You want to tackle your body image issues, but you fall off the wagon. What causes this? How can you fight the Body Image Bandit and win? The first thing is to learn to identify what’s really eating at you. Whether you’re battling an eating disorder or compulsive overeating (now called “Binge Eating Disorder”), if you…
Body Image and Humor: Woman vs. Kitty
Great news! I just learned that chocolate has superb anti-aging properties. I read a short article about this while waiting for my kitty’s appointment. If I keep drinking mochas at the same rate, I should reclaim my 29th birthday by Labor Day! I guess I will keep feeding the chocolate monster within. Maybe I should…
Body Image and Your Scale: Does it Own You, or Do You Own It?
Photo by Chelsea Panos How much power have you given your scale? Many people let the numbers dictate whether they have a good day or bad day. They feel like it owns them, and they give it a lot of power in their lives. Over the past several years counseling women, I’ve encountered many who give…
Body Image and Magazines:
Sleek, skinny models staring at you on the pages of beauty and fashion magazines can play a starring role in how you feel about your body. True or false? Body image, magazines, and depression are somehow intertwined. True or false? You can improve your feelings about your body by limiting the time spent looking at…
Body Image: Starring The Lips
Some people are born with full, beautiful lips. But not Rebecca. She always had thin little lipettes until today. They used to just sit on her face, but now they had their own reality show. Every so often I had to force my eyes up to meet hers, as mine kept getting hung up on…
Body Image and Skinny Jeans
Last week I saw a woman in her late eighties wearing skinny jeans. But she didn’t look like the picture. She had a bad case of lumpy, bumpy, muffin top-itis. Oh Lord, stop me if I try to wear something like that when I’m in my 80s. But later I changed my mind. Good for…
Body Image and Sexual Abuse
“When did you first start substituting food for love?” I asked my client. (Note: names and identifying information have been changed to protect confidentiality.) “I don’t really know,” she answered as she reached for the Kleenex box. “I remember in high school when I’d lost a lot of weight, and this really popular guy gave…
Body Image and LeAnn Rimes: Worshiping the Art of Skinniness
Does LeAnn Rimes have an eating disorder? A few days ago, she posted a picture of herself in a bikini on Twitter. This started a tsunami of tweets about whether or not LeAnn has an eating disorder, including one saying “@leannrimes “Whoa, you’re scary skinny! Sorry don’t mean to offend but that’s a lot of bones showing…
Body Image and Media: Dandelion Whine
On my power walk today, I saw a golden clump of dandelions. I surprised myself as I noticed, for the first time, their unsurpassed beauty. Each flower looked straight up to heaven, perfectly formed and truly glorious. How could I have missed this splendor that makes my heart sing? Why have I called dandelions “weeds…
How to Develop a Healthy Body Image: Celebrating You, a Unique Masterpiece!
Hop off the scale, stop craning your neck to check out your tush, and get on with life! Only then can you discover and embrace your true calling.
Abercrombie and Body Image
Eating breakfast yesterday, I watched The Today Show’s segment on Abercrombie’s marketing of padded,push-up swimsuit tops for seven-year-old girls. As if the word “padded” wasn’t bad enough, I almost choked on my Cheerios when I heard the word “push-up.” Maybe Abercrombie should change their name to SADbercrombie. A few hours later, Abercrombie removed the phrase…
Body Image and Barbie: Bye Bye, Barbie
Dear Barbie, Today I’m officially saying goodbye. I haven’t actually played with you in decades, but nevertheless I feel I need to write you a formal goodbye letter. I know you’re wondering why I decided to take such a drastic measure. I hope this letter explains my concerns. I used to love and admire you,…
Body Image and the Perfect Size
I finally began to understand that dieting becomes an undertow like the momentum of the ocean when it decides to roll out another glorious wave. First it gets psyched up by gathering thousands of gallons of water. Once it has collected bountiful rows of water, the wave curls upon itself and throws the water back to…
Body Image and Dieting: Diet is a Four-Letter Word
During my sophomore year of high school, I decided I needed to lose five to ten pounds. Dieting was the only solution, or so I thought. I was an athlete, so I felt the only other thing I needed to do was go on a diet. Now that is an interesting phrase, because if you go…
Body Image and Research: Stop Obsessing!
How much time do women and teen girls obsess about body image? “The average woman spends about an hour a day contemplating her size, her calorie intake, and her exercise regimen starting at the age of twelve.” (Research compiled by Courtney E. Martin for her book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection…
Body Image and Thoughts: Stop the Stinking Thinking!
I had a professor who once said, “Trying to control your mind is like trying to control a room full of drunken monkeys.” When it comes to your own body image, I bet you understand. How often have you had negative thoughts such as: What size of clothes does that person wear? She’s probably a…
Body Image and Diets: Rethinking Resolutions and Dieting
Many Americans will begin another year with a resolution to lose weight. Most will start out with a bang, but then fizzle out like New Year’s Eve fireworks. The majority will lose weight, but only a small percentage will keep it off. Most will gain it all back, plus more. They will then jump again onto the merry-go-round of…
Body Image and Living Large, No Matter What your Size
Are you waiting to get skinny before you embrace life? Why? Meet this young woman who lives life fully even though she doesn’t fit the cultural standards of beauty.
Body Image and The Biggest Loser: Meet a Two Decade Loser!
“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times,” Mark Twain said. And I know this applies to weight loss. How many people have lost pounds upon pounds of weight only to gain it all back again? Usually they gain back even more. Many of…
Body Image and Addiction: Is Food Addiction Real?
“Hey Cherrie, I just want you to know that you can’t use a picture of my tooshie for your book cover!” my new friend, Sheila, said. Waiting for our speaker at our writer’s group meeting to begin his message, we chatted about our writing goals. The name of the book I am writing is, “Fannies: Reclaiming…
Body Image, Perimenopause and Menopause
Recently I entered the unknown realm of what the experts call perimenopause. Peri, according to the Encarta dictionary, means “a graceful and beautiful girl or woman.” Let me tell you, sister, this is quite the opposite of what this time in my life looks and feels like. My hormones are absolutely whacko, and my doctor…
Body Image and Children: Five and Feeling Fat in a Normal Body
“Mommy, do these jeans make my butt look big?” my friend’s daughter asked her. After assuring her five year old that she was exactly the way God wanted her to be, Sandy (not her real name) called to tell me. She knows I’m writing a book on body image, and thought I would be very interested in…
Body Image and Eating Disorders: My friend says she doesn’t have an eating disorder, but I think she does
A few mornings ago it happened again. While staring at the TV in my “I desperately need more coffee” stupor, another ultra thin, bony movie star denied that she has an eating disorder. I almost flipped channels on her because I am very tired of all the denial in Eatingdisorderville. I don’t keep up on…
Body Image: Abuse, Drinking, and Eating Disorders
As we discussed in the last blog entry, eating disorders, abuse, and drinking are often three sides of a dangerous triangle. Candy’s story described the entanglement of these three issues. Often an overly critical comment about a woman’s body propels her into a deeper layer of self-contempt. Sometimes such comments stir the soul to the…
Bulimia, Abuse, and Drinking: One Woman’s Story
When my friend Candy and I went on a hike, she told me that she had struggled with bulimia from her late teens until her early thirties. Now in her early fifties, I invited her to share her story. She graciously told me she would be honored to share the story if it would help…
Body Image: How to Develop a Healthy Body Image
By now, if you have been following this blog for long, you understand that issues with food, weight, and body image are much more about your heart and your story than food and weight. Let me say it again: It is NOT about food! It is about your heart and your story. Until you work…
Body Image and Breast Reduction
Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you were drop-dead gorgeous? Perfect. Or close to it, right? Each day would wrap its arms around you and give you a grand gorilla hug. The sun would shine on your back, but not to the point that your armpits would have big ugly…
Body Image: Getting Work Done to Meet the Standard
I hadn’t seen my friend Rebecca in over a year, and as we sat sipping coffee, I prayed that I wouldn’t stare at her lips, which had quadrupled in size since the last time I saw her. I could feel my gaze slipping from her eyes onto the pair of pink slugs. Some people are…
Body Image: How Mothers Influence Body Image
A great deal has been written on how fathers play strong roles in the development of their daughters’ eating disorders. Negative relationships between fathers and daughters create holes in the hearts of their daughters which they believe can be filled by getting and staying thin. Not surprisingly, girls and women have fallen prey to the jaws…
Body Image and Humor: Woman vs. Kitty
Great news! I just learned that chocolate has superb anti-aging properties. I read a short article about this while waiting for my kitty’s appointment. If I keep drinking mochas at the same rate, I should reclaim my 29th birthday by Labor Day! I guess I will keep feeding the chocolate monster within. Maybe I should…
Male Body Image: The Man on the Chicken Diet, Part 2
“When did you first start to gain weight?” I asked. The all-important question that most naturopaths, physicians, and nutritionists never ask. (Note: The same question must be asked if someone has issues with purging, bingeing, or over-exercising.) “Hmmm…I think it was my second year of med school. Before that I was pretty buff and worked out…
Body Image and Men:The Man on the Chicken Diet
(NOTE: All characters in this blog and book are fictitious. ) I wasn’t sure I had heard him right. A physician came into counseling to get help with anxiety and depression, and told me during one of our first sessions that he was going on a chicken diet. “A chicken diet?” I asked. “Yeah. I think…
Body Image and Stinking Thinking: Stop Comparing Your Body
Two weeks ago, I posted a blog about the “stinkin’ thinkin’ ” that happens when we get pulled into the undercurrent of comparing our bodies to other peoples’. This leads to drudgery and despair because you drown in the pool of stinkin’ thinkin’. It consumes you until you start the sick cycle of dieting that…
Olympic Ice Dancer Celebrates her Weight Gain! Body Image Buster
Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:00 am EST Ice dancer Belbin has put on weight, and she couldn’t be happier By Maggie Hendricks There is no denying that American ice dancer Tanith Belbin is a beautiful woman. As she glides across the ice with partner Ben Agosto, it’s hard to take your eyes off of her….
The Ferocious Foursome?Bingeing, Dieting, Purging, and Overexercising
Due to living in a culture in which they have seen 250,000 ads by the age of seventeen, dieting has become a rite of passage for teen girls. What often follows is enormous fallout, which I call the Ferocious Foursome.
Body Image and Healthy Eating: The Good Food/Bad Food Trap
Have you been pulled into the good food/bad food trap? Do you find yourself putting all foods into the categories of “good” or “bad”? This thinking is quicksand that pulls you into the sick cycle of dieting, bingeing, purging (for some) and over-exercising (for some). I remember a woman in her late twenties explaining her…
Body Image: Stop the Negative Thinking (and heal your body image)
You’re waiting in line at the grocery store, and can’t help but checking out the fannies of the gals in front of you. You’re in the “12 items or less” line, but the guy at the front of the line seems to have 350 items. Man, is his gut big, you think. He really doesn’t…
The Million-Dollar Question about Body Image
The sad part of the New Year’s resolution frenzy is that it will be over by Valentines Day. Most of the people will fizzle out on their resolutions of losing weight and working out. That is, unless they are willing to take off their masks and ask a heart-wrenching question. That question, you have probably…
The Real Roots of Food Addiction: Conquering Binge Eating Disorder
What would it look like to address the REAL issues behind your food addiction instead of continuing the sick cycle of dieting, which almostalways leads to bingeing due to feeling deprived. Learn the truth about food addiction and how to conquer the body image bandit!
http://healthygirl.org/ Normal People Sometimes Overeat
I LOVED this post by Sunny, the writer of healthygirl.org. She mentions a profound yet lost morsel of truth: Sometimes normal people overeat. Obviously, this happens quite a bit during the holidays. Last night I made these delectable chocolate/peanut butter cookie bar things. They keep calling me, so I am trying to eat them a…
Body Image and Size: My Life Will be Perfect when I’m a Size ___ (Yeah, right!)
Do you ever think your life will be perfect – or close to it – when you achieve a certain weight or size? Or when you move to _____? Or when you get married? Or when you buy a house? Or when you….? Read on. Notice I didn’t say “right on.” I said, “read on! :)”
7 Ways to Protect Your Daughter (or Son) from Eating Disorders
After her brother said she was fat, Karen (not her real name) vowed to do whatever it took to get into a pair of size 6 Calvin Klein jeans. Most women who struggle with eating disorders remember this type of significant moment in their stories. This vow included starving herself to the point that she…
Body Image and Scales: It Loves Me – It Loves Me Not
Are you ready to break up with your scale? Has it become a source of depression? Learn how to give your scale less power in your life.
Turkey Jitters: How to Save Face when your Turkey Bites the Dust
(Note: We are taking a Thanksgiving hiatus from body image in honor of Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey!) Does the thought of preparing Thanksgiving dinner give you the shakes? Maybe as you’re reading this, your heart is beating so loudly the neighbors can hear. Images of undressed turkeys roll around in your head and make you…
My Body Image Story, Part 2: The Magic Number
About two years after moving to Maui, my family moved back to the Mainland. But the bubbly, outgoing teen that landed back at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had changed forever. The new version had been ravaged by daily harassment until she grew into a shy, depressed young woman who had only a fraction of the…
Body Image Stories: My Body Image Story, Part I: Moving to Maui
Enjoy the ride as we journey together through my own struggles with body image.
Body Image and Dieting: Why Diets Don’t Work
Note: This article is for people who need to lose weight for health reasons – not those who want to “get skinny” so they will have perfect lives. We will address that later. Face it. You are more likely to get run over by a truck full of PMSing women going on a Dairy Queen binge…
Body Image: Making Peace with Your Body
Join me, a licensed mental health counselor, in reclaiming the plunder of the body image bandit. Together we will keep the body image bandit at bay through laughter, story, psychology, and faith.
Body Image and Humor: The Only Woman with No Body Image Issues
Guess what? The only woman in the US with no body image issues stopped by my office. Here’s her secret! 😘
Body Image: Facebook, Please Stop the “Crepey Skin” Ads on My Feed! (3-minute video)
Facebook keeps cluttering my feed with ads for “crepey skin” removal. Why the heck should I be concerned about so-called this issue?! I have a much higher calling than worrying about this. And so do you. #humor #bodyshaming #lifeistooshort #bodyimage
Confessions of a High Heel Junkie: High Heel Rehab
My life as a high-heel junkie is now in the rehab phase. But I must say the journey was fun while it lasted. Red shoes, black shoes, teal shoes and purple shoes. Not to mention tall, sleek, strappy sandals. Sassy, classy boots that exuded confidence with each step I strutted. That was my life as a…
Body Image: Abuse, Drinking, and Eating Disorders
Originally posted on Tooshie: Defeating the Body Image Bandit:
As we discussed in the last blog entry, eating disorders, abuse, and drinking are often three sides of a dangerous triangle. Candy’s story described the entanglement of these three issues. Often an overly critical comment about a woman’s body propels her into a deeper layer of…
Next Month, You’ll Eat Everything but the TV ;)
Face it. Dieting almost ALWAYS leads to losing – then gaining back – all the weight you’ve lost – plus MORE. A meta-analysis from UCLA showed that almost 100% of dieters end up gaining weight over the long-haul. (Scientific American, April 5, 2007) So yes, you’ll be eating everything not nailed down within a month, right?…
poem-dotty
Originally posted on Shawn L. Bird:
Star speckled sky, orbs orbiting, motes in the sun beams, circles circling, dots on the shoes. The most beautiful things in the world are round, so I will celebrate my celestial shape.
More Realistic Barbie
The new Barbie features: Ethnicities A variety of sizes and shapes More realistic sizes Read more: http://thecurvyfashionista.com/2016/01/mattel-barbie-curvy-petite-tall/ http://thecurvyfashionista.com/2016/01/mattel-barbie-curvy-petite-tall/
The Only Woman with No Body Image Issues LOL 😉
#humor #bodyimage #BeYou https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=55UnKk6ggrQ
Swimming in the Sea of What-Ifs
You swim against the current, grasping for air as you turn your head to scan the horizon. Dizzy and out of breath, you feel the ebb and flow of the water spraying against your limbs. You’ve summersaulted your way into oblivion many times before, spiraling against the current, knowing not when the tides of life…
How I Hokey Pokey
In my other life, I swam competitively or ran 6 miles most days. Then, due to lupus and ankylosing spondylitis, I couldn’t breathe or walk for periods of time. Dressing myself seemed like running a marathon. So did using the restroom. I told God, at age 28, “Please take me if this is a preview…
Tooshie: Defeating the Body Image Bandit 