You: Beautiful

Early this morning I was reading an article on the Dukan Diet (which I don't recommend), but an incidental statement near the end of the article really resonated with me. Dr. Dukan wrote a book called "Men Prefer Curves" from which this statement appears:

“Your hips, your thighs, the roundness of your face and knees are natural sexual transmitters implanted in you since the origins of mankind.” Women who are “curvy, even very curvy, fleshy or busty” should learn to use their bodies, he added, to facilitate “pleasure, seduction and the commitment of a man.”

Sounds pretty good, right? Starting to appreciate those curves a bit more now, are we?

Christina Hendricks: Try to tell me her curves aren't amazing!

Minutes later a friend instant messaged me and started asking me detailed questions about her diet and why she can't seem to lose any more weight. After giving her some suggestions I really thought about it for a moment. I know this woman, and the reason she probably can't lose those last few pounds is because she doesn't need to. She's already beautiful, active and healthy.

Next up, I received a tweet from Sanz Plans with a link to her blog post on calling a truce with our bodies and ending the hate speech. It really makes you think about how often you throw out negative statements like "if I weren't so fat, I'd wear that dress" or "my boobs are too small to be sexy." We do it so often, we don't even notice! This is such a shame. Start paying attention to the way you talk about yourself and when you catch a negative statement, change it into something positive, or don't say anything at all.

But wait! There's more! While trolling Facebook this afternoon a new friend I met recently published a wonderful blog post on appreciating your body. Tiffany listed 10 reasons why she loves her body. This is a great idea and I strongly suggest you try this too. In fact, I will commit to doing this with you and write a separate post on my 10 favorite things about my physical self.

American women in particular have a distorted view of what a beautiful and sexy body is. We all think we have to look like a Victoria's Secret model. You know what? All of my male friends think they're too skinny and appreciate the curves of a real woman. I will always remember one of my personal trainers because I was complaining about cellulite one day. He says to me, "Men honestly don't notice that sort of thing. Cellulite is just part of a woman and it doesn't make you any less beautiful to us." Dan, you will always have a spot in my heart for that statement.

My invitation to you is to read this post, read the others I've linked to here, and really think about what your body does for you. It may not be perfect but it serves you well and appreciating it will go a long way towards satisfaction of your body image. Remember those 10 reasons you love yourself? Write it down and post it on the bathroom mirror if you have to. It's time to make peace with your body!