This is Optimal Health Daily, Changing Your Body Image Once and for All by Dr. Lisa Firestone of

Psychalive.org, and I'm Dr. Neil Malick, your host. Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or

welcome for the first time if you're new here. This is the podcast where I act as your very own

personal narrator and read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online.

But with that, let's keep this intro nice and short and get right to it as we optimize your life.

Changing your body image once and for all by Dr. Lisa Firestone of Psykealive.org

I recently took some younger family members shopping.

As they tried on clothes, my niece commented,

Nothing looks good on me. Sabrina looks good in everything.

It surprised me to observe such a young girl expressing such a poor body image

and comparing herself unfavorably to her cousin. And yet, the very next morning, I myself was a

witness to a similar discussion between two friends of mine. One, a woman who is enviably slim and

fit, casually complained about feeling fat. And the other, a man with a near-perfect physique

joined in, saying that, since he hit 30, his body was getting soft and round. All of this left me

marveling at the prevalence of negative body image. Regardless of actual body type, whether thin or

heavy, or attire, whether in a bikini or a winter coat,

many of us are suffering from a barrage of self-critical thoughts.

People's views of their bodies are not only cruel, but inaccurate.

A friend of mine recently told me how down on herself she feels about getting older

and confessed

how she continually compares herself negatively to younger, prettier girls. She showed me an old

picture of herself, of the skinny and youthful woman she once was. When I asked her how she felt

...