How Much Is TOO Much?

Heidi Montag was once a reality television star and has often been seen in the gossip magazines for one publicity stunt or another, but now she is making headlines for an entirely different reason. After undergoing TEN cosmetic surgeries in ONE day, she unveiled her new look this winter. She proudly declared on several entertainment shows that she has her has She had her breast implants increased to DDDs, a brow lift, a nose job revision, liposuction on her stomach and thighs AND a butt augmentation plus more!

After hearing about Heidi’s drastic changes, I couldn’t help but ask myself how much is too much. Every week a new magazine arrives in my family’s mailbox displaying beautiful people on every glossy page and I wonder how much of it is real. It seems like Hollywood no longer sends out positive images to the masses as actresses like Audry Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe had before. There are so many young girls who read those magazines who then aspire to be and look like the women and they see. And although the cover girls are beautiful and hopefully have the best intentions, they are still sending out a negative image just by fitting into the Hollywood standard of beauty.

I believe that beauty isn’t about what size you are and the color of your hair, it’s about what lies on the inside. Even so, I admit to attending the gym at least 3 times a week and stressing about my thighs and hips. I want to love my body, but I have been taught to love a size 0… Not a size 4.

In Heidi’s case, she says, “I was made fun of when I was younger, and so I had insecurities, especially after I moved to L.A. People said I had a "Jay Leno chin"; they'd circle it on blogs and say nasty things. It bothered me. And when I watched myself on The Hills, my ears would be sticking out like Dumbo! I just wanted to feel more confident and look in the mirror and be like, "Whoa! That's me!" I was an ugly duckling before.” Personally, I thought she was beautiful before!

I guess it all comes down to doing what ever you need to do to feel beautiful, but maybe it would be a lot less of an uphill battle if there were not so many images out there constantly telling you that what you are is not.