Set yourself free!

By Shari Levine

Do you make choices about what you do based on how you look, how you feel about your body, or how you think others will judge your body?

Maybe you're stuck in a body trap.

Over and over again I hear girls say that they blow off parties, barbeques, swimming, and even vacations because they:

• think they're too fat.
• are too embarrassed about their bodies.
• won't have a good time because they are too worried about how they look.

Conversations like this one take place in girls' heads all the time; (does it sound familiar to YOU?)...

Jane: I am not going.

Jane's Brain: Yes, you are.

Jane: There is absolutely no way that I am going to get into a bathing suit for that party.

Jane's Brain: Oh, so now you are going to miss out on the best party of the summer because you don't want to wear a bathing suit? Are you nuts? It's going to be a blast -- everyone's going to be there, and they hired an awesome band to play all night.

Jane: I don't care if they hired One Direction, I am not going to put on a bathing suit and walk in front of all my friends. I am too fat and pale and flabby. It's not happening.

Jane's Brain: So, you're telling me that you are going to let your negative body image get in the way of having a good time? You would rather sit in our bedroom watching TV and wondering what we're missing? I am your brain, and I speak for your body too. We're begging you to let us out of this prison! We want to be free to go out and have fun and do the stuff that teenagers are supposed to do.

Jane: I don't care what you want. If I go to this party wearing a bathing suit, then everybody is going to see the cellulite on my butt and the flab on my stomach. I know that they're going to talk about how fat I am behind my big, jiggly backside.

How can Jane escape from her body trap!?