Saturday 13 June 2009

Beauty the Beast--Taking Back Control of Your Body Image

We live in an unbalanced culture when it comes to
weight,some would even go so far as to say schizophrenic.
Over 60% of us are overweight or obese and yet our models
are 23% skinnier than the average woman and our media is
obsessed with the current weight crisis of the young
Hollywood starlet du jour. Even when we try to be healthy
we are given to extremes--no carb diets, weight loss pills
full of caffeine or worse, working out all the time--it is
a fertile breeding ground for dysfunction around food,
exercise, and our bodies. Most of us are completely
dis-empowered, which only makes it more impossible to treat
ourselves well. So how do we fight the power?

Rethinking Perfection: When we hold ourselves to the
standards of what we see in movies and magazines we don't
have a chance. These media images are just that: images
created with pretty women and a whole lot of lighting,
makeup, and airbrushing, used to sell beauty and diet
products. There is a different way of understanding beauty,
one that respects strength and individuality.

Every single body is different. Let's start celebrating
health instead of perfection. Try eliminating or cutting
down on the time spent reading magazines, watching t.v,
etc. while finding examples of women of all different sizes
and shapes who love their bodies, who are in shape but not
malnourished, who treat their bodies as the tools of
strength and perseverance that they are.

Understanding Resistance: The more we try to resist
thinking about something, the more we think of it. That's a
proven fact. It's why so many diets that rely on
restricting calories, cutting out bad foods and generally
resisting so much in your life don't work. Yeah, maybe we
lose the weight for a while but eventually it comes back on
because we are working from a place of negativity. In
reading the blogs and talking to people who have kept the
weight off successfully, one common theme keeps coming up:
Lifestyle Change. They didn't see themselves as dieting,
rather they saw a life that didn't work and in which weight
was only one symptom of a larger problem. By understanding
the reasons behind why we eat, the emotional compulsions
and holes that make us fall into cycles of disease, we have
a better chance of making the changes we need in order to
come back to ourselves and be more aware of why we engage
in the behaviors we do. So instead of resisting food, try
to figure out ways of making whole and healthy foods a part
of your life in a way that is sustainable. Take a healthy
cooking class, make good substitution for unhealthy or
fatty foods, and find fitness that you love (it is
possible,whether it's running, a dance class, simply
walking,there is a form of movement out there that you will
love, so explore your options!).

It is time to take our bodies and our self esteem back,
empower ourselves to make healthy choices, and understand
that a healthy body is not a cookie cutter shape,it is your
own body in its own top form.


About the Author:

http://www.bodaweightloss.com--all natural high quality
weight loss supplements
http://www.bodaweightloss.com/blog--cutting edge weight
loss, nutrition, and health articles featuring recipes and
tips

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