You may be inclined to get down on yourself over your body's imperfections. Maybe you don't have a flat stomach or muscular biceps. You may not have the hair color or eye color you want. However, stop thinking of your body in terms of how it looks. Instead, be grateful for your body's ability to function.  Admire your body's abilities beyond physical beauty. Admire that your body is able to move, carry you, heal from injury, and endure physical activity. Set goals for yourself that have nothing to do with weight loss. Try to push your body in terms of endurance. For example, strive to be able to do 110 push-ups in a row, or to be able to run 2 miles without stopping. Everyone has things about their bodies they dislike. It is not realistic to expect yourself to love everything about your body at all times. However, learn to accept what you do not like without fixating on it. Be able to compartmentalize to a degree by loving your body overall, even when you know it's imperfect.  For example, you may dislike the way your stomach looks in a top. Think to yourself, "I don't like my stomach right now, but I like my body overall." After acknowledging you dislike your stomach, think about everything you love and appreciate about your body. Self love and appreciation are not all or nothing. It is okay to have frustrations without your body and still love the way you look overall. As people age, they tend to be less and less forgiving of their bodies. You may get frustrated that you're not building muscle as fast as you want, or that your legs will not slim down despite a lot of workouts.  Accept that your body will not always work as well as you want it to, and that you may never reach certain fitness goals. Instead of getting angry at your body, try to be understanding. Remind yourself that you are more than your body, and appreciate all the good your body does for you. Make small changes in the way you look at your body. If you get injured exercising, nurture your body and show it kindness instead of getting frustrated. Smile at yourself in the mirror when you feel upset with your body. Working out can be healthy. It can help reduce stress and lessen symptoms of depression and anxiety, both of which can contribute to a poor body image. However, obsessing over change through weight loss and muscle building can make you feel worse about yourself. Instead of working out with specific weight loss goals, work out with the goal of nourishing your body and improving your overall mood.  Give your body what you need when you work out. Do not push yourself to the point of strain or injury. Be kind to your body as you work out. Give yourself enough food and water to fuel your workouts, and remember your workouts are a way of caring for your body. You're allowing your body to stay strong over time. Make sure you talk to your doctor before beginning a new workout routine. You do not want to end up straining yourself. Many people with low self esteem try dieting or healthy eating as a means to change their bodies. Eating right can help you feel better about yourself, but do so with the right mind frame. Think of healthy eating as a way of nourishing your body instead of a way of forcing your body to change.  Go for a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains and lean proteins. Do not force yourself to eat low calorie diet food you do not like. Instead, eat foods that you enjoy that are prepared in a healthy manner. Use all your senses when you eat. This will allow you to better enjoy the meal, and be more aware of what you are consuming. Eat without distractions like the TV or computer. Focus in the taste and smell of your food. Listen to the noises food makes as you chew. Take in the smell of your food as you eat. Try closing your eyes as you eat to completely focus on the food you're eating.

Summary: Think of your body in terms of function over form. Accept what you dislike about your body while loving it overall. Forgive your body for its shortcomings. Work out with the goal of caring for your body and improving your mental health. Provide your body with nourishment.


Once you have opened the gift, immediately thank the giver. If you open and then pause, you will seem disappointed. Look your gift giver in the eye while you thank them! If you don't like the present, you probably won't make properly admiring faces while you look at it—but you can always look into the face of your gift giver and appreciate their kindness. If you are a good actor, grin or beam at the person who got you the gift. It might help to remind yourself that they were trying to make you happy! That alone is a gift. Only smile if you can do it while feeling relatively natural. Don't force a smile! It will look fake. If you are a bad actor, one way to hide your face and your disappointment while also displaying gratitude is to give the gift giver a hug. If you are on hugging terms with the person, immediately hug them after you open the present. A hug is truthful—it's a loving way for you to tell them you appreciate the love behind the gift. You don't need to feign excitement. Instead, summon up warmth for the sweetness of the gift-giver, who is trying to please you by giving you a gift. Think to yourself,"they were trying to please me by giving me this." If you can, smile. If you're a bad actor, just thank them.

Summary: React immediately. Make eye contact. Smile if you can. Hug your thanks. Act naturally.


Using multiple senses can help you retain more information, so even just saying the words out loud and then hearing them can be helpful. Don’t worry about looking foolish reading your biology notes to your dog. You’ll be happy if it helps you ace your next exam. If you’re in the library or somewhere else you can’t speak aloud, try mouthing the information. Similar to reading your notes out loud, talking about what you are learning can also help you retain the information better. You can either study with a friend and quiz each other, or you can try to teach the material to a parent or younger sibling.  Using your brain to figure out a way to teach the material to someone else causes you to think about the material more in-depth and analytically. You will be able to figure out which materials you need to further study if you have a difficult time teaching the concept to someone else. Putting pen to paper and either taking notes on what you’ve read or simply re-writing over and over a formula or concept you’re trying to master can really help.   It can also be helpful to write out an outline of the materials you are trying to learn. Just the process of organizing the materials in a visual manner can help your brain recall the information in an organized manner. You can also write out flashcards with important facts, dates, or formulas on them. This is doubly helpful, since the act of writing will help you remember, and the flashcards are a portable tool you can review while riding on a bus or waiting for an appointment. If you’re reading, summarize each paragraph in the margins. You are in effect teaching it to yourself when you summarize and analyze it. If you can locate a practice exam or one used in the past, this can be a good tool for figuring out what you have mastered and which topics you still need to study.  Once you finish the practice test, research the material you did not know and try another test again in a few days. Remember not to limit your studies to only those items found on the practice exam. Odds are, your test will include all of the information you’ve been assigned to study, not just questions you found on a previous or practice test.
Summary: Read your materials out loud. Discuss what you are learning or teach someone else. Write out what you have to memorize. Take a practice test.