Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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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Body image goes beyond loving your body to really loving yourself. Like anything else it’s a process, and I know that self-love can sound intimidating and maybe even abstract.

That’s why I love photographer and blogger Vivenne McMaster’s current series, “14 Days of Self-Love,” on her beautiful blog. For 14 days, a different contributor offers their take on self-love along with an activity for learning and practicing self-love.

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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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Self-care is a pivotal part of a positive body image. But many people neglect to take good care of themselves because they don’t think they have the time in their already hectic schedules. Their days involve hopping from task to task with very little downtime.

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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!

{via etsy}

Last Friday, we talked about how magnificent our bodies truly are. These facts came from Glenn Schiraldi’s book 10 Simple Solutions for Building Self-Esteem. As he writes, “The way we experience our body typically corresponds to the way we experience our core selves.”

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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!

{via etsy}

Do you ever think that you have several different bodies? The one you’re in right now, and then your real body, the one that’s leaner, more muscular, has better skin?

Last week freelance writer and blogger Kate, who blogs at “Eat the Damn Cake,” wrote a brilliant post about these several bodies. Your real body, she writes:

… might be from the past or the future. It’s mysterious, but thoroughly detailed. The real body gets obscured by the obnoxious, floppy, hungry, unflattering  current one. The real body is like a place you really, really want to go. Where life makes more sense. Where it’s sunnier and you can wear a bathing suit without even thinking about it.

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve avoided wearing my prettiest clothes because I was saving them for a nicer occasion. Or avoided spraying my favorite perfume because I was just staying home or running an errand. Or avoided using any other nice products until some special moment arrived.

I’d let these items gather dust like fine china in a dining room cabinet. Because everyday occasions just didn’t make the special list.

I caught myself doing this last week when I contemplated putting on perfume. I’m just going to the store and will be spending the entire day at my parents’ house. I’d just be wasting it.

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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!

{via etsy}

Building a positive body image is more than gaining a genuine appreciation for and acceptance of your body. It’s learning to love yourself as a whole. For many of us, this might seem like an overwhelming concept. But like I always say, it’s one step, one strategy, one tool at a time.

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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!

{via etsy}

The New Year is a great time to reflect and start anew. And reflecting on the past year can bring about important insights for moving forward.

Author, speaker and blogger Patti Digh recently asked several powerful questions about 2011 on her blog. Along with author Susan Piver, Digh hosted “The Week of Inward Looking” during the week between Christmas and the New Year.

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Every year, many of us, very many of us, resolve to shed pounds by dieting or exercising most days per week. We resolve to be rigid and strict with ourselves. We resolve to rein ourselves in.

Maybe we say we’re not eating any chocolate ever again. Or we’ll just have one dessert a week. And we’ll only skip a workout if we’re super sick. Maybe we pick exercise that we don’t like very  much but know that it’s “guaranteed” to burn calories. Maybe we wake up before the sun comes up because an hour of exercise is supposedly superior to 30 minutes.

Resolutions get a bad rap. And I think it’s because for so many people, resolutions look like the above. They’re filled with shoulds. And who looks forward to making resolutions that we don’t want to do in the first place? Or ones that we want to accomplish but don’t respect our bodies? Or ones that don’t dig deeper to discover what we truly want?

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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!

A big part of having a positive body image is taking good care of yourself. It’s supporting your body by being gentle and compassionate.

Doing so creates a positive cycle. Taking good care of yourself relaxes and soothes your body, which, of course, helps you feel more relaxed. Once you’re more relaxed, you’re less inclined to beat up on your body. Because we know that stress can fuel an already iffy body image (or emotional eating).

Every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit that helps boost your body image, whether directly or indirectly — and hopefully kick-starts 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!

{via etsy}

I believed in Santa until I was about nine. Yes, that’s right. (And, in fact, I still do.)

The holidays are all about our beliefs in something, our religious beliefs, our beliefs in love, compassion, family, friendship and generosity.

Our beliefs, of course, can color our perspective on life, ourselves and our actions. So, today, I thought we’d dig deeper and examine our body image beliefs.