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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.

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I came out of the womb nervous, insecure and afraid — of everything from roller-coasters to exams to extreme emotions. (Likely thanks to a combo of genetics and birth trauma.)

I’ve lived most of my life second-guessing myself, being indecisive, listening to others (instead of myself) and truly believing that I wasn’t good enough as I was. That I needed to change many things.

My negative body image stemmed, in part, from these deeply ingrained beliefs. That I had to earn a positive body image by losing weight and looking a certain way. That I had to earn respect, love, connection and a meaningful life this way as well.

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Recently I was reading this blog post by Golda, a coach, consultant and author, at Body Love Wellness. And she made a really powerful observation about the holidays and setting New Year’s resolutions. She writes:

It feels inevitable. December is all about holidays and parties and joy and togetherness. There are bright lights and gifts and delicious food and hundreds of tubas playing carols. At least, that’s the hope. It’s a time of year when we try, as best we can, to connect with our abundance and our joy.

Then, suddenly, January 2nd rolls around, and we’re asked to drop all of that merriment and get real. We’re supposed to take note of our flaws and resolve to be better — to eat better, to exercise more, to party less, to stop having such a darn good time and get down to work, usually on 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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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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Today, I’m sharing the top 11 Weightless posts that received the most views in 2011. Below, you’ll find posts on everything from self-acceptance and self-care to body image boosters and Health At Every Size.

Also, I want to thank you for reading Weightless. It means a lot to me that you come here, comment and read my words. I hate to sound cliche, but it’s true: Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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With the holidays in full swing, I’ve been thinking a lot about family traditions. For instance, in Russia, New Year’s Eve is a huge holiday. Everyone has a New Year’s tree with beautiful ornaments, and we exchange gifts at midnight on December 31st. We’ve been celebrating this way for decades — maybe even a century — and have carried these traditions over to the U.S.

Traditions are important. Tradition connects us to our family, to our faith and to ourselves.

(By the way, if anyone just started singing the song “Tradition” from “Fiddler on the Roof,” let me just say that a) I understand and b) you’re awesome.)

It gives us something to look forward to. And it carries our heritage from generation to generation.

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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?

“Many eating problems aren’t really about food. They are about self-soothing,” writes clinical psychologist Susan Albers, Psy.D, in her book 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food.

And the holidays may be a time when we need extra soothing. While the holidays are filled with joyful moments, they can be stressful.

You might have to see family you’re not particularly fond of. Or add 20 tasks to your already long to-do list. Or travel across the country. Or deal with more responsibilities at work.

All the while you might be in desperate need of comfort and calm. And perhaps looking for it in all the wrong places.

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 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.