Stephanie Wood,PCC is The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Body Image". You can find complete information on Stephanie Wood,PCC and her products by visiting Body Awe - Dance the Dance of Life.
With my new book, Nothing Changes Until You Do, just released I’ve been reflecting a bit on the whole experience of writing this new book and now putting it out into the world. As with my previous two book writing and launching experiences, it has been exciting, challenging, fun, vulnerable, ... Views: 1916
This is an excerpt from my new book Nothing Changes Until You Do, posted with permission. Published by Hay House and available online or in bookstores.
I was in the bathroom one morning a number of years ago getting ready for my day. As I was shaving and taking care of my morning routine, my ... Views: 1766
Many people that have consistently been struggling with their weight may sooner or later turn to humorous, self-criticism as a defence mechanism. Overweight people have often been stereotyped in society and popular culture as the heart and soul of the party because of their humorous approach ... Views: 1658
When you look in the mirror, do you see reflected back the image you keep of yourself in your head? So often I feel that somehow time has raced ahead and left the “me” with whom I seem to personally identify, locked securely in image, thought and feeling, frozen in my mind. I look at my ... Views: 1699
1. Blueberries
Blueberries have more antioxidants—those magical molecules that can help prevent a host of maladies—than 40 other common fruits and vegetables tested.
The antioxidant plant pigments that make blueberries blue guard against heart disease, cancer and age-related blindness and ... Views: 1872
That’s always been an interesting question, especially since the one asking is portrayed as an evil, mean quuen (Snow White’s step mother.) It represents ego and our obsession with how we look and the superficiality that comes from wanting to be pleasing to others’ eyes.
But what if this was ... Views: 2440
Fitness is rightly said “the master key to happiness”. In the hum-drum of our lives, we often tend to ignore the most important aspect of a good well being i.e. our health. It is often said that a healthy mind exists in a healthy body, but surprisingly, in today’s time health has definitely ... Views: 1452
Self-esteem is something people want to achieve but are clueless on how to get it. Most people will read a lot of self-help books or pay a shrink to get a glimpse of that elusive character trait.
The fact is most people have low self-esteem. Even those who seem to have it all often feel that ... Views: 1279
I spent the first half of my life as a svelte size 8 the other half as very obese. In hindsight, unlike many people who have never known what it feels like to be thin, I know what being thin feels like,but I also know what being fat feels like.However what has always remained constant is that I ... Views: 1517
Imagine I would tell you that you can have an awesome body, lively, vibrant, awesome, gorgeous and oozing with sex appeal? What if I would tell you that you can possibly be focused, creative and ready to take on the world all day, everyday?
You probably want me to say now that there is a ... Views: 1430
Physical therapy programs are scheduled after reviewing your medical history, age and health conditions. These are effective in treating chronic neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain.
Physical Therapy – Effective Choice to Alleviate Chronic Pain
Chronic pain due to different illnesses and ... Views: 1522
Let’s face it Barbie is a cultural icon. There aren’t too many people who are known on a first-name only basis. She’s in the category with Elvis, Beyoncé, and Oprah.
To make matters worse—she’s perfect. She’s 54 years old and super sexy. She has a perfect body, perfect hair, and a perfect ... Views: 1328
Perception is a quirky thing.
Because, sometimes, lurking in the not-too-hidden recesses of our minds, is a part of us that wants to keep us in pain, shame, hopelessness. And it often it does this by lying to us. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
And we believe . . .
We must ... Views: 1892
Wow, it’s 2010! Is anyone besides me wondering what happened to 2009? Do any of us remember the resolutions we made at the beginning of last year? If you’re like most people, by January 1st you had a list of resolutions that revolved around weight loss and exercise habits. And… if you’re like ... Views: 1879
Somewhere in the mid 1980’s, during that fifteen year stretch in between husband #1 and my second and forever husband, the song “The Greatest Love of All” came out. It was popularized by Whitney Houston but my favorite version is the one by George Benson. The song is about learning to love one’s ... Views: 2359
In my office waiting room, I have an oil painting of a small rowboat adrift on the sea. The boat is empty, about to go under and the sea is turbulent. It was painted by a former client, a young woman who I met when she had been struggling with bulimia for seven years. She gave me that painting ... Views: 1857
Ever hear of Oxytocin? No, not the painkiller, oxycontin, but the hormone that is released in childbirth and assists in the bonding experience between mother and child. Well, more and more research is demonstrating that oxytocin is also the female prosperity hormone, and responsible for not only ... Views: 2119
Hot flashes. Night sweats. Vaginal dryness. Thinning pubic hair. Mental confusion. Increased depression, anxiety, and irritability. Slower metabolism. Thickening waistline. Weight gain. Thinning bones. Wrinkling skin. Decreased sex drive. Painful intercourse. Yes, these and more are the many ... Views: 1761
In her 1985 book, entitled “Making Peace with Food”, Susan Kano chronicles her decision to feed her body, rather than starving it and to no longer focus on weight, size, and body obsessions. The book is part autobiography and part practical guide and is as relevant today as it was when she wrote ... Views: 1680
I am 63 years old! Have I ever told you that? I realized that I seldom reveal my actual age these days. Not because of the stereotypical female thing – we lie about our age and our weight. And I never was that way when I was younger. In fact, I threw myself a fortieth birthday party and proudly ... Views: 2178
I have a client who says to me every now and again, “I wish I had your life. You always seem so happy.” I smile and think about some of the “discussion” I have had with my husband or that the cost of medical attention for our animals is putting my vet in a higher tax bracket or how irritated I ... Views: 1841
A while ago, one of my clients gave birth and decided to breastfeed her infant so she often brought her baby to therapy. Sometimes in the middle of session, it was time to eat. I’d watch the baby start to cry, curl her fists, scrunch up her face, and make rigid her little body. She was hungry ... Views: 1695
This summer, I did one of the most courageous things a woman can do – I tried on bathing suits – and actually purchased two! We were going on vacation in August, renting a house for a week on the Atlantic and I wanted to go to the beach in a bathing suit that flattered my body type and felt ... Views: 1723
I was in a car accident recently. It wasn’t a big one and thank God no one was hurt. However, accidents are jolting and can make us feel very vulnerable. After the initial shock, I wanted to eat. For me and for many of us, food calms and soothes. It transports us from our fears, our anxieties, ... Views: 1519
A couple of things happened this past August that made me wonder about beauty and what it means to be beautiful.
At the beginning of the month, I went to a fancy schmantzy family wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. There were people there I had not seen in decades. (That’s what happens when ... Views: 3646
“I’m addicted to food.” “I’m a foodacholic”. I hear many of my clients express these beliefs and if the truth be told, I used to say the same things about myself. I remember planning binges that consisted of high fat, high sugar, and high salt foods. One of my favorite “meals” after a long, hard ... Views: 1576
Weight loss efforts are one of the most problematic things for many people to do. Losing weight is not an easy task. In fact, to some it is a never ending struggle. Trying all possible means to lost that stubborn fats and yet, nothing happens. The result of the struggle only leads to more ... Views: 3371
What is Self-Love?
For me, Self-Love means that I am making my needs a priority in my life.
Society teaches women to put the needs of others in front of ourselves. For years I did that. Work came first. When I married, my husband came first. Then when my daughter was born her needs ... Views: 1501
I think that men have it easier than women. No, I’m not going to discuss the state of the feminist movement in 2013, nor the equal pay for equal work debate. However, I am going to state that men have more body acceptance than women – and we women can learn a lot about this from ... Views: 3097
When I was twenty-four years old, I became a divorced woman. I had been married for four and a half years and in relationship with this man/ boy since I was eighteen. Getting divorced rocked my world, turned it upside down, pulled the rug out from under me, and knocked me on my tushy. All the ... Views: 2920
One of the reasons I love my husband so much is that he thinks most of the models in the Victoria Secret catalogues are “too skinny”. Yes, that’s a direct quote and boy, am I glad, since at five feet tall and a size 8 petite, I’ll never make the front cover – nor the inside pages for that ... Views: 1976
Remember the Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”? It’s the story of a lightning-fast rabbit and a plod-along turtle that are seemingly mismatched in a race. It was the tortoise, annoyed with the hare’s boastful assertions of being faster than the wind, that challenged the hare. To the ... Views: 1726
By: Stan Popovich
When your dealing with your mental health issues and your fears, it is important to get some help from a counselor. Here are some reasons why it is important to get professional help to help cope with your fears and anxieties.
Getting some kind of help can lead to ways on ... Views: 1577
A hundred years ago, Renoir painted “La Toilette” (The Bather), a portrait of a young woman in the nude. She has long, auburn hair, full breasts and hips, a rounded belly, and, if the truth be told, thighs that look like mine. She’s voluptuous and she’s beautiful! One hundred years ago she was ... Views: 1872
We hear it said that mind and body are not two separate aspects of us, they are connected; yet we keep thinking that we hate this part of our body, we dislike that part of our body. Once I was teaching a course “Self-Hypnosis for Weight Loss”, and I asked participants before we got into the ... Views: 2088
Personal hygiene and cleanliness are the factors affect the functioning of the body systems. The efficient functioning depends upon the food intake and the existing environment. There are elevated risks of food adulteration in the market which affects the digestive and respiratory systems and ... Views: 1504
During psychotherapy many clients have admitted to me that they "feel ugly". What inevitably comes to light, as the work continues, is that feelings of ugliness are really feelings of shame and unlovableness.
Our sense of who we are begins with how our mother looks into our eyes. What we see ... Views: 2308
This past winter I was watching a football game with my husband and the TV camera panned across the stadium. A whole section of fans raised large foam fists with extended index fingers and shouted “We’re #1!” That moment got me thinking about what it means to be number one. Regarding what? To ... Views: 1873
Lacking Confidence to Be Happy? Learn the Movie Stars Tricks!
Fifty percent of the people in the world are searching for happiness, success, confidence, money and love. At birth new babies were not given a book with instructions and neither were most new parents, so everyone bungled along ... Views: 2647
So many women I know say something like this: I don’t know when to stop eating. I need a zipper on my mouth and someone to pull it shut because I don’t know how to stop. I’m out of control around food. I’m an addict and food is my drug of choice. These thoughts and feelings make us feel bad ... Views: 1807
How do we know if we’re hungry?
Have you ever had the experience of eating foods that you love when you are genuinely, physically hungry? When your body has signaled you that it is hungry? If you have, then you know that eating from hunger, from true physical hunger, is one of the most joyous ... Views: 2623
The last time that I participated in an organized weight loss program was about thirty years ago, but I remember the experience as if it was yesterday. “What number do you want as your goal weight?” asked the receptionist at my first visit. I chose a number that I had weighed after my divorce ... Views: 1907
I’m getting a Ph. D.! According to Dr. Christiane Northrup, any woman who looks at her naked body in a full-length mirror, every day, is in a Body Image Ph.D. program. You may have seen Dr. Northrup during Mountain Lake PBS fundraisers and she’s written several books including “Women’s Bodies, ... Views: 1890
The Truth about Getting in Shape:
Where It Starts and What It Takes
by Christopher Sutton
If you're cracking this book open and expecting to see a ton of pictures of guys lifting weights, doing resistance bands, running up mountains, counting calories, and all that good stuff -- this ... Views: 2088
This may come as a surprise to some, but nudism is on the rise in the United States. In fact, it is one of the fastest growing recreational activities in the country. The appeal of the activity may be lost on many people. For many others, however, nudism represents an aspect of life that has ... Views: 15217
When I was a very little girl, the story goes, I didn’t eat very much. This made my mother anxious and insecure. In those days, babies were supposed to be plump. So with prompting from my grandmother, she found “creative” ways to get me to eat, what they considered “enough”. One strategy she ... Views: 1837
March is my birthday month. As you are reading this I am now 42 years old. Okay, I’m using the new math – that 60 is the new 40. On every birthday, I take time to reflect on my life. Am I happy with my work? Yes! Am I happy in my marriage? Yes! Do I like getting older? Yes… and no. It’s ... Views: 1847
Sometimes I feel like a salmon, swimming upstream to fulfill its biological imperative, getting bloodied and battered in the process. Although my spawning days are long gone, I do feel pushed, compelled, called, however, to send the message to any woman (or man) willing to listen: Our bodies, ... Views: 1797
As I write this article in late December, the annual influx of television commercials and magazine ads for weight loss programs has begun. Supplements, frozen foods, points, meal cards, meal replacements, on-line calculators, exercise machines, videos, balls and bands. Some promote themselves ... Views: 1917
So did you make your list? Your list of triggers? Last month I asked us to explore the emotions, situations, and foods that propel us down the path to unconscious, mindless eating. Regardless of what they are, how long-standing and deep-seated, we no longer have to respond to our discomfort by ... Views: 1725