Great shapewear article from 3 Fat Chicks

A fun, smart article from 3 Fat Chicks -- The Benefits of Shapewear:

Clothes Fit Better

Every woman can benefit from shapewear—regardless of your figure or fitness level. Anytime you wear fitted clothes, you can use shapewear. Whether you are wearing casual attire, such as jeans and a t-shirt, or you need to get dressed up in an evening gown for a formal event, shapewear will help to make sure that your body looks its best in your clothing.

Lose Inches Instantly

Shapewear gets rid of bra bulge, underwear lines, and muffin tops (the bulge that can hang over the tops of your jeans). Women who have recently given birth love shapewear because it gives them the confidence to wear their pre-pregnancy clothes much sooner.

Even if you are in great shape it’s still possible to experience unsightly bulges and rolls when trying to wear certain contemporary fashions. Often, no matter how small you are, some clothing designs will look better with the addition of shapewear. Women who have toiled for hours to reduce their waistlines often experience muffin tops even though they are in good shape due to the cut of trendy, low-rise jeans–and shapewear can fix this problem.

Shapewear can be used to help you fit in a smaller size while still dieting to reach your desired size. Shapewear is not only used for reduction purposes; it can also be used to lift and firm trouble areas, like the stomach and the buttocks.

Improves Posture and Helps Train Your Abdominal Muscles

Shapewear pieces that cover the entire abdominal area and incorporate shoulder straps can also be instrumental in helping to pull the shoulders up and back, giving you better posture, which can also help you to look thinner.

Thanks, smart chicks!

Body Image: Loving Your Body Inside and Out

Terrific and helpful advice for improving your body image!

With a positive or healthy body image, a woman has a real perception of her size and shape. She also feels comfortable with her body. With a negative body image, a woman has a distorted perception of her shape and size, compares her body to others, and feels shame and anxiety about her body. Being unhappy with your body can affect how you think and feel about yourself as a person. A poor body image can lead to emotional distress, low self-esteem, unhealthy dieting habits, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. Developing a positive body image and a healthy mental attitude is crucial to a woman's happiness and wellness.

When you Look in the Mirror, do you Like What you See?

Is your body image positive or negative? If your answer is negative, you are not alone. Women in the U.S. are under pressure to measure up to a certain social and cultural ideal of beauty, which can lead to poor body image. Women are constantly bombarded with "Barbie Doll-like" images. By presenting an ideal that is so difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. It's no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty. The message we're hearing is either "all women need to lose weight" or that the natural aging process is a "disastrous" fate.

Other pressures can come from the people in our lives.

• Family and friends can influence your body image with positive and negative comments.
• A doctor's health advice can be misinterpreted and affect how a woman sees herself and feels about her body.

Learning to Love What You See in the Mirror

We all want to look our best, but a healthy body is not always linked to appearance. In fact, healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes! Changing your body image means changing the way you think about your body. At the same time, healthy lifestyle choices are also key to improving body image.

• Healthy eating can promote healthy skin and hair, along with strong bones.
• Regular exercise has been shown to boost self-esteem, self-image, and energy levels.
• Plenty of rest is key to stress management.

Additional Information on Body Image:

Publications

Building a Better Body Image (Copyright © Boston Women's Health Book Collective, Inc.) — this web page lists tips about how to feel better about the way you look and empower yourself. It also links to other information from the Our Bodies, Ourselves Health Resource Center about body image.

The Media, Body Image, and Eating Disorders (Copyright © National Eating Disorders Association) — This online publication provides some basic facts about the influence of the media on body image.

Organizations

• National Mental Health Information Center, SAMHSA, HHS
• Weight-Control Information Network, NIDDK, NIH, HHS
• American Association of OrthodontistsMind on the Media
• National Eating Disorders Association

Big Girls, Be Confident

When someone is proud and secure in themselves, it radiates from their very being. Being comfortable with your body lets that alluring confidence of knowing your own beauty to show, allowing others to acknowledge and appreciate your appeal. Unfortunately, many women are hyper-aware of their physical flaws, and it's difficult to feel beautiful if you don't feel confident. Among the most insecure are overweight women. Many spend hours finding clothing that covers up problematic areas and deemphasizes their rolls.

Being so conscious of imperfections can be detrimental to a woman's ability to carry herself with assurance and resolve. Smoothing out these areas and therefore eliminating the worry attached to it is very possible with shapewear. Shapewear comes in a variety of forms, designed specifically to cut down or soften your shape in whatever area you may need. Having some support instead of shamefully hiding your body can do wonders for your self-esteem, bringing out that bewitchingly attractive confidence in you.