Image: Glamour
This post needs no introduction, don’t you think? There are a little over 3 more months left to the year, and wouldn’t 2011 be awesome if all our body image woes were put away? Here are some of my ideas of starting to love your body the way it is… please add your own, too!
Love your best feature. Instead of focusing on the body part you hate, why not emphasize the one that you love? If you hate your nose but love your lips, why not experiment with bright and bold lip colors to show them off? Same with your body – if you love one body part more than the rest, emphasize them and dress them up.
Ban all negative body talk. Make it a point to you and your group of friends to ban negative body talk – whether it’s complaining about your weight or gossiping about someone else – both are as horrible as each other and I recommend to stop it! Anytime you or someone else even starts, don’t worry about coming across rude – just tell them to stop.
Accept people of all sizes. I cannot begin to explain the disgust I felt when an ex-boyfriend made a comment about a larger girl. Thank heavens he’s long gone form my life. I’d suggest you don’t ever be as classless as that – never make comments about other people’s size! Just like eye colors and heights, people come in different shapes and sizes. Learn to accept it and stop judging others or yourself. If everyone looked the same this planet would be extremely boring, don’t you think?
Stop comparing yourself to others. You will always find someone who has better curves, is thinner, is taller… Stop it! This obsessive comparison is the same as worrying: gives you something to do, but nothing comes out of it: It is completely useless. You will always find someone in life who is older and ahead of whatever you are pursuing, so this obsession is not only useless, it will also never end. Concentrate on ending all envy, jealously and comparison to others now.
Treat yourself with respect as you would others. You wouldn’t go up to someone and accuse them of being anorexic, or call them fat, would you? Why would you call yourself that, then? Don’t you respect yourself just as much?
Put down the magazines and unrealistic images if you cannot handle it. You really don’t need that crap - the images end up setting unachievable standards, because they are not even real! Luckily, from what I can see most magazines are starting to accept – and celebrate – all shapes and sizes.
Be thankful. So you like to complain about your fat belly? Why not be thankful you are privileged enough to have food in your stomach every night? Hate your ‘flabby’ arms? Why not be thankful that you actually have arms, while other people our age around the world may lose them in the war?
Build your self esteem. I’ve wrote about this more in the post, How to Start Building Self-Esteem, but I think one of the best things you can do is learn to accept and love yourself – because you are unique, and should celebrate that instead of hiding it.
So girls – what do you say? Are you going to make it a priority to start loving your body? (Correct answer is YES!)
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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Renee,
How are you doing miss?
Hope all is well in the island of Singapore! I’m still really enjoying my vacation:)
Yeah, it is very important to be able to accept yourself and what you look like.
However, I think that you should not just blindly accept everything about yourself when you are not happy with it.
Things like your height, skin color, facial structure…those are things you just have to accept because you can’t change them naturally.
Things like weight and fitness…those you can change and if you are unhappy about how you look because you are overweight, then either make the choice to live with it and stop moaning about it, or eat healthier and exercise more.
Ciao bella!
D
Diggy recently posted…6 Ways To Kill Procrastination And Enhance Productivity
How did I know this was coming from you, Diggy?
Lol! I agree to an extent of what you’re saying, but not about the whole “stop moaning and go to the gym”. You always have something to say about overweight people but I think you need to look at it from the other side, too? Just ’cause someone is overweight doesn’t mean they are sitting on the couch all day eating donuts… A lot of people I know who are overweight are like that due to medical conditions. Why don’t you be a little more sensitive to them? 
My dad, for example, had a serious health problem for years (and still does) and it affects his weight greatly – it’s very ignorant to just tell people like that to stop complaining and go to the gym. He doesn’t deserve comments like that and neither does anyone else!
Hey
I’m stepping on some toes and getting in your bad books…oh oh.
Ok I know there is a small (small) percentage of people who are overweight due to medical reasons like back problems or heart conditions etc. Of course there is nothing that they can do about it and I would never say to them that they are fat. I’m not mean.
But in general, I think that the majority of overweight people can get a good or great body with proper diet and good exercise. I would say that you can’t argue with that?
Otherwise we are going to have to do an experiment and find a few overweight people from around the world and get them to do 3 months of proper and healthy diet and regular exercise:)
It’s simple math, you use more calories than you consume, and you lose weight:)
Still love ya
XX
diggy recently posted…6 Ways To Kill Procrastination And Enhance Productivity
Fantastic post, Renee!
Accepting yourself is so rewarding!
Thanks so much, Michaela. It’s true, accepting yourself is so rewarding and ‘frees’ you from so much.
Hey René
I’ve been stumbling upon your post while looking for make up tips for flight attendants (as I have very dry skin)… and I am a fan of your blog since then
Awesome post, you are absolutely right!
Keep going girl
Seja recently posted…Hello world!
Oh thanks so much, Seja! Glad to have you here.
Renee. this post is really knock some sense on my head. lately,i had a ex bestfriend who blogs abt me n literally call me fat in her blog. it really affect me big time.. bt after reading this. im much more confident!
)
Wow, I am glad to hear that girl is your EX best friend… What a horrible thing to do. I had a girl rip me apart online and it was pretty awful too. I am glad you have so much more confidence now.
You should pity people who insult other people online because they don’t have the guts to say it to our faces, they have to hide behind a computer screen 
Yes dear! i agree on that! they are brave behind a computer screen!
but do you get spams from that girl who tried to rip you apart online?
shekin recently posted…I love you megan- cat!
Spams? Not sure what you mean but no, I don’t know her too well (which made the whole thing more ridiculous ’cause she hardly knows me, yet wrote all that stuff about me), so I wouldn’t know if she’s still doing it or whatever. And who cares? She’s a loser. So is that girl who won’t leave you alone… ignore her, cut off all contact from her and move on with your life!
Spams your blog i mean. yes totally agree with it. people can only hurt us if we let them!
Hello, this doesn’t really concern with the post.
I cannot come to this site when i’m using mobile broadband. =(.
Its strange cos it only happen with ur site.
Oh dear, I’m not sure how I can help you with that…
where are you from, Kip?
=).Singapore.Funny thing is i discovered ur blog when i was living in bangkok and didn’t know this blog is from singapore.
How can we build up our self-esteem, if people like you, make fun of people who happen to naturally be a size zero? You don’t have to put other people down to make yourself feel better. There is a word for that, bullying. We are real people too!
In today’s society, there is a celebrity obsession, and it is not normal, it is sick/unhealthy. People should not be looking up to celebrities as their role models. That whole culture of obsession is the reason why people are unhappy with the way they look in the first place. It’s the media brainwashing us into thinking we’re never good enough, and we have to fix this and that to feel beautiful and be accepted by our peers. In some cases, women even get plastic surgery to have say, one of the more popular requests, Scarlett Johanssen lips or Jennifer Anistons’ nose. Celebrities are real people too, who make mistakes like everybody else, they aren’t anymore special than you are I.
Hey, I think you have misunderstood the intention of this post! Would you please tell me where I make fun of people who are naturally thin? As someone who is naturally thin myself, I really don’t see why I would do that…
And I agree on the obsession with celebrity culture. I’m guessing you’re new to my site ’cause generally I write about my disdain for all things Hollywood! However, like it or not, people look up to celebrities so that is why I may name them as an example, because everyone knows their names and can understand my point quicker. And of course I know they are not more special than you and I – again, where did I imply they are better than us? :/
Well, I have a LOT to say on this topic, but I’ll try to keep it short! It’s taken me years to get to the point where I totally accept my body, but it’s been so worth it. We all come in different sizes, shapes, colors, etc., and no one is inherently “better” than another. I dieted for years, yo-yoed up and down, and after it all, I am EXACTLY the same size and weight that I was when I graduated high school (I’m 30 now). So what was the point?
There are just so many more productive things we could be doing than beating ourselves up for how we look. When you let go of your body obsession, you suddenly free up tremendous amounts of creativity and mental energy that you can apply toward doing things that make you feel GOOD! Imagine that!
Principessa Grassa recently posted…And Now for Something Very Slightly Different
Hey Principessa, wow what a wonderful comment – you are so inspirational! Thanks for writing, I agree 100% with everything you said!
Hey Renee!
Love this post! It’s absolutely true, because so many of girls my age are struggling with their body image (Including me, I admit it).
One of my best friends is OBSESSED with Victoria’s Secret and their size 2 models. She is constantly bagging on herself, saying she doesn’t have Candice Swanepoel’s stomach or Miranda Kerr’s legs. But the truth is, she’s beautiful and and has a great body. Moral to that little story is that I believe that the media really does have a HUGE affect on people’s self confidence, because it sets unrealistic standards.
On a lighter note, LOVE your blog Renee, as always:)
XXX Briana
Hey Briana, thanks so much! Yeah, it’s a part of life and growing up, I suppose – we’ve all been there! Hopefully this post will inspire others to start loving themselves just the way they are and celebrate their uniqueness!
And yes, the media affects how we think GREATLY and as a media student I know how powerful the media is; so I really hope they start to preach good messages on body image instead of the crap they are putting out now!
Hey Renee!
Well said! =)
Lots of love…
Hey SzeLing, there you are! Thanks, love!
Thanks for this post. It changed me and made me think in another way. I dont know how to thank you!
Oh XinHwee thank you so much – I feel really happy hearing that! I’m so glad this post has helped you.
Great article!
Kimberly recently posted…Yes- It Is Time For A Giveaway!!!
Thanks, Kim!
I love this. I need to learn to love my body.
I’ve been anorexic since my new year’s resoultion to lose weight got out of hand. I dropped from 120lbs to 95 (I’m 5’5..) and have been in outpatient recovery for a good few months now..I’m hoping 2011 can be a healthy confident year for me!!
I’m so sorry to hear this, Shay. You are so strong!
I am glad to hear you are doing well and wish you all the best for your recovery… I too hope 2011 can be a great year for you! 
xx
Funny thing is, I can also see how people are starting to retaliate against thinness in real life, and they start going on and on about “curvy” or “real” women. Please don’t misunderstand me: I’m NOT saying you do that. But it is just as insulting to have someone tell me I am “not really” a woman because I’m a size 0, as it would be for me to call a larger woman fat. Like you, I am naturally thin. I’m also relatively short (5’1).
I just wish that we could all accept women for who they are, instead of drifting between idolizing the two extremes. The reason why I get annoyed when people become scathing when they talk about my weight is because they use it as an insult, or almost a challenge! This is because in the past, the media has told us being skinny is desirable- but now it seems to be the opposite in many cases- and since curvier women have been so maligned, some girls seem to take other girls being small as a personal insult (or a joke). Apparently I must have an eating disorder because I’m skinny, right?
Honestly, as a bisexual woman, I find many female body shapes attractive. (And I don’t mean that in a weird way; apologies if I’m being irrelevant. I’m just trying to illustrate a point!) As an art historian also, I have an aesthetic interest in both male and female nude forms… and if there weren’t different kinds to look at, the world would be so bland!
If you’re healthy and comfortable, that confidence will serve you so much better than the latest fashions or “ideal figure.”
Hey Mollie – I totally agree with you.
I think it’s very tricky with the whole weight thing but generally I think as long as someone isn’t in any sort of health risk (by either being too much underweight or too overweight), I think that their body is perfect the way it is.
But I have to agree that now thinness seems to be looked down upon, after years of the media telling us our body shape is “ideal”… very confusing. My thought on this would just to try to ignore the media and their thoughts on body image in general because it’s contradicting, confusing and unhealthy (it’s obviously VERY hard to avoid this, but try!)
I just wish people as a whole would not make comments about people’s bodies – first of all, how is it any of their business? I TOTALLY understand what you mean about not being a so-called “real woman”. In highschool the boys would say all sorts of vile things because I was thin and had a boyish figure (read: no chest, haha). Apparently if you don’t have a chest you’re actually a man. Who knew?! Idiots… little do they know I actually really like being flat
Long story short, like you said, all body shapes and sizes are beautiful, it’s the differences that make us unique and all this weight talk should be long gone… perfect, barbie-doll like human beings would be so boring!
send me picture
I LOVE this blog post! I found it when I did a Google image search for “beautiful self image.” I am so in love with the picture of the women that it’s now my desktop wallpaper.
Thanks.
Ah, OK, got it. No, I don’t think she spams… I really don’t know, it was a long time ago and I forgot about it until your comment reminded me, haha!
And yes, your last statement is so true! Ignore the haters, they are just really unhappy with their lives.