"Beautiful You" by Rosie Molinary

"Drawing on self-awareness, creativity, and mind-body connections, Beautiful You incorporates practical techniques into a 365-day action plan that empowers women to regain a healthy self-image, shore up self-confidence, reframe and break undermining habits of self-criticism, and champion their own emotional and physical well-being. Beautiful You is a practical, candid, and accessible handbook that will strike a chord with every woman who has ever faltered in her self-confidence or lost sight of her personal brilliance."

I really admire Molinary for putting this book together because I heartily agree with her main point: women are much too hard on themselves when it comes to physical appearance. As women, we are never satisfied with our bodies, and sadly, we seem to equate our self-worth with those same imperfect physical shapes. And it seems that the self-hatred starts earlier and earlier, with girls as young as 5 and 6 going on "diets" because they believe they're "too fat".

I won't go into great detail about the what's in the book; it's pretty much what you would expect from the description on the back of the book. What I can tell you is that I would actually purchase this if I was going to really use it. The format is done very much as a workbook, with one challenge/lesson for each day of the 365-day calendar year. The author is very big on journaling, so most of the lessons involve writing down your feelings, beliefs, etc, in your "beautiful you" journal. And no, you don't have to go out and buy a special journal; that was the first thing I checked when I saw the phrase "beautiful you journal". The author states it can be any old journal, including a cyber-one on your computer/laptop.

Some of the lessons were very creative, some were obvious, and some.... well, I can't honestly see me doing some of them ("join a team sport". Uh, no. I'm a complete idiot when it comes to anything resembling sports, and trust me, no team would have me). I think taking a year to work through these lessons would do a world of good for a lot of women, and men, truth be told. Thanks to the unrealistic images fed to us by Hollywood, most Americans have no idea what a "real" body looks like.

In closing, I'll challenge everyone to one of the lessons provided by Molinary. The next time one of your friends starts to talk about what she/he hates about her/his body, rather than chime in with your own flaws, pick one thing about your friend that you admire and tell her/him about it. The only way to change our self-destructive ways is to start focusing on what we love about ourselves. Don't be part of the problem - be part of the solution!