went back to work, I kept wearing them.  And now they are an absolute staple of my spring, summer, and early fall wardrobe. Why should I be warm and worried about what people think,  when I can be cool and confident? They are just arms, people. We all have them, if we are lucky.

I’ve been learning a lot lately about getting outside of my comfort zone.  I mean four days in a rustic cabin in the Puerto Rican rainforest is not something I do every year, or well ever really!!  Not only did I do it, but I stayed that much cooler by baring my arms!

Sometimes getting comfortable, starts with discomfort. Seems obvious right?

Jeanette blogs at www.sustenanceaside.com about cooking delish dish for one (or more) and about random other things at www.theneighborupstairs.blogspot.com

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I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms for future Tank Top Tuesday posts! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion/venting area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

This week’s Today’s Tank Top Tuesday post comes from Bri of www.fatlotofgood.org.au! I’m not sure anyone could look happier in a picture:

“The pic is of me (Bri) and my daughter Ruby (now aged 5 in 2 weeks but was 3 1/2 in the pic). We went for a summer’s day drive in the hills about 30 mins away from where we live here in Australia and we ended up at a swimming hole which was where this pic was taken.

Prior to discovering Fat Acceptance I pretty much only wore arm-baring clothing when I was at home or sometimes when camping. If I wore such clothing in public I always wore a shrug or some such.  Nowdays I wear bare arms wherever I feel fit! I am currently working on a tattoo design for my upper arm which will give me even more of a reason to bare arms!”

Cheers,
Bri

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms for future Tank Top Tuesday posts! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion/venting area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

Today’s Tank Top Tuesday post comes from

Today’s Tank Top Tuesday post comes from Karyn of PhatSheepette! Looking amazing (and oh so chillax I must say) and proudly exercising her right to bare arms!

“Here I am in my tank, chilling in the shade with my sheep.  Fat Sheep has her own blog and it’s fascinating to see people’s reactions when you say that, yes, her name is FAT sheep.  However she is proud of her marshmallow-like figure.

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms for future Tank Top Tuesday posts! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion/venting area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

Today’s Tank Top Tuesday post comes from none other than my sister, Katie/SpiffyGal! Woo hoo! I must say that I am a very proud big sister! I had picked her up to do stuff the other day and loved her tank top (we both love Lenore-comic book “dead girl”) and she mentioned that I should take a pic for the blog. I was mega-stoked! Also, I want that tank top! Ha-ha!

“I am not so self-conscious about my arms usually, only when it’s really hot and I get sweat rolling down my arms, that is really annoying. I started gaining weight mostly due to being on depo provera. It’s a contraceptive in the form of a shot. I would get a shot once every 3 months and I didn’t have a period at all. One of the side effects is weight gain. Also part of it is when you start “settling down” with someone and are less physically active. I use to have dance class 3 times a week in high school and I use to be right around 130lbs. now with almost no change in diet and a decrease in exercise I am about 190 give or take. But I’ve always been big in the hips. I try and exercise for a while and stick with it for a few months and then ether we get bored or our life becomes busier and we can’t keep it up. But I am maintaining my weight right now I stopped going up in weight when I went off the shot.

My only problem I have with my weight is bra size. In high school I was a C cup. the last time I was measured I was 34 DD and possibly on the cusp of DDD I haven’t been sized in awhile so I don’t know what I am now. I stopped wearing regular bras because they are expensive and uncomfortable. I have been wearing sports bras for the last few years. But now I need new ones and like everything else right now we can’t afford to get new ones other than my bra issue I am ok with my body and how it looks. I love what you are doing for body awareness and fat issues.”

SpiffyGal/SpiffyKitty & her husband GottaSpiffy review Professional Wrestling and Disney Films on YouTube.

I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms for future Tank Top Tuesday posts! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!

Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion/venting area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)

**Friend of the blog Erylin, has a clothing swap coming up in Kansas city mo. we will be having one on September 25th at the north Kansas city library right off of armour and I-35. (if you need more info leave a reply and we will connect you somehow). **