Golda Poretsky's Blog, page 30
November 30, 2010
"Bridalplasty" And Body Image
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Have you guys heard of this show, Bridalplasty, where brides-to-be compete for plastic surgery?
I can't believe this crap is real.
And, the winner gets, I believe, a full body plastic surgery makeover and a "celebrity dream wedding".
How did they market this to their potential contestants?
Are you terribly unhappy with your body and about to walk down the aisle? Do you like to compete in degrading challenges, on camera, in the hopes of winning prizes like syringes full of botox?
Then you should audition for Bridalplasty!
If you win, you too can spend your wedding day and honeymoon still healing from the physical trauma of surgery! You won't have to worry about smile and frown lines cropping up in your wedding pictures, because you won't be able to do either! And don't worry — those unsightly post-surgery scars and bruises will be hidden under layers of crinoline.
But, seriously, I think the fact that this show exists illustrates an interesting point about body image. It illustrates the fact that, if you're dealing with body image issues, getting what you want doesn't actually make you feel better.
Often, people with body image issues see their perceived flaws as preventing them from having what they want. So, for example, if you're a single fat woman who doesn't feel good about your body and wants to be in a relationship, you may feel like your fat is preventing you from having that relationship.
At the same time, people with body image issues often feel like once they have that thing that they want, their body image will improve. So using this example, this single fat lady might feel like once she has the relationship, fat or thin, she might be able to accept herself better.
But it usually doesn't work the way you'd think. You may think that once you've "achieved" this thing that you want, you'll feel better about yourself. And maybe you do for a brief, fleeting moment. But then your negative self image returns, and then you're under even more stress. You're under the stress of trying to hide your flaws. If you're in a new relationship, you're trying to hide your flaws from your partner. If it's a new job, it's hiding your flaws from bosses and coworkers. If you lose weight, you're trying to hide the fact that you're dieting, hide the fact that you still perceive yourself as fat, etc. etc.
Of course, I don't know any of the "bridetestants" on Bridalplasty, but I could imagine what might have driven them to compete in a show like this. I could imagine how getting what they wanted (assuming they wanted a non-eloping type of wedding), after the initial excitement, exacerbated their negative body image, their low self worth, their fears of being seen, flaws and all, by family and friends.
Truthfully, no amount of plastic surgery can really fix negative self image. Getting plastic surgery is just like getting the relationship or the wedding — it doesn't actually fix how you feel about yourself. It's inner work, and not outer work, that is required. It's like retiling a perfectly good roof on a house with a bad foundation. The whole thing is going to crumble if you keep ignoring the foundation.
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Struggling with food and body image issues? Looking to transform your relationship with food and your body? Then sign up for your free Body Love Breakthrough Session by clicking here.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2010
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"Bridalplasty" And Body Image originally appeared on on November 30, 2010.
November 29, 2010
How Slightly Pointless Online Beauty Tutorials Saved My Life (And Other Observations)
Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Recently, I was really sick with a stubborn bronchitis that lingered for about 2 weeks. I had no energy, and the sinking feeling that I was missing out on everything. And I sort of was missing out on a lot — from out of town friends to the Re/Dress Indie Fashion Show to the client appointments I moved so that I could lie on the couch and cough.
Missing out on these things felt almost worse than the awful sensations in my lungs; so much so that my emotional state started to get dragged down by my physical state.
In other words, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Being the researcher that I am, I can say with a degree of certainty that the following helped me heal from bronchitis:
Er Chen Wan (awesome Chinese herb combo)
Approx. 1,000,000,000 gallons of hot tea with honey and lemon
Sleeping a lot
My immune system, generally
And, being the researcher that I am, I have determined that the following got me over the emotional hump of being so sick and tired:
Pin curling tutorial videos
Um, yes, you read that right. Pin curling tutorial videos helped me out of the mega emotional slump that I had fallen into. It wasn't my usual arsenal of affirmations, gratitude lists, or other forms of self care. It was methodically watching pin curling tutorial videos on youtube, trying it out on my hair, liking how it looked, watching some more videos, trying it again, etc.
But since we're being scientific about it, I'd like to think for a moment about why watching pin curling tutorials helped so much.
Fun – Learning about pin curling and trying it out on my own hair was really fun.
Easy – If you get deep into setting patterns and complicated hair styles, it can get really complicated, but I avoided the really complicated stuff. Plus, all I really needed was some bobby pins and a bit of time on my hands, and I had both.
Novel – Pin curling, for me, was new and novel. Learning about it didn't remind me of anything else. It took my mind off of not feeling well, but was easy enough to do that it seemed manageable while not feeling well.
Low Stakes – If I didn't like the way my hair looked, it didn't matter. I was home all day anyway. The secret of my terrible hair would be kept safe by my boyfriend and the occasional Chinese food delivery guy.
Self Care That Was Unrelated To Being Sick – After not feeling well for so long, not wearing makeup, etc., it felt good to see myself kind of "dolled up", even if it was only from the neck up.
Seemingly Completely Frivolous – I probably could have gone my whole life without learning how to do pin curls. And with the energy I spent on learning about pin curls, I could have been more clearly productive, for sure. I could have written marketing materials for my business or read another book on intuitive eating or cleaned my office or approximately a gazillion other things that may have been more productive. But none of those things would have been the right combination of the other 5 elements above that we have determined were so essential to actually feeling better.
So, I want to encourage you to sometimes pursue something that might seem frivolous or pointless or unproductive for the sheer fact that it may be fun and make you feel good. Not everything has to have a specific purpose.
I want to encourage you, too, to spend time on seemingly frivolous "beautifying" treatments too. And let's be clear, I'm not suggesting that you do those things because there's anything wrong with your appearance, because you need to hide anything, or because you should do it. I'm only suggesting that you try those things that sound fun. If glamming yourself up appeals to you, but it's maybe a little outside of your comfort zone, check out youtube or ask a glam friend what s/he suggests. You may just knock yourself out of a bad mood, or even become that glam friend that your other friends ask for advice. Just remember to be a kindly researcher toward yourself if things don't go exactly according to plan.
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Struggling with food and body image issues? Looking to transform your relationship with food and your body? Then sign up for your free Body Love Breakthrough Session by clicking here.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2010
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No related posts.
How Slightly Pointless Online Beauty Tutorials Saved My Life (And Other Observations) originally appeared on on November 29, 2010.
November 26, 2010
Did You Know???
Did you know that you can support Body Love Wellness just by shopping at Amazon.com?
When you shop by clicking an Amazon link on our site, we receive 5% of the purchase price of your order, at no cost to you!
We can then use that cash to buy better podcasting equipment, programs that make our site sing, and so much more.
Here's How You Do It If You're Thinking Of Shopping At Amazon:
1) First go to our site, http://www.bodylovewellness.com.
2) Scroll down to the footer at the bottom of the page, and click on any of our products. It looks like this:
3) This will bring you to Amazon.com, and you can then shop for whatever you like!
Here's How You Do It If You End Up On Amazon via Google or Other Sites:
1) Highlight and copy the product name with your mouse.
2) Open a new tab or window and go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com.
3) Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on any of our products. This will bring you to Amazon.com.
4) Paste the name of the product into the search bar on Amazon and buy it!
Easy peasy! And again, there is no additional cost to you to do this, but you get to support Body Love Wellness with your purchases.
Thanks for checking this out. Happy shopping!
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Did You Know??? originally appeared on on November 26, 2010.
November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Happy Thanksgiving! originally appeared on on November 25, 2010.
November 24, 2010
Affirmation Of The Week
This week's affirmation:
"I am thankful for my wonderful body."
Try it out and let me know how it affects your week!
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Affirmation Of The Week originally appeared on on November 24, 2010.
November 22, 2010
The Thanksgiving Edition: How To Feel Thankful For Your Body
Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love Autumn, I love Thanksgiving foods, and I love the idea of remembering to be thankful for what I have.
Being thankful for what you have is really antithetical to so much of our normal experience. We're constantly being reminded of scarcity. We get messages like — you can only eat x amount of calories and no more, you're not pretty enough and so you need to buy these products, those Black Friday sales are ending soon and if you don't go to the store at 4AM you're missing out!
The message is — there isn't enough, you're not enough, and be very afraid!
Feeling grateful shifts this. Feeling grateful puts you in touch with all that you do have, right now. As a result, gratitude has an incredibly powerful effect.
When you feel negative about your body and how you look, you're operating from a scarcity point of view. It's as if there's only so much beauty in the world, and you didn't get enough of your share. You end up constantly trying to change your body (dieting, over-exercising, botox) to get a little more of this scarce resource, or else you feel like hiding so that no one sees your lack of attractiveness.
And that feeling of having a scarcity of beauty is also connected to an even deeper scarcity, a scarcity of self-love and self-approval.
So how can we shift this using the principles of gratitude?
It's really very simple. It's as simple as creating a list of what you're grateful for about your body.
And yet, creating this list can feel really challenging. When you're feeling negative about your body, connecting with your gratitude for its beauty (and even its amazing functionality) can be difficult. So I'm going to start you off with a gratitude list that I share in my book, Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal:
1. I am grateful for my gorgeous body.
2. I am grateful for my strong legs.
3. I am grateful for my long hair.
4. I am grateful for my big, sturdy feet.
5. I am grateful for my soft skin.
6. I am grateful for the way the cut on my finger is healing.
7. I am grateful my curvaceous hips.
8. I am grateful for my kissable lips.
9. I am grateful for my bodacious booty.
10. I am grateful for the way my heart pumps blood so beautifully.
As you can see, some of these items aren't things you might normally be grateful for. I wear size 11 shoes, for example, and it isn't always easy to feel grateful for my "big, sturdy feet," but at this point, I really do feel that. I can look at my feet and feel love and gratitude. I even feel it for my belly, for my carpal-tunnely hand, for my fine hair that is going grayer and grayer by the day (I color it, but maybe I won't someday).
I didn't get to this place of gratitude from continuing to brood over what I felt I was lacking. Instead, I found it through acknowledging and appreciating what I had. And I did that by creating lists like the one above.
So this Thanksgiving, be thankful for you, your body, your beauty. Make a list of at least 10 (the more, the better) things that you love about your body. As you write each one, feel the gratitude in your body, and see how it affects the way you feel about yourself.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to anyone celebrating it, and a belated Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!
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Struggling with food and body image issues? Looking to transform your relationship with food and your body? Then sign up for your free Body Love Breakthrough Session by clicking here.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2010
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Related posts:Have A "Food Coma" Free Thanksgiving
Don't Forget To Feel Your Feelings
The Gratitude Attitude
The Thanksgiving Edition: How To Feel Thankful For Your Body originally appeared on on November 22, 2010.
November 18, 2010
How To Eat Healthfully During The Holidays — Free 60 Minute Teleclass!
Do you find it hard not to overeat during the holidays? Do you end the holiday season feeling guilty about what you've eaten? Do you vow every January 1st not to do it again?
Then why not change things this holiday?
The holidays can bring up a lot of stuff. For some, it's a joyous time of friends, fun, and delicious food. For others, it's difficult and even traumatic. No matter what, if you have food issues, the stresses and joys of the holidays often get reflected in eating in ways that don't feel good.
In this teleclass, Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. (founder of Body Love Wellness and author of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal) will share her top techniques for eating healthfully during the holidays— the same ones she shares with her private coaching clients.
You'll walk away from this call with surprisingly powerful, yet simple techniques for keeping an even keel with food during the holidays.
Here's what you'll learn:
Easy ways to enjoy your favorite foods without overdoing it.
The top mistake that we make when trying to eat healthfully during the holidays.
Helpful tips for eating only what you want.
An amazingly simple technique for saying "no" and setting boundaries in a loving, positive way.
How to have fun and enjoy your friends and family while staying true to your needs.
Whether overdoing it during the holidays is a new problem for you or you've been doing it as long as you can remember, you'll get at least 3 BIG insights into how to eat healthfully and happily during the holidays.
Just click here to register for free and receive the call-in info instantly!
ust enter your info in the boxes below, and you'll receive the complete call details via email.
Yes, Golda, please sign me up for this exciting FREE 60-Minute Teleclass on "How To Eat Healthfully During The Holidays" on Thursday, December 16th at 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific.
Send me the details at my email address below.
Name
Please note, upon registration, you will also receive a complimentary subscription to the Body Love Wellness Newsletter. We will not share, rent or sell your information to any other organization.
"Last week I had the pleasure of attending Golda's workshop. It was a beautiful and intimate group of women talking about our histories with food, dieting and self care. After the workshop I felt like I've had a much less stressful time deciding what to eat or how to make decisions that are self loving. "
– Deb Malkin, Owner, Re/Dress NYC
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How To Eat Healthfully During The Holidays — Free 60 Minute Teleclass! originally appeared on on November 18, 2010.
November 17, 2010
Affirmation Of The Week
This week's affirmation:
"My pride in my body is contagious."
Try it out and let me know how it affects your week!
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Affirmation Of The Week originally appeared on on November 17, 2010.
November 15, 2010
I Think I've Caught The Fat Contagion!!! (Signs & Symptoms Elucidated)
by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Just by reading my blog, you, dear reader, are taking your life into your own hands!!!
You've probably seen the recent pseudoscience reports that obesity (gasp!) is contagious (double gasp!!) and by having fat friends and relatives you're increasing your risk of catching THE OBESITY!!!
ZOMG SCIENCE!!!
* * *
Sorry, I just fainted from fear! But worry not, I'm back.
I'm not going to go into the details (because more fabulous researchers than I have already debunked these reports) but, in a nutshell, these reports about "contagious obesity" are based on faulty science that infers causation from mere correlation.
In other words, as Dr. Jon Robison pointed out in his review of this b.s., it's like finding that bald men have more heart attacks, assuming that baldness is causing the heart attacks, and then prescribing rogaine as prevention against heart attacks.
Just to give the Fatty Contagion Theory some social context, using contagion (or germ) theory to make a particular group appear threatening and "other" is part of a longstanding and hideous tradition. It's been a popular principle behind insidious social crusades like anti-gay discrimination and racial segregation. Whether the theory is that you're going to catch a perceived illness or lifestyle or whether a particular group are carriers of a harmful illness, contagion theory just paints a thin veneer of "concern for your health" over a much nastier sentiment of "I hate your group and I'm going to find a reason to cast you out of society."
Personally, I have a theory for why the Fatty Contagion Theory is getting some press lately. You see, us fat folks are getting extra loud and proud. We're holding Kiss-In's, creating awesome fashion events, winning Oscars, telling diet pushers to suck it, and variously telling the world that one can be fat and all manner of awesome all at once.
What's obvious to me is that the real contagion of fatness is Fat Pride. I get emails from people every week who have caught a virulent strain of Fat Pride. It's a dangerous contagion for sure. It's resistant to all the known remedies for Fat Pride, including diet pills, surgery, and even shaming. It is sweeping the nation and if we don't do something about it soon, we will all be consumed by these horrendous symptoms.
Symptoms Of Fat Pride:
liking ourselves
thinking fatness is hot
stopping dieting
wearing awesome clothes
creating awesome clothes
liking how we look
fighting fat shaming
fighting fat discrimination.
These are just some of the symptoms. There have been other reported cases involving yelling "Kiss Me. I'm Fat!" but such reports have not been corroborated.
Please leave a comment below if you believe you have become yet another statistic in this dangerous Fat Pride epidemic!
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Struggling with food and body image issues? Looking to transform your relationship with food and your body? Then sign up for your free Body Love Breakthrough Session by clicking here.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2010
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I Think I've Caught The Fat Contagion!!! (Signs & Symptoms Elucidated) originally appeared on on November 15, 2010.
November 11, 2010
Let's Make HAES Higher Profile On Tumblr!
It's true, dudes. I'm now on Tumblr!
But, more importantly, I want to get listed in their Health And Fitness directory, because what's healthier and fitness-ier than Health At Every Size?
So please go to: http://www.tumblr.com/directory/recommend/health%20fitness/bodylovewellness and recommend me!
Thanks in advance!
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Let's Make HAES Higher Profile On Tumblr! originally appeared on on November 11, 2010.
