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So I got the list from a body image workshop that I went to last week, and the other is from a book that a very dear friend gave to me. I have found that this are both quite helpful, and I hope that they can help you too [Note: Neither of these are made specifically for those with ED, but can definitely help anyway! The excerpt from the book is actually religiously-_base_d, and while I'm not religious by any means, I still find great techniques from it.] 25 WAYS TO LOVE YOURSELF 1. We are born in love with our bodies. Watch an infant sucking their fingers and toes, not worrying about their body fat. Imagine being so in love with your body. 2. Think of your body as a tool. Create an inventory of all the things you can do with it. 3. Be aware of what your body does each day. It is the instrument of your life, not an ornament for others' enjoyment. 4. Create a list of people you admire who have contributed to your life, your community, or the world. Was their appearance important to their success or accomplishmets? 5. Consider your body as a source of pleasure. Think of all the ways it makes you feel good. 6. Enjoy your body: stretch, dance, walk, sing, take a bubble bath, get a massage, have a pedicure, etc. 7. Put signs on your mirrors like, I am beautiful inside AND out! 8. Affirm that your body is perfect just the way it is. 9. Walk with your head high, with pride and confidence in yourself as a person, not as a size. 10. Don't let your size keep you from doing things that you enjoy. 11. Remind yourself: your body is not a democracy - you're the only one who gets a vote. 12. Count your blessings, not your blemishes. 13. Replace the time you spend criticizing your appearance with more positive, satisfying pursuits. 14. Did you know that your skin replaces itself once a month, your stomach lining every five days, liver every six weeks, and your skeleton every three months?! Your body is extraordinary - respect and appreciate it! 15. Be the expert on your body - challenge fasion magazines, cosmetics industry, or metropolitan weight tables. 16. Let your inner beauty and individuality shine. 17. Be your body's ally and advocate, not its enemy. 18. Every morning when you wake up, thank your body for resting and rejuvenating itself so you can enjoy the day. 19. Every evening when you go bed, thank your body for what it has helped you do throughout the day. 20. Find a method of exercise that you enjoy and it regularly - not to lose weight, but to feel good! 21. Think back to a time in your life when you liked and enjoyed your body. Get in touch with those feelings now. 22. Look at family photos. Find beauty, love, and values in those bodies and faces. Hold those close to your heart. 23. If you had only one year to live, how important would your body image and appearance be? 24. Make a closet inventory. Do you wear clothes to hide your body or to follow fashion trends? Keep the clothes that give you feelings of pleasure, confidence, and comfort. 25. Beauty is not just skin-deep. It is a reflection of your whole self. Love and enjoy the person inside. <iFrom: Maine, Margo. (2000). <uBody Wars: Making Peace with Women's Bodies</u. Calsbad, CA: Gurze Books.</i MAKE AN INVENTORY OF YOUR JOYS To improve yourself, do not discount the importance of cultivating joy...Most unhappy people are very inexpert in blessing-counting, but they can total their troubles and worries with the speed of an adding machine. That is because they have practiced trouble-adding for so long that they do it by second nature. How do you practice inner joy? 1. Make an inventory of your joys. Get a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Head the paper, My Joys and Blessings. Start with: (a) I am thankful that I am strong enough to sit up and push this pencil across the paper. (b) I am thankful that I live in a country where freedom still endures. (c) I am thankful that I have a good water-tight roof over my head, enough to eat, and enough to wear. 2. Continue to make your own list, omitting nothing because it is small or commonplace - you would miss these so-called commonplaces if you did not have them. 3. Make a list of all the things in your daily experience which should fill you with happiness, such as your home where there is a good dinner awaiting you, the dear faces of your family around the table, a comfortable chair, a lamp, an open fireplace. Complete your own list and repeat it over to yourself every day. 4. Step outside the house after you finish this lesson and take five deep breaths of good fresh air. Note every beautiful thing around you and think about it, such as the moonlight on the lawn and its silvery radiance falling against an old church steeple, or making the house across the way stand out in white loveliess against the night. Consider the pattern of the sunlight falling through the trees on to a well-kept green lawn. Take pleaseure in a lighted train rushing through the night, or the quiet stars twinkling in the sky, or of the sound of the crunch of snow under your foot on a winter's night. Get your mind on these things which are the essence of life. Relish them and they will make your heart sing within you. 5. Do an unexpected favor for someone and note the look of happy surprise in his eyes. This will fill you with joy. 6. Overcome something; a fear, a jealousy, a grudge, or a temptation. The glow of happiness and satisfaction which follows will make you realize that real delight in life does not consist of giving in, but in getting over. 7. Sing at least one song every day. This may not add to the enjoyment of your family or friends, but it will be a wonderful tonic for you, and the songs that can put the most happiness into your heart, are religious songs. If you do not already know them, learn a few of the great old hymns and sing one every day. A hymn with the morning bath is a fine idea, as it will wash you on the inside just as soap and water do on the outside. 8. Compose your soul every night by doing two things. Ask the Lord to forgive you for any wrong done, or ill-will, and thank Him for His goodness. A quiet joy will steal through your whole soul and you will sleep like a baby while happiness becomes your second nature. <iFrom: Peale, Norman Vincent. (1955). <uInspiring Messages for Daily Living</u. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.</i