Open any magazine, flick onto any TV show, check out ads for fashion or beauty, and what do you see? Usually, images of touched-up perfection; stories about the latest fad diet; cover shots with cruel headlines of the latest celeb who has put on weight; articles about young girls undergoing plastic surgery; models that look as if they haven’t eaten for a very long time. What message does this send to girls and women? We say enough is enough!

By going on the latest fad diet, by copying Paris or Nicole’s look, by buying mags that ridicule healthy weight gain or poke fun at imperfection or by buying products that support images of unrealistic imperfection, you are buying into and supporting (unknowingly) this push toward making girls and women feel inadequate. IT HAS TO STOP. NOW!

So, we at Bellaboo want to start all of us on the path to Loving Your Booty. Here are some simple steps we can all take to stop the rot, to embrace a new outlook and to shun anything that gets in the way of Loving Your Booty!

1. Food is good, it is not your enemy. Food nurtures, nourishes and should be enjoyed –every single mouthful. So, eat without guilt. Enjoy every morsel that passes your lips. You’ll probably find that if you stop obsessing about it your whole attitude to eating will change.
2. Do things that are good for your body and your mind – eat food that makes you feel good and is good for you. Find an activity that is good for mind and body. That can be a half hour walk each day, boxing, yoga. Find your thing and do it – your body and your mind will benefit.
3. Stop weighing yourself and stop thinking about dieting or weight loss. Instead, shift your thinking to improving your health.
4. Ban magazines and products that promote unhealthy attitudes towards body and self-esteem. Why support people who are making us feel like crap?
5. Do something for yourself every day – it need only be a little thing but just one thing that will make you feel good. It could be listening to your fave CD, giving yourself a facial or manicure, or just spending time with a friend. One little thing just for you every day.
6. Next time you look in the mirror focus on what you like rather than what you don’t like. The more you do it the more you will find you like about yourself!
7. Find an outlet – something positive to do that will keep you creatively occupied so that you don’t obsess about the stuff that doesn’t count. It could be taking up photography, painting, writing, starting a blog. Find your creative outlet and enjoy it.
8. Share the love – tell your friends how fantastic they are, how beautiful and talented they are. Make other people feel good about themselves and see how it makes you feel!
9. Have a guilt-free girly night. Invite your besties round, eat your fave foods, listen to your fave music, talk about anything and everything – but most of all tell each how other how wonderful you are and focus on making each other feel great.
10. Banish bitchy people who make you feel like crap from you life. Surround yourself with friends who support you, love you and make you feel good. Ditch those babes who always end up making you feel bad.

We at Bellaboo will be doing our bit – no stories about celebrities that are bad role models; no pictures of unrealistic perfection; no fad diet stories. We promise to do all we can to present only good stuff that will make you love your booty and the rest of you too!