Zaftig (according to Webster)Pronunciation: ‘zäf-tig, ‘zof-
Function: adjective
Etymology: Yiddish zaftik juicy, succulent, from zaft juice, sap, from Middle High German saf, saft, from Old High German saf
of a woman : having a full rounded figure : pleasingly plump
So, there you have it… A Zaftig woman is neither obese nor skinny. She’s neither mushy nor sinewy… She is, in my opinion and in the opinion of many, just right.
At 5’9″, 165 lbs, and a size 12, I am a Zaftig woman. And I am madly in love with my curves. I should be. I’ve been curvy for as long as I can remember. I can recall being in 7th grade gym class and hearing the boys talk about my voluptuous derriere. In the locker room, the girls compared their mosquito bites with my then B (now a DD) cup. Awkward…
Through my teenage years and mid-20’s, I battled self-esteem issues, losing weight (I was down to a 6-8 through starvation) and gaining weight (I was up to about a 16… maybe higher. I can’t be sure because I refused to buy anything higher than the 14’s I could no longer zip up), creating an outward expression of my inner turmoil. But in my late 20’s, after much heartache and meditation, I had an epiphany…
This. Is. Me.
I’m not a size 2 and I’m never going to be one. I’m not even a size 8. But I’m not meant to be a size 16 or 18 either. I’m a size 12, and a damn sexy one at that. It is at that size that I am the most comfortable, the most fit and the most balanced. When I was a 6-8, I was eating next to nothing. When I was heavier, I was overeating. In both cases, I was using food as a diversion from what was (no pun intended) eating me. It was only when I acknowledged this and made a conscious decision to address my feelings rather than avoiding them that my weight balanced out. And it was during that time that I realized just how important balance is. I have seen, firsthand, just how unhealthful and unsettling extremes can be.
So… I began applying a very simply rule to my life: “Everything in moderation… even moderation.”
When I wanted to lose the weight after I ballooned to nearly 200 lbs in my late 20’s, I didn’t diet. I made better and balanced choices, about food and everything else in my life. And that leads me to the point of this blog and the book I am preparing to release…
You don’t have to be obese or skinny. With a balanced approach to life, you can enjoy everything in moderation and discover how to feel incredible in the skin you’re in. There is a Zaftig Zen waiting for you.
And it feels just right.
The Zaftig Life 