Body image questions
What’s a simple activity that consistently contributes to your positive body image?
Yoga and aquafit. Being active makes me appreciate what my body is able to do and that it is relatively healthy.
What’s something you know now about body image that you didn’t know when you were 18 years old?
Yes, that I need to accept and love the way I look RIGHT NOW! When I think back to my body image when I was 18 I feel sad that I didn't realize how smoking hot I was. I was slender and youthful and I wish I could have appreciated that then, but it's the past, so now I am working to appreciate it now.
Is there anything you find yourself doing repeatedly that gets in the way of your body image?
Yes. I compare myself to other people way too often. Both my body vs theirs and also their accomplishments vs mine. It makes me feel insecure and envious. I am working on not comparing myself to others, but rather identifying what I like about myself or what I would like to work on in myself.
Is there a body image mantra or motto (or any kind really) that you’ve found very helpful? (Gretchen uses the motto “Be Gretchen.”)
Not so much a mantra, but by working on focusing on how I feel physically right now, in the present, it's helping me to be more appreciative of my health and my body. I mean, it's pretty awesome how well it works. I am great at crafts and drawing and that's because I have extremely coordinated hands that I have developed fine motor skills in. I also appreciate my long strong legs. I can walk great distances and walk quickly. That's something to be grateful for.
Have you always felt about the same level of body image, or have you been through a period when you felt exceptionally better about your body and yourself as a whole - if so, why? If you were unhappy with your body or yourself, how did you become happier?
Right now my body image is the best it's been except for a period in 2007-2008. I was thin at that point and walking a lot.
Currently I am happier because I am taking care of myself, I am developing daily practices of gratitude and I am working on being in the present.
Have you ever been surprised that something you expected would make you feel better about yourself, didn’t - or vice versa?
I have been so surprised how good yoga has made me feel about myself. I haven't been in 4 days and I am feeling awful, but I wasn't free for any of the classes over the weekend and I am now sick. I didn't expect that it would make me love my body the way it has. It needs to be a regular practice for me.
Losing weight actually does make me feel better about myself, but my difficulty in maintaining weight loss makes me feel bad. I sometimes assume that new clothes will make me feel better about myself, but they usually don't
Taken from here. http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2011/01/essential-body-image-questions-to-ask-yourself/
Yoga and aquafit. Being active makes me appreciate what my body is able to do and that it is relatively healthy.
What’s something you know now about body image that you didn’t know when you were 18 years old?
Yes, that I need to accept and love the way I look RIGHT NOW! When I think back to my body image when I was 18 I feel sad that I didn't realize how smoking hot I was. I was slender and youthful and I wish I could have appreciated that then, but it's the past, so now I am working to appreciate it now.
Is there anything you find yourself doing repeatedly that gets in the way of your body image?
Yes. I compare myself to other people way too often. Both my body vs theirs and also their accomplishments vs mine. It makes me feel insecure and envious. I am working on not comparing myself to others, but rather identifying what I like about myself or what I would like to work on in myself.
Is there a body image mantra or motto (or any kind really) that you’ve found very helpful? (Gretchen uses the motto “Be Gretchen.”)
Not so much a mantra, but by working on focusing on how I feel physically right now, in the present, it's helping me to be more appreciative of my health and my body. I mean, it's pretty awesome how well it works. I am great at crafts and drawing and that's because I have extremely coordinated hands that I have developed fine motor skills in. I also appreciate my long strong legs. I can walk great distances and walk quickly. That's something to be grateful for.
Have you always felt about the same level of body image, or have you been through a period when you felt exceptionally better about your body and yourself as a whole - if so, why? If you were unhappy with your body or yourself, how did you become happier?
Right now my body image is the best it's been except for a period in 2007-2008. I was thin at that point and walking a lot.
Currently I am happier because I am taking care of myself, I am developing daily practices of gratitude and I am working on being in the present.
Have you ever been surprised that something you expected would make you feel better about yourself, didn’t - or vice versa?
I have been so surprised how good yoga has made me feel about myself. I haven't been in 4 days and I am feeling awful, but I wasn't free for any of the classes over the weekend and I am now sick. I didn't expect that it would make me love my body the way it has. It needs to be a regular practice for me.
Losing weight actually does make me feel better about myself, but my difficulty in maintaining weight loss makes me feel bad. I sometimes assume that new clothes will make me feel better about myself, but they usually don't
Taken from here. http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2011/01/essential-body-image-questions-to-ask-yourself/