{Sui’s beautiful e-book}

We talked about self-care on Monday, about how we can add short activities to our day that help us feel more alive or more relaxed or healthier overall.

But I think self-care is also a mindset, a belief system. It’s a mini philosophy that guides how you approach life and yourself.

It’s not just bursts of activities; it’s the bigger picture. It’s nourishing and honoring ourselves.

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.

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A poor body image has a way of making you forget about the amazing moments in life, both big and small. It has a way of either helping you ignore them or stomping on them altogether. It has a way of making a positive occasion into a negative one. A compliment into an insult.

Instead of focusing on the beauty of a bouquet of flowers, you’re focused on the shape of your thighs. Instead of enjoying chatting with your friends, you’re conscious about the number of calories you’ve consumed.

Instead of enjoying a soothing walk and the stunning surroundings, you’re zeroed in on the mileage you’re making. Instead of getting excited about a beautiful occasion, you’re miserable in the fitting room, trying on your 10th outfit.

While we’re preoccupied with how our bodies look and spend valuable time bashing their inability to lose weight, their cellulite or stretch marks, we forget their true magnificence.

We forget not only what our bodies do for us, but what they are and the fantastic functions they perform every single second, minute, hour and day.

Remembering just how amazing our bodies are isn’t only important for improving body image; it’s important for self-image as a whole.

As Glenn Schiraldi, Ph.D, writes in his book, 10 Simple Solutions for Building Self-Esteem, “The way we experience our body typically corresponds to the way we experience our core selves. If we reject our bodies overall because of particular perceived flaws, we are also likely to condemn our core selves for some present imperfections.”

But we can learn to appreciate our bodies. And this can help us, according to Schiraldi, “to a adopt a more accepting attitude toward our inner selves.”

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Yesterday, Julie Norman, a registered dietician, yoga instructor and Health At Every Size Supporter, talked about how women can heal their body image and food issues.

Today, in part two of our interview, Norman offers insight into the biggest nutrition myths, how to eat mindfully and why yoga helps to heal a negative body image. She also lists some of her favorite yoga resources. (By the way, I’d like to add Anna’s Curvy Yoga to the list. She’s amazing!)

Check out Norman’s website to learn more about the great work she’s doing.

Weeks ago, I was browsing the excellent More of Me to Love blog and came across Julie Norman. As soon as I read her website, I knew that I had to interview her for Weightless.

Norman is a registered dietician, yoga teacher and Health At Every Size supporter. She helps women heal both their body image insecurities and negative relationships with food.

Below, Norman discusses how readers can improve how they experience their bodies, make peace with food and interpret nutritional info.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part two!

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.

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It’s hard enough being an adult in today’s world, filled with weight-loss and diet commercials, airbrushed images, a relentless emphasis on appearance and an obsession with dieting and shame around eating.

Being a girl? Probably even more confusing and potentially damaging and demoralizing.

As I wrote in an older post on Weightless, tween and teen girls are just starting to form to their identities and figure out the world. They’re trying to make friends, yearning to belong and fit in, maybe even being bullied, dealing with a changing body, dealing with academic and other social pressures and trying to make sense of an often contradictory and damaging culture.

So what can parents and caregivers do to help girls grow up with a healthy sense of self?

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I know that we’ve talked a lot about New Year’s resolutions already. But I just came across a fantastic post by blogger and high school senior Fiona Lowenstein over at Rachel Simmons’s blog.

In it, Fiona suggests teen girls try out these 10 meaningful resolutions, instead of the usual appearance-based goals we typically see around this time.

In fact, if you’re a parent, why not talk to your kids about setting goals? You might set authentic resolutions as a family. And you might start a conversation with your child about what they’ve been reading or seeing about resolutions.

With the surge in weight-loss and diet commercials, ads and articles, this time of year is annoying at best and potentially harmful at worst. Kids soak up what they see in our shallow society and learn that beauty and thin are in — usually above all else.

But this time also presents a perfect opportunity for talking to your kids about our warped culture and body image and eating issues.

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This week was all about resolutions. So today I’m continuing with that theme by sharing more inspiration for setting intentions in 2012.

But please don’t feel any pressure to create goals in the New Year. Life is all about finding what works for you and listening to your heart.

I just love the idea of setting an intention, because like I said yesterday, it serves as my little compass, guiding my decisions and direction in life. It helps remind me of what’s important to me and what I truly want.

Some of these links are directly about body image while others aren’t. Either way, what I love about them is that there’s no weight-loss goals in sight. There’s no “work out five times a week ’til you break your back” or “how to shame yourself into skinny jeans.” These are substantial, meaty, meaningful intentions.