Love Your Body, Love Your Life: 5 Steps to End Negative Body Obsession and Start Living Happily and Confidently [Paperback]

Sarah Maria (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2009

Eating disorders. Steroids. Plastic Surgery.

We'll do anything to look better—and yet we still feel bad about how we look. Self-loathing has reached epidemic proportions. But there is a way to end self-destructive thoughts and behavior. In this book, noted body-image expert Sarah Maria presents her proven five-step plan anyone can use to overcome negative body obsession (NBO). She helps you:

• Commit to change
• Identify and detach from negative thoughts
• Discover who you really are
• Befriend your body
• Find your purpose
• Love your body, love your life

Complete with exercises, case studies, and testimonials, you can learn how to stop obsessing over food and your body and achieve permanent peace with both. You'll banish NBO forever, and feel healthy, radiant, beautiful, and desirable—every day!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Read this book and you will discover that there is only one beauty, and you are that." -- Deepak Chopra

"In traditional cultures, the most powerful healers are those who have learned to heal themselves. Sarah Maria's personal journey to loving her body and her life offers a proven path for those seeking a healthy, conscious relationship with their bodies." -- David Simon, MD, the Chopra Center for Wellbeing

"There are countless women and men who suffer unnecessarily because they don't like their looks. Sarah Maria reveals that there is a way to feel great no matter what and she offers powerful tools to help you feel beautiful regardless of your current shape or size. Read this book and you will begin to love your body." -- Marci Shimoff, New York Times bestselling author of Happy for No Reason and featured teacher in The Secret

"Love Your Body, Love Your Life is a book written from the heart by a gifted author who has stepped into the transformational fire of learning to love herself and her body. Rich with life-changing information, each word charged with genuine compassion, this book provides the guidance, the hope, and the courage to let go of distorted perceptions that prevent you from loving your body. As a medical intuitive, I have witnessed the miracle of creating the health and the life one desires by merely learning to love oneself. I highly recommend this exceptional book." -- Carol Ritberger, PhD, author of Healing Happens with Your Help . . . Uncovering the Hidden Meanings behind Illness

"It is well known that you attract what you think about. Your outer reality is a direct reflection of how you feel about yourself. When you feel that you are not thin enough, young enough, beautiful enough, or not enough, period, your life reflects this sense of lack and insecurity. On the other hand, when you recognize that you are, at your essence, beautiful, valuable, worthy, and wonderful, your life will begin to reflect this abundance and greatness. Sarah Maria's step-by-step method will show you how to recognize your true beauty so you can create the life of your dreams." -- Christy Whitman, bestselling author, Certified Law of Attraction Coach, and founder of www.7essentiallaws.com

"Read this book and you will discover that there is only one beauty, and you are that." -- ** DEEPAK CHOPRA **

About the Author

Sarah Maria is the founder of Break Free Beauty (www.breakfreebeauty.com ), a company dedicated to helping people love and accept their bodies and discover the beauty that they already are. She is a body-image expert, speaker, and coach who speaks and writes on the topics of body image, self-esteem, health, success, and spirituality. Her mission is to empower people of all ages, races, and body sizes to embrace the bodies they have been given and learn to love themselves so they can live their dreams. She has studied and trained with many well-known spiritual and self-help teachers, including Deepak Chopra and physician Dr. David Simon, the co-founder and medical director of the Chopra Center for Well-being in Carlsbad, CA. She lives in Carlsbad, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media; Original edition (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605501530
• ISBN-13: 978-1605501536
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #829,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All Women - Young and Old - Should Read this Book October 2, 2009

By Stephanie Calahan

Format:Paperback

Length: 1:35 Mins

This is my video review of Love Your Body, Love Your Life: 5 Steps to End Negative Body Obsession and Start Living Happily and Confidently. (It is the first time I have tried to use a web cam!)

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Worthless, unscientific, demeaning, depressing and ineffective. April 20, 2011

By S. Murray

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm no stranger to negative body image issues. I fought anorexia in my early 20s and now, in my 30s, I thought it would be good to lay the last vestiges of those old deamons to rest. I picked up this book hoping for practical meditations and essays that would help me complete my journey towards a more positive self-image.

Sadly, this book is poorly conceived, unscientific and potentially harmful.

The book uses novel acronyms such as NBO (Negeative Body Obssesion) and psudo scientific corruptions of quantum physics. (I'm a mathematics professor and I love physics. I can say, without hesitation, there is nothing scientific or correct about what is in the section titled "quantum physics!")

It is very strange that the author invents "NBO" when, there is already a far more recognized mental condition call "BDD" (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) that covers the same symptoms... It was then that I realized I was reading a book based on the cult-like inspirational psycho-babble known as "the secret" -- so, rather than building on established research on anorexia, BDD, and related mental disorders, this book tries to indoctrinate readers into the mythology of "the secret" ...

The book describes what life would be like without a negative body image, using a day-in-the life of a woman living a perfect day free of obsession ... But, as I read that description of her day, I realized that my life, though imperfect, was far more enjoyable and free from anxiety than the authors ideal! So, what could I possibly learn from this text?

The ideal seemed to be about burying and avoiding unpleasant thoughts in an almost paranoid way, like the person, who, in the middle of an earthquake, goes on making her tea and smiling as if nothing were wrong. I think this could be very emotionally damaging. It is also misleading to lead suffers of BDD to believe that there are no relevant psychological theories to help them... There are plenty!

I wish I had not wasted my money, I thought all body-image self-help books would be the same... I'm going to find one based on accepted psychological theories, not some cult-like psudo-science!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Grace, intelligence and profound wisdom in this book January 12, 2010

By Kara Crawford

Format:Paperback

I heard several interviews with Sarah before I purchased the book. Each time I heard her speak, I was moved by what she had to say. I found her to both highly intelligent and deeply spiritual at the same time. That's why I also loved this book so much--because it melded the two in a way that made sense to me. All the explanations and the advice resonated with me. I can honestly say I came away from this book a changed person.

Right now, I am carrying over 100lbs of extra weight. All along I have been beating myself up for getting to this point. After reading this book, I stopped being so cruel to myself and have begun to be more gentle. Do you know what happened? The weight is slow coming off with an ease I have never experienced before.

I hope, for anyone who reaches a place where they just can't take the self-loathing anymore they will find this book and be impacted by it as I have been.