• How you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind.
• What you believe about your own appearance (including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations).
• How you feel about your body, including your height, shape, and weight.
• How you sense and control your body as you move. How you feel in your body, not just about your body.

• A distorted perception of your shape--you perceive parts of your body unlike they really are.
• You are convinced that only other people are attractive and that your body size or shape is a sign of personal failure.
• You feel ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body.
• You feel uncomfortable and awkward in your body.

• A clear, true perception of your shape--you see the various parts of your body as they really are.
• You celebrate and appreciate your natural body shape and you understand that a person`s physical appearance says very little about their character and value as a person.
• You feel proud and accepting of your unique body and refuse to spend an unreasonable amount of time worrying about food, weight, and calories.
• You feel comfortable and confident in your body.

People with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and obsessions with weight loss. We all may have our days when we feel awkward or uncomfortable in our bodies, but the key to developing positive body image is to recognize and respect our natural shape and learn to overpower those negative thoughts and feelings with positive, affirming, and accepting ones.

• I will accept my body in its natural shape and size.
  
  
• I will celebrate all that my body can do for me each day.
  
  
• I will treat my body with respect, giving it enough rest, fueling it with a variety of foods, exercising it moderately, and listening to what it needs.
  
  
• I will choose to resist our society?s pressures to judge myself and other people on physical characteristics like body weight, shape, or size. I will respect people based on the qualities of their character and the impact of their accomplishments.
  
  
• I will refuse to deny my body of valuable nutrients by dieting or using weight loss products.
  
  
• I will avoid categorizing foods as either ?good? or ?bad.? I will not associate guilt or shame with eating certain foods. Instead, I will nourish my body with a balance of foods, listening and responding to what it needs.
  
  
• I will not use food to mask my emotional needs.
  
  
• I will not avoid participating in activities that I enjoy (i.e., swimming, dancing, enjoying a meal) simply because I am self-conscious about the way my body looks. I will recognize that I have the right to enjoy any activities regardless of my body shape or size.
  
  
• I will believe that my self-esteem and identity come from within!!

1. Twice a day, everyday, I will ask myself: "Am I benefiting from focusing on what I believe are the flaws in my body weight or shape?"
2. I will think of three reasons why it is ridiculous for me to believe that thinner people are happier or "better." I will repeat these reasons to myself whenever I feel the urge to compare my body shape to someone else`s.
3. I will spend less and less time in front of mirrors--especially when they are making me feel uncomfortable and self-conscious about my body.
4. I will exercise for the joy of feeling my body move and grow stronger. I will not exercise simply to lose weight, purge fat from my body, or to "make-up for" calories I have eaten.
5. I will participate in activities that I enjoy, even if they call attention to my weight and shape. I will constantly remind myself that I deserve to do things I enjoy, like dancing, swimming, etc., no matter what my shape or size!
6. I will refuse to wear clothes that are uncomfortable or that I do not like but wear simply because they divert attention from my weight or shape. I will wear clothes that are comfortable and that make me feel comfortable in my body.
   
   
7. I will list 5-10 good qualities that I have, such as understanding, intelligence, or creativity. I will repeat these to myself whenever I start to feel bad about my body.
8. I will practice taking people seriously for what they say, feel, and do, not for how slender, or "well put together" they appear.
9. I will surround myself with people and things that make me feel good about myself and my abilities. When I am around people and things that support me and make me feel good, I will be less likely to base my self-esteem on the way my body looks.
10. I will treat my body with respect and kindness. I will feed it, keep it active, and listen to its needs. I will remember that my body is the vehicle that will carry me to my dreams!

1. Your body is extraordinary--begin to respect and appreciate it.
   
2. Create a list of all the things your body lets you do. Read it and add to it often.
   
3. Become aware of what your body can do each day. Remember it is the instrument of your life, not just an ornament.
   
4. Create a list of people you admire: people who have contributed to your life, your community, or the world. Consider whether their appearance was important to their success and accomplishments.
   
5. Walk with your head held high, supported by pride and confidence in yourself as a person.
   
6. Don?t let your weight or shape keep you from activities that you enjoy.
   
7. Wear comfortable clothes that you like and that feel good to your body.
   
8. Count your blessings, not your blemishes.
   
9. Think about all the things you could accomplish with the time and energy you currently spend worrying about your body and appearance. Try one!
   
10. Be your body?s friend and supporter, not its enemy.
    
11. Consider this: your skin replaces itself once a month, your stomach lining every five days, your liver every six weeks, and your skeleton every three months.
    
12. Every morning when you wake up, thank your body for resting and rejuvenating itself so you can enjoy the day.
    
13. Every evening when you go to bed, tell your body how much you appreciate what it has allowed you to do throughout the day.
    
14. Find a method of exercise that you enjoy and do it regularly. Don?t exercise to lose weight or to fight your body. Do it to make your body healthy and strong and because it makes you feel good.
    
15. Think back to a time in your life when you felt good about your body. Tell yourself you can feel like that again, even in this body at this age.
    
16. Keep a list of 10 positive things about yourself--without mentioning your appearance. Add to it!
    
17. Put a sign on each of your mirrors saying, ?I?m beautiful inside and out.?
    
18. Choose to find the beauty in the world and in yourself.
    
19. Start saying to yourself, ?Life is too short to waste my time hating my body this way.?
    
20. Eat when you are hungry. Rest when you are tired. Surround yourself with people that remind you of your inner strength and beauty.

• Focus on the qualities in yourself that you like that are not related to appearance. Spend time developing these capacities rather than letting your appearance define your identity and your worth.
  
  
• Look critically at advertisements that push the ?body building? message. Our culture emphasizes the V-shaped muscular body shape as the ideal for men. Magazines targeted at men tend to focus on articles and advertisements promoting weight lifting, body building or muscle toning. Do you know men who have muscular, athletic bodies but who are not happy? Are there dangers in spending too much time focusing on your body? Consider giving up your goal of achieving the ?perfect? male body and work at accepting your body just the way it is.
  
  
• Remember that your body size, shape, or weight does not determine your worth as a person, or your identity as a man. In other words, you are not just your body. Expand your idea of ?masculinity? to include qualities such as sensitivity, cooperation, caring, patience, having feelings, being artistic. Some men may be muscular and athletic, but these qualities in and of themselves do not make a person a ?man.?
  
  
• Find friends who are not overly concerned with weight or appearance.
  
  
• Be assertive with others who comment on your body. Let people know that comments on your physical appearance, either positive or negative, are not appreciated. Confront others who tease men about their bodies or who attack their masculinity by calling them names such as ?sissy? or ?wimp.?
  
  
• Demonstrate respect for men who possess body types or who display personality traits that do not meet the cultural standard for masculinity; e.g., men who are slender, short, or overweight, gay men, men who dress colorfully or who enjoy traditional ?non-masculine? activities such as dancing, sewing or cooking.
  
  
• Be aware of the negative messages you tell yourself about your appearance or body. Respond to negative self-talk with an affirmation. For example, if you start giving yourself a message like, ?I look gross,? substitute a positive affirmation, ?I accept myself the way I am,? or ?I?m a worthwhile person, fat and all.?
  
  
• Focus on the ways in which your body serves you and enables you to participate fully in life. In other words, appreciate how your body functions rather than obsessing about its appearance. For example, appreciate that your arms enable you to hold someone you love, your thighs enable you to run, etc.
  
  
• Aim for lifestyle mastery, rather than mastery over your body, weight, or appearance. Lifestyle mastery has to do with developing your unique gifts and potential, expressing yourself, developing meaningful relationships, learning how to solve problems, establishing goals, and contributing to life. View exercise and balanced eating as aspects of your overall approach to a life that emphasizes self-care.

Media messages about body shape and size will affect the way we feel about ourselves and our bodies only if we let them. When we effectively recognize and analyze the media messages that influence us, we remember that the media?s definitions of beauty and success do not have to define our self-image or potential.

• All media images and messages are constructions. They are NOT reflections of reality. Advertisements and other media messages have been carefully crafted with an intent to send a very specific message.
  
• Advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support a specific product or service.
  
• To convince you to buy a specific product or service, advertisers will often construct an emotional experience that looks like reality. Remember, you are only seeing what the advertisers want you to see.
  
• Advertisers create their message based on what they think you will want to see and what they think will affect you and compel you to buy their product. Just because they think their approach will work with people like you doesn?t mean it has to work with you as an individual.
  
• As individuals, we decide how to experience the media messages we encounter. We can choose to use a filter that helps us understand what the advertiser wants us to think or believe and then choose whether we want to think or believe that message. We can choose a filter that protects our self-esteem and body image.

• Talk back to the TV when you see an ad or hear a message that makes you feel bad about yourself or your body by promoting only thin body ideals.
  
• Write a letter to an advertiser you think is sending positive, inspiring messages that recognize and celebrate the natural diversity of human body shapes and sizes. Compliment their courage to send positive, affirming messages.
  
• Make a list of companies who consistently send negative body image messages and make a conscious effort to avoid buying their products. Write them a letter explaining why you are using your ?buying power? to protest their messages. Tear out the pages of your magazines that contain advertisements or articles that glorify thinness or degrade people of larger sizes. Enjoy your magazine without negative media messages about your body.
  
• Talk to your friends about media messages and the way they make you feel. Ask yourself, are you inadvertantly reinforcing negative media messages through the ways you talk to yourself (and the mirror), the comments you make to your children or friends, or the types of pictures you have on the refrigerator or around the office?

1. Appreciate all that your body can do. Every day your body carries you closer to your dreams. Celebrate all of the amazing things your body does for you --running, dancing, breathing, laughing, dreaming, etc.
   
   
2. Keep a top-10 list of things you like about yourself -- things that aren?t related to how much you weigh or what you look like. Read your list often. Add to it as you become aware of more things to like about you.
   
   
3. Remind yourself that ?true beauty? is not simply skin-deep. When you feel good about yourself and who you are, you carry yourself with a sense of confidence, self-acceptance, and openness that makes you beautiful regardless of whether you physically look like a supermodel. Beauty is a state of mind, not a state of your body.
   
   
4. Look at yourself as a whole person. When you see yourself in a mirror or in your mind, choose not to focus on specific body parts. See yourself as you want others to see
   you -- as a whole person.
   
   
5. Surround yourself with positive people. It is easier to feel good about yourself and your body when you are around others who are supportive and who recognize the importance of liking yourself just as you naturally are.
   
   
6. Shut down those voices in your head that tell you your body is not ?right? or that you are a ?bad? person. You can overpower those negative thoughts with positive ones. The next time you start to tear yourself down, build yourself back up with a few quick affirmations that work for you.
   
   
7. Wear clothes that are comfortable and that make you feel good about your body. Work with your body, not against it.
   
   
8. Become a critical viewer of social and media messages. Pay attention to images, slogans, or attitudes that make you feel bad about yourself or your body. Protest these messages: write a letter to the advertiser or talk back to the image or message.
   
   
9. Do something nice for yourself -- something that lets your body know you appreciate it. Take a bubble bath, make time for a nap, find a peaceful place outside to relax.
   
   
10. Use the time and energy that you might have spent worrying about food, calories, and your weight to do something to help others. Sometimes reaching out to other people can help you feel better about yourself and can make a positive change in our world.