Nothing out of the ordinary there, but what was interesting, to me at least, and quite reassuring was that it wasn’t just other women defending a girl’s right to curves, but quite a few blokes too.

Now, the conversation wasn’t anything particularly revolutionary; the standard, woman wanting to be a little bit smaller than she is, stuff really. But men seemed to be genuinely at pains to point out that “thin” is not necessary, with real concern that we would go too far or that we were dieting when we really didn’t need to.

I would hardly describe myself as thin though and I don’t aspire to it. Don’t get me wrong I’m not Wanda either though. I’d just like to tighten up a few of the er, wobblier bits of me & lose a bit of my tummy… and don’t get me started on the boobs, though I could diet myself to nothing and I’m pretty sure they’d still be there, taking over the world!

It got me to thinking though – who are we dieting for? I tend to notice that it’s primarily my single girlfriends that are most conscious about their weight. So is it a case of slimming down to attract a bloke? But what happens after you’ve got one? You pile on the pounds once he’s too involved? Hardly seems fair really. False advertising, if you will.

Are we doing it for each other’s approval? Heaven knows we all notice when a friend’s put on a few pounds or even if she’s looking a bit on the skinny side.

Are we doing it for our colleagues? It’s a bit of a taboo thing to say, but you don’t tend to see many really fat women at the top of the corporate ladder do you? The same can’t really be said for the blokes however.

Well, I don’t have the answers. It’s probably a combination of all of the above and a multitude of other reasons to be honest. All I know is that I’m doing it for myself really. If a bloke doesn’t fancy me because I weigh a little more than I’m happy with or my friends don’t approve of how I’m looking, or a potential employer doesn’t think I’m slim enough to catch a client’s eye then frankly they can all fuck off.

The thing is, I fundamentally like who I am and am really happy with, er, me. Yes, there are things I’d like to change and ways I think I can improve, but these go beyond the existence of my love handles. I’m not ashamed to say it, but I have curves and I love them (I even toyed with the idea of going all Dove campaign on myself & putting a pic on here, but chickened out!). And I like to think I know how to work them when the need arises. I feel way sexier now I have a few curves on me than I did when I was a skinny whippet, that’s for sure.

Which brings me back to the response of the men on Twitter who engaged in the debate. Lads, you’re a breath of fresh air! I’ve always believed that men like a girl who’s got a little junk in her trunk and it’s nice to hear a few of you come out and say as much.

Maybe the Sunday Times was right and we’re seeing the “Return of the Sex Bomb” and with it more acceptance of curves etc. Who knows? But if I was a bloke, or even a lady-loving girl, I certainly know which of the girls below I’d be going for…

The frail girl who'll snap if things get too boisterous

The one who'd encourage boisterousness because tousled looks good