Yesterday, I featured part one of my interview with blogger and clinical psychologist Gail Brenner, Ph.D., who writes the insightful blog A Flourishing Life. We talked about healthy ways of coping and how to find our true inner voice among all the negativity (check out the interview here).

Today, Gail shares her insight on how we can feel our feelings — a tough one for many of us — the key to squashing self-defeating behaviors and becoming more resilient.

A healthy body image and relationship with food goes beyond liking what you see in the mirror and eating “right.” It’s a combination of things. A positive body image includes developing healthy ways of coping with life’s stressors, listening to your inner voice (not the inner critic), feeling your emotions and even becoming more resilient.

That’s why I’m excited to feature my interview with Gail Brenner, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist who writes the fantastic blog A Flourishing Life. After linking to one of Gail’s posts on being whole on Weightless, I knew I had to interview her. Gail’s writing is thoughtful, insightful and inspiring.

Every Monday features a tip, exercise, inspiring quote or other tidbit to help boost your body image. For many of us, Mondays are tough. We may feel anxious and stressed out, anticipating an arduous week, especially if we didn’t get much rest and relaxation during the weekend. These kinds of feelings don’t create the best environment for improving one’s body image. In fact, you might be harder on yourself and easily frustrated. You might even feel like you’re walking on egg shells – with yourself! With these posts, I hope you’ll have a healthier and happier body image day, that’ll last throughout the week.

Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky@gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. It can be anything you do that’s healthy and helps boost your body image. I’d love to hear from you!

There are so many incredible resources on the Web that help us improve our body image and our self image overall. Below are just a few of the body image tips you’ll find buzzing around the blogosphere.

I put my dieting to rest a long time ago. I eat when I’m hungry, and I try to stop when I’m full. Sometimes, I overeat, and I rarely feel guilty about it. I genuinely enjoy food, whether that’s a bagel, brownie, salad or apple.

A few nights ago, however, as I was falling asleep, I felt the pangs of hunger, and I — without hesitation — smiled and thought “oh, good.”

I regularly feature Q&As with individuals who’ve recovered from eating disorders, binge eating, negative body image and any kind of disordered eating. If you’d like to share your story of recovery, I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at mtartakovsky@gmail.com.

Older women who struggle with eating disorders may feel alone, because these illnesses are often associated exclusively with adolescents or young adults. Older women who’ve sought treatment several times may even feel hopeless, or might resign themselves to the fact that they’ll be living with an ED for their entire life.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I regularly feature Q&As with individuals who’ve recovered from eating disorders, binge eating, negative body image and any kind of disordered eating. If you’d like to share your story of recovery, I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at mtartakovsky@gmail.com.

It’s an all-too common misconception that eating disorders only occur in adolescents and young adults. We know that eating disorders don’t discriminate. They can begin at a very young age. They can begin in young adulthood. They can strike men. They can strike any race or ethnicity.

Today, I’m honored to present my interview with Denise Folcik, who battled bulimia and anorexia and is now in recovery. Below, she tells the story of her struggles with both eating disorders, her experiences as an older woman in treatment and what led to her recovery. Stay tuned for part two of our interview tomorrow.

Every Monday features a tip, exercise, inspiring quote or other tidbit to help boost your body image. For many of us, Mondays are tough. We may feel anxious and stressed out, anticipating an arduous week, especially if we didn’t get much rest and relaxation during the weekend. These kinds of feelings don’t create the best environment for improving one’s body image. In fact, you might be harder on yourself and easily frustrated. You might even feel like you’re walking on egg shells – with yourself! With these posts, I hope you’ll have a healthier and happier body image day, that’ll last throughout the week.

Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky@gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. It can be anything you do that’s healthy and helps boost your body image. I’d love to hear from you!

“As my body was changing and becoming healthy, I wanted to find something to aid me in the ever-so-difficult feat of accepting my new vehicle. I wanted something positive to say each time I saw myself in a negative light or if I was having a bad body image day. So I decided to come up with a body mantra. I figured that saying (or should I say singing) this mantra over and over would help to convert the negative thoughts to positive ones. So I sat down armed with paper and pen and got to work.”