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To bid adieu to the old year, I wanted to look back at some old posts from 2010. So I chose the top 10 most read posts this year.

I hope everyone has a very healthy, happy and nourishing New Year!

Be safe, and have fun!

Below, you’ll find everything from body image and weight to self-acceptance and self-love.

I love food blogs. But I don’t cook. And I certainly don’t bake.

Yet, I love food. Many types of foods. In fact, I love most foods equally.

To me, an apple is just as delectable as a cookie or piece of chocolate. It just depends on what my body is craving at the time. (Clearly, in the photo above it was craving some dark chocolate. Yum!)

As I’ve been following Reverb 10 a bit, I was thrilled to see a food-related prompt that celebrated eating and connected it to deeper things.

Prompt: Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget?

What went into your mouth & touched your soul?

(Author: Elise Marie Collins)

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Today, I wanted to switch gears from our New Year’s posts and talk about a critical topic: Eating disorders in kids.

Weeks ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a report with the following findings:

• From 1999 to 2006, hospitalizations for eating disorders increased most sharply – 119 percent – for children younger than 12 years.
• Approximately 0.5 percent of adolescent girls in the United States have anorexia.
• Approximately 1 to 2 percent meet diagnostic criteria for bulimia.
• Up to 5 to 10 percent of all cases of eating disorders occur in males.

(You can download the report here.)

To get some insight on these findings and EDs in kids, I spoke with Ovidio Bermudez, M.D., medical director of the Eating Recovery Center’s Behavioral Hospital for Children and Adolescents.

Mondays can be rough for many of us, and this doesn’t create the ideal environment for building a better body image. To help you turn that around, every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit to help boost your body image – and kick-start the week on a positive note.

Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky at gmail dot com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. I’d love to hear from you!

I’ve been following the Reverb 10 prompts and, as soon as I read this one, I knew it’d be perfect for today’s body image post:

Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.

(Author: Tracey Clark)

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Last year, I wrote a post on 22 last-minute gifts you can give yourself to boost your body image and your day.

This year, I’d like to share 10 more ideas with you about nourishing yourself and others.

(By the way, please don’t fault me for the Christmas-inspired title. I couldn’t resist!)

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Around this time of year, many life coaches and bloggers talk about creating one word to encapsulate the following year.

Your intention for the New Year. Your theme.

For instance, I interviewed business coach Nona Jordan for an article on setting resolutions. Her 2010 theme was: “Lean In,” which she discussed in this blog post.

To her, lean in signified, “leaning into the good, the uncomfortable, and the scary. Revealing and being more authentically who I am meant to be in the world.”

Author Gretchen Rubin’s word for next year is “bigger.”

All this intention-setting got me thinking about my own one word or theme.

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Yesterday, I talked about Reverb 10. Today, I’m using one of their prompts as inspiration:

What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)

Instead of talking about my own 11 things that my life doesn’t need in 2011, I wanted to talk about the things that I wish every reader could get rid of, or more accurately, work to get rid of.

Mondays can be rough for many of us, and this doesn’t create the ideal environment for building a better body image. To help you turn that around, every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit to help boost your body image – and kick-start the week on a positive note.

Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky at gmail dot com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. I’d love to hear from you!

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Journaling can help to improve your body image and self-image.

Letting your words spill onto the paper – or your computer – is freeing. It lets you be introspective.

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My holidays used to go something like this:

Brace myself for the buffet by considering what I’m not going to eat. Brace myself like I was bracing for a blow to the brain. Psyche myself up like I was running a marathon.

I’d try to muster up all the willpower I could, so I’d be a “good” eater, and wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt afterward.

Then, once I’d get to the holiday party, I’d pick. A little here and a little there. I’d just pace myself.

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When we try to mold our bodies into something they’re not, we lose ourselves.

We sabotage our self-discovery.

For instance, years ago, I was so focused on my outside that I didn’t take the time to discover my inside.

Who was the real me? What did I like? What truly made me happy?