Photo courtesy of OperationBeautiful.com.
How many times have you told yourself, "I'm so fat" or "I'll never lose weight" or "I hate this or that about my body"? Do such thoughts make you feel better and inspire you to keep trying, or do they make you feel more defeated?
Most health and fitness experts agree that there is tremendous power behind positive thinking when it comes to weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle overall. In fact, it's pretty much impossible to live a healthy life with a negative self-image.
A large part of the weight-loss process is mental. Of course, you have to eat well and exercise but if your mind is working against you with negative emotions, you'll eventually begin to fight an uphill battle that derails your progress. Likewise, being a healthy person means not only being in good physical health, but having good emotional health, too. A healthy self-image means accepting and loving yourself every day — no matter what the scale reads.
In an effort to eliminate toxic "fat talk," Caitlin, who writes the blog "Healthy Tipping Point," has embarked on a mission to make people feel beautiful one posted note at a time. The idea behind the project, dubbed "Operation Beautiful," is to encourage people to leave notes with positive messages in random public places, such as restroom mirrors.
"It is hard to be a healthy individual when you are constantly beating yourself up for the aspects of your body and personality that make you unique," Caitlin says. "Operation Beautiful is about looking beyond your own imperfections and realizing that we are so much more than our physical appearance."
Every day on the Operation Beautiful Web site, she posts photos of the notes that readers of her blog have left at gyms, stores, workplaces, and pretty much anywhere they happen to be. The initiative continues gain steam as more and more notes come pouring in. Here are just a few:
"You are perfect just the way you are!"
"I see no flaws... only strength & beauty!"
"Smile! You're beautiful even on Monday."
And... posted on a candy jar: "Oh, go ahead, cutie."
Caitlin says she came up with the idea just a week ago and has already received more than 150 notes.
"It's exploded. I've been blogging for a year at HealthyTippingPoint.com and I have never seen anything like this. Even for contests in which there are hundreds of dollars of prizes at stake, my readers have not reacted like this! It's really struck a chord."
Have you seen any of these notes around town? Do you plan to leave an "Operation Beautiful" note of your own somewhere? Leave a comment, and don't forget to send your note to Caitlin!
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