I think the changes our bodies go through can be difficult to accept. We all like to think we'll be the only woman whose hair doesn't go gray or whose neck doesn't get wrinkly or who never changes sizes, but getting older is a humbling experience.

I think you might need to some help getting through this. If more of your sense of self-worth has been invested in being a certain clothes size than you realized, any changes can feel devastating. And I do hope you get past this. I know someone whose entire life has been focused on her appearance. Oh, she's super thin, all right, but she's also super nervous and super boring. At a time when other women have invested themselves in their families and hobbies and careers, she's got her size 2 clothes and that's about it. The sad thing is, no one cares what size she wears; they just wish she's be a little more interesting.

I will say that one of the things that helps me a bit is to remind myself that I have friends who are struggling for their lives with illness and that I'm now 3 years older than my mom was when she died. My gray hairs don't look so bad then. Best wishes.