1. Think of all your body can do.  It can sing, dance, walk, move, laugh and dream.
2. Let yourself know true beauty is not about just your outer appearance.
3. Stop the voices in your head that say your body or you are bad such and such way(s).
4. Wear clothes that you feel good in and work to love your body as it is.
5. Do something good for yourself everyday.
6. Choose to be around positive friends and others.
7. When you look in the mirror let go of critically judging one part of your body.  See yourself as a whole person.  Remember the “Pretty Woman” movie Julia had to have a body double because her body wasn’t perfect.  Who is perfect?  Julia is magical just as she is.
8. Look at social and media messages and ask yourself,  ”Does this ad make me feel good about myself or bad about myself?”
9. What can uplift your spirits is reaching out to others and helping them in some way.  By doing this you are making a positive change in the world.
10.  Make a list of ten things you like about yourself that are not related to how much you weigh or what you look like.  Keep this where you can read it often.

So who do you know that is phat?  Phat is a young people’s word for awesome/terrific/groovy—phat!  It is pronounced “fat.”  I think of Drew Barrymore with her magic power over guys.  She’s real.  She has full hips, and real breasts, and a style that’s all her own.  What body image confidence she has and a special spark that captures attention.  Drew doesn’t know how to have a perfect body image because there is no such body image.  She knows how to kick it (her inner critic) because she loves the body she has. 

So how could you stop the negative voice in your head? The voice that is the typical inner critic statement that tells you about your body image.  And how can you turn that sentence or word or belief into a positive belief or statement?  The first step is to write it down, maybe in a journal or other.  Then write the question, “What do I say to myself instead?”

The next step is simply listening to your inner nudge.  The inner nudge is your intuition or the positive voice that can show you what to do and say to yourself.  Read your question each day, expecting the answer.  Answers can come to us in many ways.  Maybe something is spoken that catches your attention on the radio, or T.V. or even a friend might say something that catches your ears.  Yes, be prepared to catch the answer by being on the lookout.  Make it fun.

The last step to kicking out self-criticism is summed up in taking action.  Remember you are in charge and you can break out of the box you’re in by following this technique. Ask yourself, “What could I say to myself to encourage me to take actions that would help me feel freer about my body image?”