YOU: and Body Image

Challenge size-bigotry and fight size discrimination whenever you can. Don’t speak of yourself or others with phrases like "fat slob," "pig out," or "thunder thighs."

Be an example to others by taking people seriously for what they say, feel, and do rather than how they look.

Question ads. Instead of saying, "What’s wrong with me," say, "What’s wrong with this ad?" Write the company.

Set your own standards instead of letting the media set them for you.

These gems were found at a body image site.
ED Referral dot com.

One artist who painted 'voluptuous'.

Venus at the Mirror

Learning to Love What You See in the Mirror

Healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes!

We all want to look our best, but a healthy body is not always linked to appearance.

Changing your body image means changing the way you think about your body. At the same time, healthy lifestyle choices are also key to improving body image.

* Healthy eating can promote healthy skin and hair, along with strong bones.
* Regular exercise has been shown to boost self-esteem, self-image, and energy levels.
* Plenty of rest is key to stress management.

You yourself,

as much as anybody in the entire universe,

deserve your love and affection.- Buddha

Why not be oneself?

That is the whole secret of a successful appearance.

If one is a greyhound, why try to look like a Pekingese?

- Dame Edith Sitwell

"I don't like myself". How often have I read that sentence?
Too often to keep count.

I think about my daughter who is beautiful and a shapely size two.
Would I like her less if she were a size 12? Absolutely unthinkable.

Why would I not 'like me' at a size eighteen? Am I no more than a size?

Me thinks that the people who do not like themselves now will not
solve that problem by losing weight.

My DS-39 and DS-42 ... who would be beautiful at any size.
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Is it any wonder that 42 percent of first-through-third-grade girls want to be thinner,
that 81 percent of ten-year-old girls are afraid of getting fat,
and 51 percent of nine- and ten-year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet?

These are third and fourth and fifth graders.

The latest headline?

GIRLS AS YOUNG AS YOUNG AS 6 ARE UNHAPPY WITH THEIR BODIES AND WANT TO BE THINNER, AN ALARMING NEW STUDY REVEALS.

Crystal Renn now .... and four years ago.

Four years ago, Renn epitomized the size-zero model: 98 pounds.

Now the most in-demand plus-size model in the world and is probably the only girl over size eight who gets fashion stories in American Vogue.

At a healthy size 16, she’s no bigger than any other woman in the street. It’s only in the skewed world of fashion that her proportions count as ‘plus-size’.
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* "I feel awful."

"It's terrible being heavy."
For some, being overweight is the worst thing imaginable; it can immobilize you and leave you dumbstruck. That's a reaction more suited to tragedy.

Weight loss is best achieved without that end-of-the-world outlook.

* "I am no good."

"Because I am having trouble in this one area I am worthless."

Being overweight can be viewed as a sign of weakness or worthlessness, and most people aren't motivated when they feel that way.

Another form of worthlessness: "My worth is dependent on my looks."

This idea confuses beauty with thinness, a concept played out endlessly in the media.
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