Self Esteem Winners!!!!

Thank you for participating in the discussion on self-esteem. Dove has given me some fun gifts for the winners:

Karrie from Trailer Life and Jen from Memoirs of Mommy have won a "You're Beautiful, pass it on" t-shirt.
Jenny from When No One Else is Watching has won the book "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters" by Courtney E. Martin.

Congratulations and thank you ladies for your comments and posts!!!

Self Esteem... Pass it On

(Reward at the bottom of the post)

Self esteem. What does that phrase mean to you? For me, I think of all that encompasses me and how I feel about me. There are definitely things about myself that I am proud of or content with, my appearance is not one of them... specifically my weight. I have major issues with my body that do affect my life and my activities.

I've started wondering how these issues and feelings about myself are going to affect my daughter (when she arrives). What will she learn from looking at me and listening to me? Will she learn to nit pick her every imperfection? Will she learn to say mean things to herself? Will she learn that her appearance makes a difference in what she can do and accomplish? Will she learn that her appearance is of the utmost importance over all of her other qualities? Man, I sure hope not. Of course I won't come right out and teach her these things, but will she derive these "lessons" from my actions?

Now is the time for me to raise my own self-esteem and get myself in check. I want to empower my daughter to be and do anything she wants to. I want her to see beauty in all things and all people including herself. I want healthy habits to be a part of life, not just something you do to "fix" a problem.

What if I do a good job with all of that teaching and empowering, and then she goes to school and gets another message from her peers... or from the media... or a relative... or the list goes on. How will I talk to her? Will she believe me when I say she is beautiful? Or will she think that I am just her mom and I have to say those things?

We all know that low self-esteem affects so much more than what you say to yourself in the mirror. It affects schoolwork, it affects the types of friends you choose or put up with, it affects the risks you take (good and bad), it affects your self worth which in turns gives yourself permission to do certain things... things a mother doesn't want to imagine.

What can I do to help my daughter cope with adolescence and the pressures she'll experience everyday?

The Dove campaign for Real Beauty has recently launched a new initiative called "Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem, commissioned by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund ".

"Too many girls and young women develop low self-esteem from hang-ups about
looks and consequently fail to reach their full potential in later life. The
Dove Self-Esteem Fund (DSEF) was established as an agent of change to inspire
and educate girls and young women about a wider definition of beauty. The
DSEF is committed to help girls build positive self-esteem and a healthy body
image, with a goal of reaching 5 million girls globally by 2010. It has
already reached 2 million young women."

They are targeting girls ages 8-17 and their mothers to help build/repair/maintain self esteem. The exciting thing is that they provide FREE materials for mothers and daughters to begin talking and working on self -esteem. They have a mother's guide and a mother/daughter activity guide to help you facilitate conversations and about beauty, body, pressures, self-esteem, and self confidence. The guides have questions and activities to help us build an open-relationship with our daughters and to remind us how our own self-esteem and hang-ups affect our girls.

"A mom is one of the most important influences in the life of a daughter. Whether you are a step mom, an auntie, a grandmother, a big sister or just a loving friend, the role of a ‘mother’ is important and necessary in a girl’s development.
Your love and care sets the foundations for your daughter’s life. Who you are will profoundly affect who she is and who she will be. How you feel about yourself, your looks, your body, your beauty, acts like a script from which your daughter will make choices about how she should feel about herself. In order to give your daughter the strength and courage she needs to feel beautiful in a world that may challenge her values, you need to take inventory of your own feelings of beauty."
-Dr. Susie Orbach and Dr. Nancy Etcoff (Dove's Academic Advisors)

(My mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother )

I read through the materials and found them to be informative, thought-provoking and interesting. They also provide an entire FREE workshop kit with DVD/CD to teach you how to run a self-esteem workshop in your area. Dove is also on the road providing workshops in many different states, you can check their map and schedule to see if there will be one in your area soon.

Self-esteem is an important issue, and I am very thankful to Dove for their initiative and for providing FREE tools to all of us. Click on any of the green links above to read more about the campaign, the National Report, and the booklets and activity guides (under self-esteem tools). You can also find short videos and other resources for you, your daughter, or your workshop.

We can support Dove and their Real Beauty and Real Girls Real Pressures programs by buying Dove products and by helping them to spread the word. In an effort to do my part. I'm offering up a small challenge and reward. Please post about self-esteem on your blog and reference Dove's FREE Self-Esteem tools, then come back here and leave a link to your post in the comments of this post. If you do not have a blog, then just leave a comment here about your thoughts on the subject of beauty and self-esteem. I will award 2 winners (chosen at random) and will send you a gift from Dove. Leave your comment or post link by midnight March 29th. Thank you in advance for your support.

Do we have a winner?

OK today is the 31st, have you exercised? I'm ready to give out the fabulous prize but I need to know if any of you who took the challenge... met the challenge? There were 8 of us. Depending on whether you started on the 1st or 2nd, you should have exercised 31 or 30 consecutive days. Let me know, either here or via email! YOU DESERVE SOME PRAISE and A FABULOUS PRIZE!

Updates and Challenge

So, I am happy to say that today was a very good day. The guys came to fix the pipe, so now we can use our dishwasher, our sink and our washer and dryer. They have to come back on Monday to replace the ceiling and the wall, though. OH, GUESS WHAT? When they removed the drywall from the ceiling they found... a stack of smutty magazines from 1994! Gross. I don't know why anyone would have put them there, there was no way to get to them... so strange. Someone must have stuck them up there when they were finishing the basement. When we moved in a few years ago, that was all said and done. Anyway, gross. I want to put them in someone else's recycling bin!

Fischer and I ran errands and did some shopping today during the snowstorm. It was great to scratch a few things off the big To Do list! The snow is beautiful and has been coming down on and off all day. Fischer's new L-Bow gloves arrived just in time for the fun.

Today Andy and Fisch and I played at least 20 hands of Go Fish (Fisch's first time). He caught on really fast and can certainly hold his own in the game. Although, I was a bit startled to find myself getting competitive! Seriously embarrassing.

Finally, it is time to check in on the December Exercise Challenge. Today is December 13, how many of you are still IN? You should have 12 or 13 days of exercise depending on if you started on the first or second. No skipping. Anyone? I know a few of us are out (including me) but have still been working out past the slip-up. There were a few who joined the challenge too late for the prize, but still wanted to push themselves. So, how are you? I'd love to hear the good and the bad. If you missed a day or a few days, keep going... you are making good healthy habits regardless of the challenge or the prize. By the way, the prize is still totally fabulous and I'd love to give it to one of you. So please chime in.

4 days in... how are you doing?

Today is day four of the exercise challenge. There are 8 official participants, and not quite as many in the running for the fabulous prize.
How is it going for you? I figured we'll check in once a week over here... I'll post about it and you can let us know how you are doing. If you miss a day, you'll be out of the running for the prize, but just jump right back in and finish out the month with us. No use in quitting ;)

So, as predicted, I have a raging cold and feel like I've been run over by a truck. It is not getting the least bit better, only worse. HOWEVER, I have still exercised every day. Granted my sessions haven't been aerobic (since I can't breathe) BUT I have challenged myself nonetheless, which is WAY more than I would normally do when I am sick. So, I figure that is good.

I'd love to hear what you've done the past 4 days. By commenting about it, we'll inspire each other to keep on sweating!

Anyway, let's cheers to healthy habits!!

A December Exercise Challenge

Last night I announced my personal challenge to exercise 31 days in December. I just wanted to remind you in case you'd like to join. That exercise can be whatever is right for you. You know what would be a good personal challenge for yourself.

So... If you are in, leave a comment below or email me. Then at the end of the month... whoever made it all 31 days will be entered for a fabulous prize. I'll let you know what the prize is later.

No excuses. Today I woke up with nausea, sore throat, runny nose, itchy ears, the works... and I'm still going to run today. Usually when I start a new exercise goal I immediately get sick, or sprain my ankle or the jogging stroller tire is popped... or ... the list goes on. My goal is to not let any setbacks stop me. If I sprain my ankle today, then I will go swimming tomorrow or work on my abs and my upper body. I can do this, and I'll feel so much better too!

By the way, if I can do this, ANYONE can! Whoot whoot! Let's do it!

UPDATE: If you don't get to read this until Tuesday, then your Challenge will be 30 days of exercise in December... and it will still count for the prize. The rest of us will just be one day healthier ;).