Customer Reviews

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

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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!)

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.

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!

I have had the pleasure to interview Sarah Maria about her passion in helping others to connect with their body image. Her book Love Your Body, Love Your Life speaks to so many that are feeling unworthy and hate their bodies. She gives you empowering tools that will help shift you from the inside out.
This book is highly recommended if you find yourself stuck with your body image and your life. Read this book and do the inner work and you will have a life that you love. Heather Picken, Best Selling Author of Body of Love: 57 Secrets In Creating Your Ideal Body Using The Law of Attraction

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book to review for the web site Metapsychology Online Reviews; a more detailed version of my review appears on that site.

Author Sarah Maria, who reveals a personal background which includes a history of restrictive eating, bingeing, purging, and having a love/hate relationship with both food and her body, bases this book on the concept that the unhappiness which so many people experience about their bodies is actually a condition called Negative Body Obsession, or NBO. This is not a disorder that is listed in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the reference manual used by mental health clinicians to make diagnoses such as Anorexia, Bulimia, or Body Dysmorphic Disorder (excessive anxiety concerning a perceived flaw in one's appearance). It's true that many people with body image concerns as well as disordered thoughts about food and eating may not meet the criteria for a full eating disorder diagnosis and thus might be more appropriately labeled with a subclinical term such as NBO. However, Maria fails to offer her readers any distinction between NBO and eating disorders, a problematic oversight. Maria then goes into a review of the possible causes of NBO, a discussion that seems a bit esoteric for the purposes of a self-help book.

Maria definitely does include some more valuable information. In particular, she addresses the negative thought patterns associated with NBO and reviews strategies for detaching oneself from one's thoughts. She also incorporates many different exercises, including use of meditation and visualization techniques which can be quite beneficial. I have no doubt that some readers--particularly those who are motivated to utilize the exercises as instructed--are likely to find this book to be helpful. As a psychologist, however, I feel the need to make note of several reservations: 1) with the exception of her own personal experience, I can find nothing to indicate that Maria is the body image "expert" that she claims to be (her educational background is actually in law and international affairs); 2) when giving advice about diet/eating well, Maria advises her readers to "learn everything you can about healthy eating," including reading ALL of the latest books, listening to audio recordings, etc.; this is NOT a recommendation that I would make to a group who already has tendencies towards being obsessive; and 3) Maria's Resource List offered at the end of the book is clearly biased. For example, in the section on "Overcoming Negative Thought Patterns/Brain Health/Personal Growth," two authors are cited 20 times each (40 out of the 51 total resource listed), while more seminal works are not mentioned.

In conclusion, I would caution readers to note that while they may find this book to be beneficial, there are better quality offerings written by more qualified authors available.

This book is a practical guide to rid yourself of learned negative behaviors. I enjoyed chapter 2: How did this happen? How we learned to hate our bodies and Chapter 7: Identify and detach from your negative body thoughts.

Our lives really do manifest themselves in how we look and how we age. By looking at others and ourselves, we can realize whether or not we're on our true path. Some people at age fifty have the body of a thirty year old; slim, fit, strong, and active. Others at age fifty might have the body of a seventy year old; overweight, battling high blood pressure and diabetes, and quickly out of breath when walking up a short flight of stairs. How we age is a direct result of how we think.

How we think about ourselves and our world manifests itself internally and externally.

E. S. Smith

Another good book on this subject is "It's About You" by E. S. Smith.

Thank you Sarah Maria! This is one of the most powerful and profound books I have read in a long time. For anyone who has ever struggled with body image issues, like me, this book will speak to you directly, remind you that you are not alone, and give you practical tips for how to start loving your body, yourself, and your life! There is a deep and wise spiritual "groundedness" in Sarah Maria's writing and teaching, but it never becomes preachy or condescending in any way. This is an issue that doesn't get addressed in a very real way and so many of us, even us men, struggle with it. This book does address this important issue and will help so many of us heal, transform, and love our bodies and our lives. I HIGHLY recommend this powerful book!

I am so impressed with Sarah Maria's book "Love Your Body, Love Your Life." This is the way we need to address our body issues - with confidence, and above all, with LOVE! I got several copies, because I know several teen girls who are dealing with Negative Body Obsession. Sarah writes in a way that these girls will be able to relate to, and to understand. Life is beautiful, YOU are beautiful! Powerful message.

The cornerstone of happiness is loving yourself and Sarah Maria eloquently explains this in her wonderful book. A must-read for every young woman before she enters puberty and every woman who has ever disliked what she saw in the mirror. A beautiful step-by-step guide to completely let go old limiting beliefs about yourself and your body and embrace your own amazing self. Simply brilliant! I adore Sarah and her work.

This book offers an amazing, practical approach to ending negative body image. So many of us struggle with this and until now I did not even know what it was called. Reading this book and using the techniques Sarah Maria teaches has helped me let go of my negative body thoughts! I know after reading this book that I don't have to live like this anymore and I can have a life of happiness! Thanks!