Every Monday features a tip, exercise, inspiring quote or other tidbit to help boost your body image. For many of us, Mondays are tough. We may feel anxious and stressed out, anticipating an arduous week, especially if we didn’t get much rest and relaxation during the weekend. These kinds of feelings don’t create the best environment for improving one’s body image. In fact, you might be harder on yourself and easily frustrated. You might even feel like you’re walking on egg shells – with yourself! With these posts, I hope you’ll have a healthier and happier body image day, that’ll last throughout the week. Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky@gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. It can be anything you do that’s healthy and helps boost your body image. I’d love to hear from you!

Recently I purchased the book Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-it Note at a Time by Caitlin Boyle. If you remember I wrote a post in celebration of the book release.

For those of you who don’t know, Operation Beautiful is a body-positive movement where people leave inspiring notes – such as “You are beautiful” and “You are amazing just the way you are” – in random places for others to find.

Today, I wanted to share with you a few excerpts from the book that I found especially uplifting – and I think you will, too!

If you have the book, consider picking out a few of your favorites and writing them down, so you can turn to the inspiring words whenever you’re having a bad body image day or to kick-start a healthier body image.

If you don’t have the book, write down one of the below quotes for an important reminder about how beautiful you truly are. And consider writing a message of your own, and posting it.

Operation Beautiful Quotes

“The deeper I have dug, the more I have found that outward beauty is fleeting. If I were only to seek outward beauty my entire life, I would die incredibly unfulfilled. Beauty is in laughter with friends and family. Beauty comes when we open our hearts to those in need. Beauty is watching the sunrise on your back porch with your spouse. Beauty is in me. Beauty is not skin deep.” ~ Jessica Daly, 24, Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, pg. 59.

“I’ve done things I never thought I could do, and it’s all because I stopped thinking, ‘When I lose ten pounds…’ I wish I had listened to everyone who told me I was okay the way I was. I am worth it. I want others who have self doubt to feel as happy and beautiful as I do now. I want them to stop Fat Talk and learn self-love and acceptance.” ~ B.A. Coyne, 22, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, pg. 47.

“One day, I was in a mall washroom, and although it was rather crowded, I wanted to leave an Operation Beautiful note. I quickly stuck it on the mirror and walked out. Then, this girl, who had been curiously looking in the washroom, taps me on the shoulder in tears and gives me this huge hug, thanking me. It made me tear up as well. It was an incredible feeling!” ~ Brooke Vickery, 16, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, pg. 15.

“As a two-time cancer survivor training for my second marathon, I must say that Operation Beautiful has truly changed my life. I get down sometimes about how my hair is thinner, even though it has grown back, or how the tumors in my brain caused me to gain weight. When I remind others about inner beauty, it makes me see and feel my own. I always keep spare notes and sketches in my bag! Keep sharing the love; it’s incredible what a few kind words can do for someone.” ~ Hannah Tropicana, 17, Boston, Massachusetts, pg. 118.

“I was at Borders looking for a self-help book that my therapist (who I had just started seeing) recommended. Imagine my surprise when I found a Post-it stuck to the inside of a cover of the book Binge No More that said, ‘NEVER forget how amazing you are!’ I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I started to cry on the spot. That little note made me realize just how much I’ve taken myself for granted over the years. Whoever wrote that note … thank you! Thank you for helping this broken girl start to heal. I have been binge-free for three months now.” ~ Christina, 21, New Jersey, pg. 33.

If you were writing a note on your own, what would you want people to know? Which quote out of the above resonates most with you?

Today’s favorite post. Christie over at Honoring Health has started a book club, and we’ll discuss one chapter every Monday. The first book we’re reading is Women, Food and God. Check it out here.