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How to Have a Positive Body Image [internet]


http://www.wikihow.com/Have-a-Positive-Body-Image

1) Eat healthily. Have your fill of fruits and veggies, eat more yogurt and cheese, but it's okay to eat ANYTHING in moderation! If you know you're eating well, you'll know your body is healthy. Eating healthily is all about getting the right nutrients. If you eat when you are hungry and stop before you are full you will most likely maintain a normal body weight.

2) Realize that it's what's on the inside that counts. If someone judges you on how you look rather than on your personality, well frankly they're not worth bothering about.

3) Know that everyone feels negatively about their looks at some time or other. Celebrities you see, or even just the 'pretty' girl at work, all doubt their looks sometimes.

4) DON'T compare yourself to others. You are you, and that is wonderful. Confidence is everything. If you have a positive body image you will feel better about yourself.

5) Exercise is great. Moving your body makes you healthier and releases feel good endorphins.

6) Smile! Smiling helps release chemicals in the body which increase cell reproduction and will also mean you have more energy to strut your lovely stuff in the day.

7) If you are really troubled by your body and how it looks TALK to someone about it, a friend, a parent or even a counselor.

Getting What You Want From Your Body Image [pamphlet]


What Do You Want From the Way You Look and Feel?

Do you agree with these statements?

- I want to feel attractive and have other people consider me attractive.
- I want to feel healthy and energetic so I can do all the things I want to do.
- I want to have fun being with other people, and I want them to enjoy being with me.


What Don't You Want?

Are any of these statements true for you?

- I sometimes feel that I spend all my time and energy worrying about how I look.
- I often feel guilty about what I eat or about not getting enough exercise.
- I'm always dieting and/or exercising but I still don't like the way I look.
- I feel a lot of pressure about myself or other people about how much I should weigh or how I should look.


Media Images: How Real Are They?

If you worry about your looks and your body, you're not alone. One study found that 90% of women and 82% of men are unhappy with their physical appearance and wish their bodies were different.

Given the images we constantly see in the media, it's no wonder people feel this way.

Consider these facts:

- The average female fashion model is 23% thinner than the average American woman. The average model is 5'9" tall and weighs 110 pounds. The average American woman is 5'4" and weighs 152 pounds.

- If store mannequins were real women, they would have 10% body fat. To have a normal menstrual cycle, a woman typically needs at least 17 - 22% body fat.

- The current fashion-model body type is possible for about 10% of the population. It's determined by genes. You can't diet to get this body type.

- Make-up, lighting, and special photogenic effects can make male and female actors, models and TV personalities look flawless.

- Cosmetics are a $42 billion dollar a year industry; cosmetic surgery is a $20 billion dollar industry.

- Men are undergoing 14% of the cosmetic surgery procedures, including nose reshaping, liposuction and hair-transplants.


It Affects Kids Too

- Studies show that 40% of 6-year-old girls wish they were thinner, and 50% will have tried dieting by age 8.

- 59% of girls and 29% of boys ages 14 - 18 see themselves as fat.

- At puberty, many girls diet and/or smoke in an attempt to prevent normal changes in their bodies.

- The self-esteem of girls suffers a steep drop at puberty. The drop is closely related to body image.

- Body image problems in teenage boys are increasing.


Dieting Doesn't Work

Dieting -making a radical change in eating habits to lose weight quickly- not only isn't healthy, it just doesn't work.

The diet industry brings in yearly profits of $46 billion. But Americans' obsession with dieting as not led to losing weight.

In fact, 90% or more of people who diet to lose weight regain all the weight within 5 years. Two-thirds gain back all the weight -or more- within 1 year.

People who are thin don't eat less food. Studies have consistently failed to find a difference in eating patterns between thin and heavier people. Genetics and early family habits of eating and activity have a powerful influence.

[Bubble: A person who loses 100 pounds through dieting typically gains back 125.]


Why Dieting Doesn't Work

Strict diets usually lower metabolism because they cause loss of lean body mass (muscle tissue) rather than loss of body fat.

Strict diets with insufficient carbohydrates cause the body to use protein for energy needs. Then protein is not available to build and repair muscle tissue. Loss of muscle lowers metabolism.


How Do I Get What I Want?

First, remember that healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes. But, if your body isn't as healthy as you'd like, talk to your health care provider.

Together you can make a plan to improve your health and your satisfaction with your body.

To achieve a health body:

- Set a goal of long-term, healthy eating habits. You can learn to enjoy foods that will help you to look and feel good.

- Be creative. Get a group of friends together to try out low-fat but tasty recipes.

- Be reasonable. Add new, healthier foods graduall. Try changing one meal or snack a day. Remember, there are no forbidden or bad foods.

- Set a long-term goal to be physically active. Exercise can improve your health, energy, appearance and mood. Find activities you can enjoy and can do regularly.

- Be creative. Go for a walk with a friend instead of going to a movie. Ask at a bicycle shop about group bicycle rides. Community centres and college sports facilities often offer informal exercise and team sports.

- Be reasonable. Add new activities to your routine one at a time. Remember that walking (try taking the long way to your destination), dancing and cleaning the house are all forms of exercise.


Body Image Survival Tips

To improve your body image and worry less about how you look, how much you weigh or what you eat:

- Actively resist the stereotype that thin equals beautiful. This is a relatively recent notion anyway. Marilyn Monroe was not a size 6 - or anywhere close to it.

- Throw out the scale. Beauty can't be measured in pounds. Lean muscle takes up less space than fat. So physical activity can make you smaller, even though your weight may stay the same.

- Don't buy into the media images. Remember that ads are meant to sell you something. Be alert for mixed messages. For example, one slogan used to sell candy bars says, "You can never be too rich or too thin."

- Change your relationship with food. Many people eat when they feel stressed, angry, lonely or disappointed. Find other ways to nurture yourself when you feel down. Eat healthy meals at regular times.

- Focus on what you like about yourself and your body. Value your body for what it can do, not just how it looks.

- Consider seeing a psychologist or counselor. Changing your relationship with food can be difficult.


Eating Disorders

In women:

- Up to 10 million women have disordered eating habits (including dieting habits that can lead to health problems).
- 4% of women suffer from bulimia, and another 4% have anorexia.
- Women with eating disorders feel fat before they begin dieting, but most are near average weight.


In men:

- As many as 1 million men have eating disorders.
- Men who develop eating disorders may have been seriously teased as overweight children.
- 9% of college male students have disordered eating habits.


In women and men:

- Some male and female atheletes and performers face strong pressure to lose weight. For these groups, eating disorders are a particular concern.


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I do not claim to own any of the information in this sticky. The pamphlet and the information in it belong to ETR Associates.

Reserved.