Thoughts on this article?

[MINI-Me 196]

http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2011/02/shocking-body-image-news-97-percent-of-women-will-be-cruel-to-their-bodies-today

My thought was wow! So sad ...

But then I thought about it. Even with my new thin body, I still do this. Why? I still look at all the "non perfect" areas and want to fix them. Why can't I focus on all the good I've done to my body and my health over the past year & stop fixating on what is still 'wrong".

[feedyoureye 3,087]

http://www.glamour.c...ir-bodies-today

My thought was wow! So sad ...

But then I thought about it. Even with my new thin body, I still do this. Why? I still look at all the "non perfect" areas and want to fix them. Why can't I focus on all the good I've done to my body and my health over the past year & stop fixating on what is still 'wrong".

Some great Ideas there Mini, I'm just going to go and paste the suggestions here:

1. Rewire your brain. If you know that constantly thinking negatively about your body teaches your brain to focus on the bad stuff, why not flip the script? “It’s absolutely possible to create neural pathways that favor affirming thoughts,” says Kearney-Cooke. She suggests keeping a pen handy to note things you do that make you feel good about your body. “One of my patients is doing this, and she came in so excited to tell me, ‘Look at my list now: It’s so big!’ Doing this puts positive stuff front-of-mind and starts becoming instinctive.”

2. Ask yourself: Is this really about my body? Or am I trying to distract myself from being upset with someone or something else? This is another exercise Kearney-Cooke does with women. “I had a patient who came in and lamented, ‘My body is disgusting today!’ After she stopped to think about it for a minute, she realized it wasn’t about her body at all. She admitted she got drunk the night before and was embarrassed about it. That’s the issue she needs to address—drinking too much—not the size of her butt.”

3. Exercise! Survey respondents who worked out regularly tended to report fewer harsh thoughts than those who didn’t. And it’s not just that being physically active improves your shape and health; it actually boosts your mind-set, too. One new study found that women felt better about themselves after exercising even when their bodies didn’t change, suggesting that the feeling of “That was challenging, and I did it!” played a bigger role than weight loss in boosting body image. “Hitting the gym or horseback riding makes me feel like a fitness rock star. It’s the biggest confidence booster for me,” says Margo Short, 22, of Dallas, who counted four negative thoughts—about two-thirds fewer than the average respondent. (For a workout you can do at home, click here.)

4. Say “stop!”—literally, that word—when your mind goes all negative. “Just imagine a giant screaming stop sign,” says Kearney-Cooke. Emily Catalano, 22, of Boston, who logged just three bad body thoughts, does this: “It’s funny, but it really does shut up that negative voice and clears my head.”

5. Remind yourself that obsessing about what you eat or look like doesn’t make you look any better. Bedford’s study found that young women who obsess over their diet don’t actually weigh less than those who generally eat what they want. “Some women look at a brownie and think: Ooh, that looks good, but brownies are ‘bad’. I wonder how many calories are in that? Maybe I could just have a teeny bite, and on and on. A woman with a healthier relationship with food would either eat the brownie, or not, and be done,” explains Bedford. At the end of the day, both get the same number of calories. The message: Fretting over every bite gets you nowhere. Eating mindfully—enjoying food and putting your fork down before you get too full—feels better and works better.

6. Appreciate your body for what it does, rather than how it looks. In our survey, 55 percent of women had abusive thoughts about their overall weight or size; 43 percent said they targeted specific areas (the most berated: belly and thighs). “Next time you’re, say, cursing your wobbly arms, pause and think of their purpose—is it to make you feel bad? Or to let you hug your friends and enjoy life?” says Wood-Barcalow. It may seem a bit “Kumbaya,” but this mental tweak helped many respondents think less negatively. Jenni Schaefer, 34, of Austin, Texas, who reported only two bad body thoughts on the day in question, points to her ability to “be grateful that I can walk and that my body is healthy.”

7. Finally, play up your strengths. “Comparing yourself with others doesn’t help anything,” reminds Kearney-Cooke. “Focus on making the most of what you’ve got. Hold your head a little higher and walk a little taller: That attitude is absolutely magnetic.” Hear that? You’re magnetic. And don’t forget to tell yourself so, either. We all could use a few more compliments!

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