| Body Image:
The next time you wonder why you are unhappy with
the way your body looks, go to the store and buy five "beauty
magazines" and do the following:
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Look for your body in the magazines
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Look at the words to describe how you SHOULD
look
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Look at the beauty products you SHOULD use
to look like they say you SHOULD look
-
Cut out all of the words that describe the
beauty you SHOULD be striving for
After having done this numerous times and asking my clients to do this, I have found universally the same results. According to the magazines, women are preferred if they have thick hair, thick lips, thick eyelashes, thick pert breasts and curves, and a flat abdomen, thin thighs and arms and be about 10 feet tall. Is this you? Is this truly any woman you know?
Now check in with yourself and ask, "Did any of
these images look like me or describe the body I live in?" The
answer is no for most women and you need to remember that models
and their bodies are the exception to how most of us look. You
see, they are unique with their long legs and long Victoria Secret
torsos, and that's why they receive the big bucks. Remember, they
are an exception to the rule.
I recently interviewed Carolyn Strauss, a former
size 18 plus size model for Ford and she said, "If your life is
your movie and somebody else is directing it, why?" Why are so
many women allowing the media to direct how they SHOULD look?
What has happened to women as a rule that we are so dissatisfied
with our bodies?
Do you know that most fashion magazines airbrush
the pictures of their models so that it appears that they have
no cellulite, no wrinkles, no lumps or bumps? Do you remember
when Jamie Lee Curtis wore just a sports bra and shorts and no
makeup for the cover of a magazine and allowed herself to be filmed
that way? Then she got glamorous and publicly admitted that it
took a team of 12 people working on her for three hours to achieve
the "perfect" results. We need more images like Jamie Lee to remind
us that the perfection we seek is not real. Even the models don't
look perfect without work and airbrushing.
Now is the time to wake up to the fact that you
have been letting your body get in the way of your life. If you
are not happy in the body you have, you probably spend an enormous
time focusing on how bad you look, wondering if you should eat
that next bite, wondering how you can lose 20 pounds in the next
week and other thoughts that occupy your mind during all your
waking hours.
I spent so much of my life hating the image I saw
in the mirror that I ended up in my local hospital's eating disorder
program. Even after I left the program and my three years of therapy,
it took me many more years to love the body I am in. I am short
and curvy and you will not find me in the fashion model magazines
and you know what? It doesn't matter anymore. My body has done
so much for me and I am still here and able to do this work now.
I do not want any of you to go through the years of struggle and
shame that I went through. I can help you with my unique "I AM"
process to return to a moment where you loved your body and show
you how to love your body now.
If you would like to book time with me or have me
speak to a group, please contact me at gail@stepstomanage.com
or call me at 503.473.2690.
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