Body Image

Which is heavier: the extra pounds that nearly every adult (and now children) carry or the burden of missed opportunities and the regret of paths not taken?

These missed opportunities or poor decisions always appear, in hindsight, to be simple decisions of not choosing to be skinny. “If I really wanted it, I would have chosen it”.

The stage is now set for self-blame and a long list of “if only’s”:... Read more...

According to a popular fitness guru*, on his program you can: “literally choose any body you want”.... Read more...

As weight is gained, self-esteem is lost.

It is as if our lack of control and disregard for our own health is on display for all to see. Of course, this is not at all how I feel about the complexities of weight gain but how the public’s clearly demonstrated bias depicts obesity. Worse, even those carrying excess weight have been shown to judge overweight people as lazy and undisciplined.... Read more...

I wanted to follow-up the previous post about self acceptance by revisiting the insights of a client named Katie. I think we can all relate to her inner battle with self compassion and empathy.

Behavioral psychologist know that people project different personalities in different situations. For instance, your personality is likely different around your parents and siblings than at your place of work. 

Katie discovered that her personalities change too, and the one she projects to herself tends to be self defeating.

Here is what Katie wrote last week:

I think most of us want to portray a particular image of ourselves.  I know that for me, I have a "professional" image that I like to keep intact throughout my workday.  Melded in that image is the "real me" ... Read more...

How many times do we pay for one mistake? The answer is thousands of times. The human is the only animal on earth that pays a thousand times for the same mistake. The rest of the animals pay once for every mistake they make. But not us. We have a powerful memory.... Read more...

The latest Insider Story from Andrea ties nicely into the concept of acceptance. Acceptance means seeing things as they actually are and in the present moment.

Acceptance in this sense argues that rejecting what already is, is madness.... Read more...

What will you do when you lose weight? Or better yet, what is stopping you now?... Read more...

Individuals with a history of overweight or who were teased about their weight are more likely to misperceive their size and shape.

Using diagrams like the one above researchers have demonstrated this time and time again. The individual selects their body size and their selection is compared to that of a group of external observers.... Read more...