A current television ad for hamburgers features scantily clad slippery models sucking sauce off their fingers. So this is what women are supposed to look like while eating high-calorie, nutrition-poor globs of ground stuff on a white bun with pottage?

All women fall short of this fantasy without technical Hollyweird enhancements. The societal images of beauty imposed on girls from a young age by air-brushed models and anatomically impossible Barbie dolls, affect women so dramatically they may deal with poor body image over a lifetime.

It's a war in which there is no ceasefire. The barrage of ridiculous expectations is constant. Girls may grow up to become women dodging the bullets of inferiority and self-doubt. This could happen to anyone.

Red Hot Mama April Smart bravely shares her story in hopes of helping someone else who may relate to her experience. She has lived a roller-coaster life that many women deal with in secret.

She's darling with her bouncing blond curls, boundless energy, and a smile that turns on a light in your heart. She has a glow that uplifts people. How could she possibly have a body image obsession?

It started as a teen, desiring the perfect body. Her thoughts and actions were often consumed with food, weight, and exercise. She carried on a nagging dialogue of self-talk throughout the day such as: "Do this exercise. Do that diet. No, don't. Why do you do this to yourself?"

Sometimes she would challenge herself not to eat any treats and then argue with herself. "No. Wait. Moderation is key, so go ahead and have a little," followed by, "Holy cow, you're a pig." She weighed every day, while telling herself the number didn't matter.

There was a time in college she no longer wanted to live due to the depression caused by the cycling of body image requirements in her mind. Through counseling, she learned to center on things she loved to do rather than body image lies served in striated media buffets.

Today, she praises God for pulling her out of that deep pit even though she says, "The cycle can start spinning like a washing machine." She has mellowed by praying and focusing on healthy living rather than body size.

She encourages anyone else who is on a body image roller coaster.

"Life is so much more than the number on a scale, how many wrinkles you have, or what size your jeans are," she said. "The minute your mind starts to head in that negative direction, make an effort to focus on the positives in your life. If you don't think you have any positives, then go make some happen.

"Don't ever say 'I can't do that.' If you keep practicing there's nothing that can stop you. Whatever it may be in life, go for it, no matter what age you are!"