Today I wanted to focus on how amazing YOUR body is, regardless of its shape and size. Your body is doing amazing things every second and understanding how amazing your body is could help you appreciate the gift of your body more.

Your Brain

Your brain is the master control center for everything that is going on in your body. Think about this. You breathe, but you don’t have to think about it. Your heart beats, but you don’t have to think about it. Your body processes the foods that you eat, takes out what it needs and passes along the rest, but you don’t have to think about it. All of that is going on in your body and the brain is making it all happen.

Not to mention (even though I am going to mention it right here) the fact that your brain is taking in all of the information that your senses are taking in, processing it, and comparing it to all of your past experiences to give it meaning. You don’t have to think about any of that! Your brain just works.

Scientists have not been able to manufacture anything that comes close to what the brain can do.

Your brain can process hundreds of millions of bits of information every second. Computers can only do a fraction of the processing that the human brain can. It would take rooms full of the most powerful computers to have the equivalent processing power of the brain. Your brain is truly amazing.

Your Eyes

When you see something, what are your eyes doing? They are receiving waves of light, turning them into impulses that your brain can use to make pictures. You may ask yourself, “Are you serious?” I am. Have you ever stopped to think how amazing that is? Everything around you that is colorful and beautiful, is reflecting light waves into your eyes and your eyes and brain work together to convert it into an image that you perceive in your mind. It is mind boggling.

Other Parts Of Your Body

Your ears do the same thing as your eyes, except that they are made to pick up sound waves. Your ears funnel these waves to your brain and you hear sound. The voices of those we care about and the music that we love to listen to come through to us as sound waves and are converted, by our amazing brain, into what we perceive as sound.

There are countless things that make your body simply amazing. The next time that you are tempted to compare how the outside of your body looks with some fake, airbrushed image in a magazine, think of how amazing your body is.

- how hard it was to change her identity as a person with an eating disorder
- how she had hopes of a new start in college
- the main factors that changed her outlook enough to be able to change
- the depression that she went through
- how you can maintain hope after an eating disorder

Anyway, I knew why I was feeling that way but I still couldn’t shake the desire to cover myself up with my towel.  I had to really review in my head, what I know about perception and the power of my thoughts.  I had to remember that almost everyone at the pool is just as self-conscious as I was and thinking of themselves and not me too.  That helped a lot actually for me to remember that.  People are often more concerned about their own self and aren’t even looking at you for the most part.

Also, I had to remember the skill of just enjoying the moment and turning outward rather than inward.  I knew that if my focus continued to be on myself how I would end of feeling the entire afternoon but if I were able to focus on the other people that I was with, I would be able to enjoy myself a lot more!  So I just started talking and having a good time with those we were with and stopped focusing on my own insecurities.  It worked so well!

And… you know as a little side note – I found this website this week that talks about finding the right swimming suit for our body types.  I know we mostly go and look for the cutest one we can find but often that one doesn’t suit us best.  So if you’re interested for maybe next season, here is a site that might help.  Remember that we are all different and have different shapes.  So be realistic and be honest with yourself.  Don’t judge your shape just by saying, “I hate my body” – there isn’t a suit for that type

http://www.ehow.com/how_5039298_choose-swimsuit-body-type.html

*Summer

How much do your conversations revolve around your weight and body image? Do you put yourself and the way you look down in order to fit in with other girls. Do you identify your feelings of low self esteem with the way your body looks?

Talking about weight and body image is a huge topic of conversation among teen girls, and adult women for that matter. It could be an issue for everyone… last night I was on a walk with my family and our neighbor stopped us to talk to me about baseball. He is an older guy with a ‘tummy’. At the end of our conversation he said, “I’ll let you guys get back to staying skinny.” I only use that as an example of how much body image and weight is a part of everyday conversation.

It seems to be that, for teen girls, negative talk about their bodies is a safe way to express their insecurities. Rather than really discuss what is going on, it is easier to just give a comment like, “I am so disgusting, I am going on a diet tomorrow.” Author Jessica Weiner calls this speaking the language of fat. In other words, talking about body image to account for or cover up other fears and insecurities.

I don’t think that it is healthy to talk about all of your insecurities to everyone that you meet. But I do think that it is important for you to think about what you are really expressing when you talk about how fat you are… or aren’t.

Identify those feelings and then talk about them with someone that you trust. It should be someone that you know will take your feelings seriously and help you express them and work through them. There is so much more to you than your body and the way you look.

Leave us a comment and let us know how much you or your friends talk about their bodies.

I have been thinking about the double standard that advertising industry is sending to teen girls. On one hand, the advertisers are portraying an image of the ‘perfect girl’ that is impossible to obtain. They use that image to get girls to think that their product will make the difference in their social life, giving them acceptance and love… and attention from boys.
This video shows how the food industry makes food almost irresistible. Here is the double standard. Look like a model, but eat food that has high calories and low nutrition. Are we conscious of the messages we are getting? Are we conscious of the choices we are making.