Positive Body Image
Although it is normal to have some negative feelings about your looks, it becomes unhealthy when you let these thoughts control your life.
Ok, we're not saying to stop watching TV or unsubscribe from your favorite teen magazine, but be careful how you're using the images you see on TV and on paper. Don't use an actor's or model's body as your standard for "normal" or "perfect". Actors endure long, hard, boring hours of physical training to obtain their looks. They are placed on restricted diets where every morsel of food is accounted for. Wouldn't you rather be spending your time doing something more fun? Isn't it nice to eat the foods you love without worrying about the millions of people that will be watching you on TV and analyzing your image to no extent?
Don't envy the models. Some people are born with the genes for a small, slim figure. This is not the only body type around, so there's no reason to feel like you're not normal if you don't look like them. Plus, the final image you see in print has been edited and airbrushed to the finest detail. You're not looking at their true, natural body, so there's no need to compare yourself to a digitally enhanced image. It is really the way you carry yourself - not how you look - that really makes you successful, unique, and loved.
The mirror can be very deceiving. What you see in the mirror isn't the real you anyway. Why? First of all, it is a reflection of yourself. Secondly, you are 3D and the mirror is 2D. Thirdly, lighting can affect what you see in the mirror. If you stand in dark light, you may notice more shadows on your body. If you stand in bright light, you may notice parts of your body are "highlighted" and accentuated. Finally, you may be affecting what you see in the mirror. If you look in the mirror and believe you are beautiful, you will see beauty. If you feel horrible about yourself and then look in the mirror, you will notice your flaws. They will stand out to you, even if no one else notices them. Sometimes people who have lost weight still look in the mirror and see their "fat" even though it's not there anymore. Your mind really does affect what you see in the mirror.
If you are feeling down about how you look, try keeping a positive comments journal. When you look in the mirror, write down one positive thing you like about yourself. If you every have a day where you hate how you look or nothing seems to fit right, take a look at your journal. After reading your many positive comments, you may feel like your one negative comments isn't such a big deal anymore. There's hundreds of reasons why you love yourself, so why dwell on the one thing you find wrong?
