Table of Contents
Introduction Emme 1
1 Look at Me Now
1 Me, All of Me Sherri Shepherd 9
2 My Journey Back to Me Melanie Flint 11
3 A Confident Triumph Donna L. Roberts 14
4 Role Model Tamara Paylor 17
5 Big Feet in a Small Town Wendy Keppley 19
6 Journey Out of Hiding Rebecca Eicksteadt 23
7 This, But Also More Than This Kris Dinnison 26
8 Dancing Away My Insecurities Jennifer Sommerfelt 29
9 Shape Shifting Emme 32
2 Real Life, Real Beauty
10 I Believe in Goddesses Sunil Ramchandani 39
11 Marilyn's Magic Natasha Stoynoff 42
12 A Work of Art John M. Scanlan 46
13 Back to Curvy Jenni Schaefer 49
14 To Swim in the Ocean Michelle Bruce 52
15 Through New Eyes Joanna Dylan 54
16 Baby Bump Jessica Ghigliotti 57
17 Picture of Health Shawnelle Eliasen 59
18 Cankles Ray Budd 62
19 An Art Perspective James A. Gemmell 65
3 Sharing the Wisdom
20 Bad Mama Jama Regina Sunshine Robinson 71
21 I Am Woman Joyelle Brandt 74
22 Comfortable in My Shorts Lydia Young-Samson 77
23 A Flowering Maxine Young 79
24 Just the Way You Are Drema Sizemore Drudge 82
25 Missing Body Parts Jill Bums 84
26 The Curvy Sister Debra Mayhew 86
27 The Lesson Mudita Raj 90
28 The Truth Melissa Wootan 92
29 A Beautiful Reflection L. Joy Douglas 94
30 Letter to My Twelve-Year-Old Self Natasha Stoynoff 96
4 Nourishing My Body
31 Zen and the Art of Body Maintenance Emme 103
32 An Iron Mother Priscilla Dann-Courtney 106
33 Little Girl, Lost and Found Carole Johnston 109
34 In This Moment Shannon Kaiser 113
35 A Blessing, Not a Curse Courtney Lynn Mroch 116
36 The Tutu Ashley M. Slayton 120
37 Running for My Life Jenna Schifferle 123
38 The Mirror Girl Mallory Lavoie 127
39 No Shame in My Game Melissa Wootan 131
40 My Lovely Lady Lumps Melissa Berry 135
5 Living Life with Gusto
41 Pork and Beans B.J. Dilley 141
42 A Waist of Tears Marya Morin 145
43 The Shell Jennifer Roberts 149
44 A New Message Diane Stark 151
45 Judge Me by My Size, Do You? Denise Reich 154
46 Storm Jillian Rossi 157
47 Tunnel of Love Marianne Fosnow 160
48 Living Big and Beautiful Danielle Sibila 163
49 Kick, One, Two, Three… Candace Carteen 165
50 Two Bathing Suits Tamara Albanna 169
6 Warning, Dangerous Curves
51 The Green Dress Karla Brown 175
52 Perfectly Imperfect Alexandra Boos 177
53 Baby Got Back to Basics A. Kay Wyatt 180
54 Cracked Rear View Cindi Carver-Futch 182
55 For the Love of Curves Kristina Bigby 185
56 Three B Elizabeth Atwater 187
57 Beauty at Every Size Andrea Amador 191
58 Perfect Fit Georgia A. Hubley 194
59 The Curves Within Mary Anglin-Coulter 197
7 The Joy of Exercise
60 A Woman My Size Darbie Andrews 203
61 Slogging Kelly A. Smith 206
62 Bounce and Sway B. R. Dunkelman 209
63 Swimming Toward Confidence Emily Canning-Dean 211
64 The Walk and Talk Diet Lori Zenker 214
65 Strength to Be Strong Nicole Christine Caratas 218
66 My Aha Moment Devon Kab 221
67 When Life Throws You Curves Annie Kontor 223
8 My Miraculous Body
68 The Skin km In Beck Gambill 231
69 To Have and To Hold Victoria Fedden 233
70 A Fish Out of Water Kathryn Lehan 236
71 Shifted Phyllis McKinley 240
72 Skinny Doesn't Matter Angela Williams Glenn 243
73 Exposed Kathrine Conroy 246
74 Look at Me Maura Edwards 248
75 Take Center Stage Violetta Armour 251
76 Becoming a Curvy Confident Mom Elizabeth Rose Reardon Farella 254
9 Larger Size, Larger Life
77 Thunder Thighs and All Courtney Lynn Mroch 261
78 Sizing Up My Life Brenda Lazzaro Yoder 265
79 The Weight of Laughter Shelby Kisgen 267
80 SweetestRedHead Patrick Michael McIntyre 269
81 Hairpin and Dangerous Stephanie Tolliver Hyman 273
82 Holy Calves Carmella de los Angeles Guiol 276
83 Skinny Dipping Debra Mayhew 280
84 My Mom Called Me Sexy and I Agree Martine L. Foreman 283
10 Breaking Out of My Comfort Zone
85 The Perfect Dress Beth Pugh 289
86 Yoga. Brunch Jamie Leigh Miller 291
87 Picture Perfect Robin R 295
88 Twenty-Dollar Muse Lauren B. H. Rossato 298
89 My Reflection in the Mirror Dorann Weber 302
90 A Unique Vessel Maighread MacKay 304
91 Mother of the Groom Anne Merrigan 308
11 Proud, Pretty, and Powerful
92 Big As Mountain Alexes Lilly 315
93 Big, Beautiful Heroines Pat Ballard 319
94 Tall Boots Jimmie Ware 322
95 The Milkshake Diet L.A. Strucke 324
96 The Look J. Renee 327
97 Big Girl, Big World Shantell Antoinette 330
98 I Am Delicious! Lainie Belcastro 332
99 It Took Time to Love My Hourglass Figure Nicole F. Anderson 335
100 The Beauty Within Jenny Wildflower 338
101 Go Ahead, Look at Me Natasha Stoynoff 341
Afterword Amy Newmark 347
Meet Our Contributors 349
Meet Amy Newmark 365
Meet Supermodel Emme 367
Meet Natasha Stoynoff 369
Thank You 371
About Chicken Soup for the Soul 372
