Dwyane Wade Shares How He Overcame His Body Insecurities

Part of our culture's fascination -- hero worship, really -- with athletes revolves around their bodies. Whether we're looking at NBA MVP Stephen Curry's diminutive size or Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and his "cobra back," athletes take the eye test first, and are judged by everything else thereafter.

Miami Heat guard and three-time NBA Champion Dwyane Wade, 34, is one of the athletes fans gawk over. He's an all-time great basketball player. He's ripped, yoked, jacked. Whatever you want to call it, Wade's in outstanding shape. But in sharing his new cover on ESPN The Magazine's latest "Body Issue" on Twitter, he peeled back a layer of his protective athletic machismo.

Stepped out of my comfort zone for the #BodyIssue on stands July 6th. Sharing #myNAKEDtruth https://t.co/jFBlVEBcW3 pic.twitter.com/2Qn1ykwNhL

- DWade (@DwyaneWade) June 21, 2016

Indeed, Wade stepped out of his comfort zone. He not only bared all during his photo shoot, but in his interview for the magazine, too. Wade openly expressed how uncomfortable he used to be in his body. As a kid, he felt ashamed that his belly button was an outie, because he knew most kids didn't have one, and he didn't want to risk being picked out for it. To cope with his belly button fear and the embarrassment he felt from having "rough feet" because of basketball, Wade actually got a doctor's note excusing him from swimming class, so he didn't have to show his body. 

I had a fear of being naked in front of others and a fear of being judged. So to me, overcoming that is the biggest thing. Someone may look at me and think, "Why would you have insecurity?" Well, this is real life and I'm human, and these are the things that I deal with that many others might deal with.

Even as a model physical athlete, Wade's insecurities continued into his professional NBA career. Fame, money and a marriage to actress Gabrielle Union didn't change how Wade mentally felt about his body. In fact, Wade says he turned down the "Body Issue" in seven previous years, explaining his trepidations about the shoot. He simply wasn't at ease in his own skin:

I was just never comfortable until about four years ago, when I started feeling comfortable with my body overall. As you go through life, you get more comfortable with yourself. It's like everything else with life -- you change, you grow. People might think it's simple, but for me it was hard to even feel comfortable walking around naked when it's just me and my wife.

Evidently, Wade feels differently now. It took three decades for Wade life to come to terms with his body, even if it is an aspirational archetype of the muscular male image. For an active athlete, personal body shaming is a sword that cuts both ways.

But Wade's secure with himself now, and has a body-positive mission moving forward, according to ESPN The Magazine: "I'm representing for all the kids out there who have the outies."

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Country Star Fires Back At Mom Shamers With Viral Instagram Post

After receiving criticism for her decision to buy baby food for her infant, a country music star showed she won't put up with mom shaming.

Last week, Jana Kramer posted a photo on Instagram that shows a grocery store conveyer belt covered with jars of baby food. The singer, who welcomed her daughter Jolie Rae Caussin on Jan. 31, captioned the photo, "And it begins. #babyfood."

And it begins. #babyfood

A photo posted by Jana Kramer (@kramergirl) on Jun 1, 2016 at 5:58pm PDT

In the comments section, many fans showed support for the famous mama. But the singer also noticed a storm of comments criticizing her decision to purchase baby food and imploring her to make it herself. Examples include:

• "Make your own!!! Don't buy jars. Yes they're convenient but not as nutritious as mummy's home made"



• "Make your own. It's cheaper and way healthier ;)"



• "why not make them instead?!"



• "Make your own it'll save money and it's better for her"



• "My sister made her own baby food. Much healthier and now my nephew is almost five won't touch processed food"



• "So easy to make your own! Steam and purée pretty much any fruit or veggie. Great way to avoid pesky preservatives!"

Kramer responded to the unsolicited advice with a follow-up Instagram post. 

I have been very open with pictures of my daughter and our journey because my true fans have been on my journey from day one and I want them to be a part of my new journey now. If you have negative comments about how I parent my child, keep it to yourself !!

A photo posted by Jana Kramer (@kramergirl) on Jun 2, 2016 at 8:25am PDT

The photo shows a note, which reads, "Dear Mommy Shamers, Unless you are Jolie's doctor, her father, or her mom, do NOT tell me how to raise my child, or how to feed her. Sincerely, Jolie's MOM."

In the caption for the photo, Kramer expanded on her statement. "I have been very open with pictures of my daughter and our journey because my true fans have been on my journey from day one and I want them to be a part of my new journey now," she wrote, adding, "If you have negative comments about how I parent my child, keep it to yourself!!"

Kramer's post gets straight to the point, but she told AOL that her initial impulse was to write something "a little nastier."

"In my head I wanted to be like, 'OK, screw off' -- but I knew that wasn't the way to do it," she said, noting, "People write negative stuff on my Instagram and Twitter all the time, but when it's attacking me as a mother and my daughter -- that hits so much harder."

The country star also shared her thoughts on the overall trend of parent shaming.

"We're all going to raise our children differently," she said. "Moms need all the help we can get, and I just wish that we would all work together and not against each other."

Sounds simple enough!

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What It's Like To Ask Muhammad Ali For Permission To Marry His Daughter

Asking Muhammad Ali for his daughter's hand in marriage would be an intimidating experience for just about anyone.

Mike “Pickle” Joyce -- the husband of Jamillah Ali -- had to do just that. He shared what the experience was like in a recent chat with writer Mark Konkol.

“He did want to know if I had been married before, if I had any kids," Joyce told Konkol. "I didn't. That made me nervous since I was 40 and a former boxer. I was worried what he thought about that. That maybe he thought I was married to the bottle or something. But he was cool about it. He was like any good father. He asked me if I loved her and I said, 'I do love her.' He said, 'You better treat her right.'"

Joyce ended up including the famed boxer in his proposal. He popped the question in front of Ali and Jamillah's stepmom when they were in Ireland for an event honoring Ali in 2009. 

The pair married in 2010 at The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Naples, Florida, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Ali died on June 3 at age 74. He suffered from Parkinson's disease, but his official cause of death was sepsis. He has nine children.

Jamillah described her final goodby to Ali in interview with iTV, saying, "We gave him kisses on both sides of his cheeks, we were whispering things in his ear, I said a prayer to him in his ear. I know he heard every bit of everything that we were saying to him."

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Army Reserve officer crowned Miss U.S.A. 2016

An Army Reserve officer and I.T. analyst from the District of Columbia has been crowned Miss U.S.A. 2016 after mounting a strong defense of women in combat roles in the military.