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10 Tips to Nourish, Encourage, and Empower a Positive Body Image

Build Self-Esteem and Confidence: Engage in activities that make you proud and accomplished, unrelated to appearance.

Encourage Physical Activity that is Fun: Promote physical activity as a way to have fun, feel good, and stay healthy rather than a way to change body shape or size. Find activities complimenting your natural strength and abilities to promote inner confidence.

Expand Your Comfort Zone: Step outside your comfort zone and experiment with new activities; the more new experiences you try, the more you'll discover how much you can achieve.

Focus on Strengths and Abilities: Shift the focus from external appearances and practice giving yourself compliments and praise for positive thoughts and actions. Highlight achievements, skills, and qualities that do not focus on physical looks or features. Encourage others to do the same.

Promote Healthy Eating Habits: Encourage a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods. Use food to fuel and nourish your body and mind while remembering the pleasure food brings to your senses and how it can connect people.

Understand the Realities of Digital Media: Remember that images in the media are often digitally altered, edited, or AI-generated and therefore do not reflect reality. Open the conversation with family and friends about the unrealistic standards of beauty portrayed in advertisements, movies, and social media.

Protect Schedules and Ensure White Space: Remember that your schedule does not have to be filled with activities, productivity, or social engagements every hour of the week. Carving out white space (unstructured time) is as essential in nurturing a healthy mind and body as planned activities. Setting boundaries for downtime, family time, and personal rest time is part of creating a healthy life.

Promote Self-Care: Engage in self-care practices such as getting enough sleep, practicing good hygiene, exploring creativity, expressing emotions, and having time to regroup and rejuvenate.

Create a Supportive Environment: Foster an environment where all body types are accepted and celebrated.

Model Positive Behavior: Be a role model by displaying a positive attitude toward your body. Avoid negative comments about your body or the body of others. Focus on what your body can do rather than how it looks.

Promoting a positive body image values diversity, encourages self-acceptance, and focuses on overall health and well-being.

Featured Recipe
Te Fiti Fudgy Coco Cake Pops

Recipe by: Dole

Ingredients

1 DOLE® Banana, peeled

1 cup pitted dates

½ cup almond flour

3 tablespoons sunflower butter

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for dusting (optional)

¼ cup gluten-free and vegan dark chocolate chips

¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

16 cake pop sticks

Allergens: Tree Nuts

Directions

Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper. Pulse banana, dates, flour, sunflower butter and cocoa powder in a food processor until smooth, scraping down bowl occasionally. Add chocolate chips and coconut; pulse until incorporated. Transfer banana mixture to a medium bowl; freeze 20 minutes or until firm. Makes about 1½ cups.

Form banana mixture into 16 (1½-inch) balls (about 1½ tablespoons each); insert cake pop sticks into center of balls. Transfer cake pops to prepared pan; freeze 1 hour. Serve frozen dusted with cocoa powder, if desired. Makes 16 cake pops.

Nutrition Facts Per Cake Pop: 98 calories, 5 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 mg sodium, 14 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams protein

Be Inspired

Changing the Table Conversation: Encouraging Positive Body Image

Promoting positive body image goes beyond individual efforts; it extends to conversations, especially around the dinner table. Here are some ways to shift negative comments into positive, empowering statements:

Instead of saying, "I feel so fat after eating all of that," try, "That was delicious! My tummy is happy!"

Replace, "You look like you lost weight; you look great!" with, "I love your smile and energy!"

Instead of, "I don't eat that food because it is bad for me," say, "I choose not to eat that food because it doesn't make me feel good."

Swap, "Does this outfit make me look fat?" for, "Does this outfit bring me joy?"

Replace, "I need to diet tomorrow because of everything I ate," with, "I'm going to slow down and listen to what my body needs to feel energized."

Instead of, "Ugh, I need to lose 5 pounds," try, "I want a healthy relationship with my body."

Replace, "Carbs are bad for you," with, "Carbs help me have the energy I need to be happy."

Changing how you talk about food and our bodies can create a more positive and supportive environment. Your words can make a difference!