Feeling beautiful especially when you don't can be immensely challenging. It can lead to saying, eating, or behaving in ways you don't like because you're feeling ugly inside or outside. This presentation offers 48 tips to help you shift your mood and change your perspective so you don't stay stuck in these moments. For more resources and a free video course specifically about overeating or binge eating, visit http://www.bingeeatingbreakthrough.com

2. Feeling beautiful especially when
you don't can be immensely
challenging. It can lead to saying,
eating, or behaving in ways you
don't like because you're feeling ugly
inside or outside. This presentation
offers 48 tips to help you shift your
mood and change your perspective
so you don't stay stuck in these
moments.

3. Look at the unique
expressions of beauty
everywhere.
You don't look like other people, they don't look
like you. You're unique. No one else looks like
you (unless you have an identical twin, but even
then, your personalities and expressions are
unique).
“Beauty” is often determined from media
messages, culture and our hormones. YOU get to
decide what beauty is to you, and you can keep
changing your definition as often as you like.

4. Aim for health, well being and
feeling good instead of “beauty.”
Trim your hair if it will make it healthy, lose or
gain weight if it will make you healthy, use
homemade skin creams and toners to keep your
skin healthy, or eat healthy foods to be beautiful.

5. Move your body.
Multiple studies show that physical
movement (dancing, walking, hiking, skiing,
swimming, running, playing fetch with your
dog, etc.) can be one of the best ways to
feel better and feel good about yourself
immediately--especially if you’re battling
with depression, anxiety, or ugly thoughts.

6. Smile!
Even if you don't feel like it. Interestingly
enough, just holding a pencil between your
teeth and forcing a smile can send signals
to your brain that you’re happy and
improve your mood.

7. Do what you're good at.
For example if English is your forte, write
essays. If you're brilliant at sports, don't be
afraid to join community teams.
If you’re good at math, give yourself a tricky
challenge to do each day. Doing what
you’re good at reminds you of your value.

8. Look in the mirror in the morning,
smile and tell yourself how awesome
and beautiful you are. Even if you
have to lie.
That may feel selfish, inauthentic, or
untruthful...but it will reinforce the positive
message to your brain when you smile and
speak aloud while looking at yourself.
Doing this at the start of the day gives you a
foundation to go from into the rest of your
day.

9. Treat yourself.
Buy yourself a smoothie, go for a walk in the
woods, watch a movie at home with your friends,
or read a new book.
Do something that doesn't involve how you look,
and do it especially when you DON’T feel
beautiful.

10. Accept others for their own
unique beauty as well
Just because someone is a different shape, size,
or color than you doesn't mean that they don't
deserve to have self confidence as well.
Compliment people around you.
If you do, it will automatically make you feel
better as you gift someone a compliment. You'll
realize that beauty is abundant - around you and
within you.
You really
look good
today!

11. Be friendly to others.
The most beautiful person you can ever see
with a nasty attitude isn't beautiful at all.

12. Create beauty around you
Whether this means decorating your room
with nice lights or positive pictures from
magazines, putting fresh flowers on your
table or dresser, playing beautiful music or
lighting aromatic candles or whatever is
“beautiful” to you...surround yourself with it.

13. Make morning luxurious
Make sure you wake up early enough to
have a few minutes of luxurious self-care. It
could be something as simple as doing your
hair, painting your nails, taking a hot
shower with scented oils or putting on your
favourite song before you leave the house.
This creates a beauty ritual to acknowledge
yourself, inside and out, regardless of how
you’re feeling about yourself. Going
through the ritual to treat yourself to start
your day will give you a foundation to set
you up on the right foot.

14. Carry something sparkling.
A little glitter and glam really goes a long
way for feeling shiny, radiant and beautiful.

15. Eat healthy and nutritious
food
When you eat healthy, whole foods, you’ll feel
more in touch with yourself and the world
around you.
You’ll get authentic energy and power to shift
your moods and feel good about yourself.

16. Keep a gratitude journal and/or
photobook
Look for the good stuff, the beauty, the love in
your life. No matter where you are, there is
always something around you that is beautiful,
interesting or unique.
This is ideal for writing a list of 5 things you’re
grateful for every night before you sleep, to go to
bed with positive thoughts and gratitude on your
mind.

17. Challenge yourself to find 3
things you’re attracted to in
any given moment.
The red skirt on the woman walking across
the street? The clouds and their fluffiness?
The tune playing on that commercial?

18. Practice Radical Acceptance
No matter how you feel about yourself, the
way you look, who you are, who you want to
be – there is a plan for you and you don’t
have to change anything about yourself.
Trust yourself to know what feels good, what
seems good, and go for it.

19. Write a love letter to yourself
Send yourself love letters in the mail, take
lots of self-portraits and buy yourself flowers.

20. Share your soul
Give of yourself by smiling, sharing your
wisdom, helping other people, be open
about your struggles and problems, truly
listen and let your love flow through your
heart.
Vulnerability is beautiful. There’s nothing
more sacred that the true connection
between human beings and life itself.

21. Remember your posture.
Stand or sit up straight. Hold your head high.
Throw those shoulders back.
Stand like you think a beautiful person stands.

22. Focus on the best and compare
only to yourself.
Look for your favorite features about yourself.
Compare yourself only to past versions of
yourself.
Comparing to anyone else can lead to an endless
rabbit hole of self-depreciation.

23. Be amazed at the wonder of
your body.
Your body is a miraculous machine that
operates to keep you breathing, blood
pumping and thoughts bubbling.
Observe how wondrously it operates to
house the person you are.

24. Change “flaws” to
“attributes.”
You are part of the group of everyone else on
the planet that is unique and has their own
“flaws.”
Embrace your flaws as a reminder of your
connection to humanity. Flaws are the
attributes.

25. Be Expressive
When you are animated and expressive, the
fullness of your personality shines through.
How do you express your inner wild self?
Through painting? Dance? Prayer? Making
love? Cooking food? Making gifts?

26. Practice Beautiful Movement
Try dance, yoga, drumming or some other
movement that is fluid and allows your
body to respond instinctively.
Tap into your instincts (or your “inner
animal”) to get yourself out of your head
and into your body.

27. Don’t try too hard
Don’t overdo it with make-up or clothes. Don’t
spend thousands getting surgery. Don’t exercise
yourself to death.
When you try too hard, you look desperate. It’s
hard to feel beautiful when you feel desperate.

28. Create Something
Creation is the handmaiden of beauty. Creativity
is beauty expressing itself through you.
Paint, write, garden, scult, cook, sew, decorate,
doodle — from small gestures in the sand to
elaborate desserts or intricate quilting...give
yourself permission to create.

29. Inspire Others
As the poet Rumi writes, “Let the beauty
we love be what we do.”
Do beautiful things. Live beauty. Living
beautifully makes you beautiful in more
ways than you realize.

30. Stop your thoughts.
It’s hard to feel beautiful when your brain is
whirring away like a ticker tape with negative
thoughts about your appearance or age.
When you are trapped in those thoughts,
stop yourself and shift to an activity that can
get you into your body

31. See yourself through the
eyes of a loved one
View yourself the way those dearest to you
see you.
How does your mother see you? How would
the universe see you?

32. Connect with the beauty of
nature.
You’re a part of nature...and just as
beautiful as nature is, you come from the
same atoms and minerals.
Appreciating nature is a way of appreciating
yourself and what you are made of.

33. Listen to beautiful music.
Certain music speaks to your soul. Feel your spirit
come alive as your favorite song plays and you
turn up the volume.
Sing, tap your foot or move to get it into your
body.

34. Make Love
No explanation needed.

35. Wear clothes that fit you
well and feel good on your
body.
If you aren’t a natural at dressing to suit
your body type, age, and coloring, pick up a
book or find someone to help you find
clothing highlight the beauty inside of you.
Adding a dash of color with a scarf, tie, belt
or shoes can lift your spirits. Wearing an
outfit that fits you comfortably and feels
good on you will look a hundred times
better than oversized or tight shirts, pants
or jackets.

36. Hug often
Share loving physical touch with friends and
family. Babies need touch to develop
properly--it’s critical for their well-being.
As we get older, we don’t lose our response
to physical touch. It helps us feel loved,
nurtured and cared for.

37. Get enough sleep.
You know what lack of sleep does to your
appearance, not to mention your mental
health.
A good night’s sleep is a mini facelift!

38. Stop Smoking
It ages your skin, it smells bad, it’s bad for
you, and it doesn’t reflect self-love.
Dropping this habit will instantly make you
feel more beautiful.

39. Be outgoing, even if it’s hard
Initiate conversations. Show interest.

40. Do physical work
If you have a desk job, sometimes you miss the
beauty of a task completed with the physical
evidence of your accomplishment.
Do something physical like washing the car,
raking leaves, gardening, etc. to see the fruits of
your labor.

41. Take care of your teeth
Since you are now smiling often, you want
your teeth to look their pearly best.
It’s hard to smile if you are embarrassed
about your teeth.

42. Cook a beautiful meal
Well-prepared, healthy, and delicious food
prepared by loving hands is beauty for the
mouth and the soul.

43. Get Older, Feel Better.
There is evidence that people feel more
attractive with age. "Older women tend to
shed their self-consciousness," says Leslie
Goldman, author of Locker Room Diaries, an
account of her yearlong ethnographic study
of women at the gym.
"I have never seen a woman over the age of
60 scurry off into a bathroom stall to change
or quickly scan the room before dropping her
towel."

44. Take care of your hair
Wash it with a shampoo and a conditioner
than suit your hair type and colour.
Wear your hair in different way: natural,
ponytail, with hair accessories, etc.

45. Get rid of people you don’t
feel good around.
You absolutely do not have to put up with
anyone who makes you feel bad. You have an
aunt who likes to gossip about everyone else in
the family? Tell her that you don’t want to listen
or don’t visit.
You have a “friend” who sucks all your positive
energy out of you? Stop hanging out with them.
You have a boss who annoys you? Look for a
different job.

46. Get a Pet
There are numerous studies that people who
have pets live longer and happier lives than
those who don’t.
It doesn’t always have to be a dog or a cat, even
a small animal, like a hamster, will make your life
richer and better.
It takes the focus of yourself and reminds you
what pure, ego-less experience of life looks like.

47. Take time for yourself.
It can be challenging or feel selfish to make
time to do what you want to do and to do it
alone.
But the time alone is extremely valuable to
zoom out, look at where you’re at and
where you want to go, and decide what’s
working and not working in your life right
now.
Make time to evaluate regularly so you can
become responsible for having everything
you want in your life.

48. Take criticism if it’s
constructive, and don’t take
what other people think of you
as a threat.
If external forces easily shake you into to doubting yourself,
you are in a fragile state and need to be hyper-aware that
you don’t have boundaries.
People around you, both best friends and worst enemies,
will always criticize at least some of your opinions and
values. This is rarely done to hurt you directly...it’s actually
more of a sign of interest. Taking criticism as a threat is a
survival instinct of your primal brain (sometimes called
your “animal” brain).
However, if you’re conscious, you can realize that what
other people think is not a threat but rather an exchange
of opinions. No one’s opinion of you is any more important
that your opinion of you.

49. Think of your body as an
instrument that performs.
Is your body a static object to be gazed upon or a
performing machine? While women tend to think
about how their bodies look, men often focus on
how well they work, says Stephen Franzoi,
psychology professor at Marquette University.
"If you think of your body as an instrument, you'll
see it as something that you can shape and
transform," he says. "This proactive stance shifts
the locus of power to you, rather than to other
people observing and evaluating your body."

50. Look at where your negative
opinions about yourself are
coming from.
Being close to a judgmental person makes
us view ourselves in correspondingly harsh
terms.
If you've come to believe that you're
unattractive, consider whether your
partner, parent, boss or friend may have
subtly steered your thoughts in that
direction. If so, take action to set
boundaries with this person or leave the
relationship

51. For more resources and a free video course
specifically about overeating or binge eating, visit
http://www.bingeeatingbreakthrough.com.