Worry management expert discusses summertime body image issues

Those hot, hazy, lazy days are finally here. So how confident do you feel about your body this summer?

According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, sixty-two per cent of Canadians see girls being exposed to unrealistic, sexy images of women in ads as a big problem for females in the country today.

So how do we learn to our bodies and not compare them to unrealistic images?

“I want everyone to understand that you know you can really love yourself, you can look in the mirror and see something that is great instead of this negative outlook that people expect you to have on yourself,” said Yolanda Largie, model and body positivity advocate.

Largie went on to say that both men and women go through issues with loving themselves.

“Body positivity is not just for one gender. This is a self-love journey for everyone,” she said.

Denise Marek is internationally known as the worry management expert. Marek teaches people how to reduce worry and bring calm into their lives.

Yet as a teenager, Marek said she had her own set of challenges.

“I had anorexia when I was 14 years old and then bulimia all through high school,” said Marek. “When I got pregnant at the age of 22, it was only then that I started to think, I have a life growing inside of me and I have to get a handle on this.”

“Learning to love and accept my body is a lifelong process, but I can honestly say, I’m very content because I like who I am as a person.”

So as you head off to the beach this summer remember this:

“Here are three important words to help you when you’re comparing, when you’re worrying about what other people think what you’re looking like,” said Marek. “Remind yourself — it doesn’t matter.”