10 Steps for Loving Your Body Just As It Is:  

(From http://www.fwhc.org/index.htm )        

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine states, "Until we have better data about the risks of being overweight and the benefits and risks of trying to lose weight, we should remember that the cure for obesity may be worse than the condition."

1. Be around people who accept themselves as they are. join a support group, or start one if necessary-talk and listen to others who are on the same path.

2. Read books, pamphlets, and articles on self-acceptance; look at art; and watch films and videos with strong, beautiful characters of different sizes and shapes.

3. Buy full-length mirrors and appreciate yourself from all directions. Look at yourself standing, sitting, from the back, naked, clothed, every way.

4. Buy and wear great clothes you like and feel good in. Get rid of uncomfortable and ill-fitting clothing, and anything you've been saving "until it fits."

5. Take pictures of yourself. Let others take pictures of you. Don't avoid being in group pictures-in fact, insist on standing in the front row.

6. Stop being so hard on yourself.

7. Start acting as if you love and have always loved your body.

8. Learn to recognize size discrimination, diet obsession, fatphobia, and body hatred in the world around you -- in advertising, in television and movies, in public accommodations, on the street, and among your family and friends.

9. Start the process of "coming out" as a self-accepting person by telling your family, friends, co-workers, etc. of your decision:
    * to stop obsession about your weight and appearance
    * to give up dieting and the goal of losing weight, and
    * to accept yourself and your looks as you are

10. Become an advocate for the rights of people of any size, shape, color, ability, or physical appearance. Interrupt sizism, racism, looksism, ableism, sexism, and other prejudicial attitudes wherever you encounter them.                                            

Back to Inspirations