Book Release Day Notes – August 3, 2010

TODAY IS THE OPERATION BEAUTIFUL BOOK RELEASE DAY!  The book is available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Indie Bound, and Amazon.  Check out this post for more details.

Breanna wrote, “Today, I was hurting. I was constantly looking in the mirror and trying to find some closure in what I saw, but I just couldn’t take it. My hair was messy, my eyes were tired looking, my acne was insane, and I couldn’t even manage a smile. Unable to take it anymore, I went to Operation Beautiful to try to cheer myself up. I read a couple weeks worth of posts, going all the way back to July 6th. I saw a note made by my friend Emily who had been inspired by one of my blog posts. I stopped right there, smiled real wide, and forgot the day’s torture. Since then, I’ve written over twenty notes that I plan on spreading around over the week.”

Alisha and Melanie did a photoshoot just for Operation Beautiful! Isn’t this creative?

Jaime wrote, “I had an appointment with my MS Specialist last Friday. I left some OB notes all around!  First, I left the note on the parking sign. Then I left the note in the restroom. Then I left the note in the MS Magazine in the waiting room. My last note was the elevator note. Fun!  Hopefully it brightened somebody’s day!”

Kendall wrote, “This past weekend I ran a 10 mile road race in beautiful St. John’s, Newfoundland! It was my first time EVER in running a length of 10 miles!  The day before the run I crafted up a t-shirt to wear with some jiffy markers. It said "You are stronger than you think.”  It was absolutely amazing, I heard women talking behind me about ‘following that shirt’, and every time I heard a comment it gave me goosebumps – and it put some awesome pep in my stride! For every comment that I heard, I know that there was also one that I didn’t hear – people in their own thoughts silently thinking about being a lot stronger!!  After the race, a woman came up to me and thanked me for the inspiration, saying it was what got her through the race.”

Michelle wrote, “I have struggled with binge eating disorder for about 6 years. I hate my body and what I do to it. I’m almost 22 and changed my major to nutrition. I’m determined to start loving my body the way it is and start the journey of ending my eating disorder. I found Operation Beautiful on random search, and it’s wonderful. My 15 year old cousin and I started writing out notes and we love leaving them places. Doing nice things for other people makes me feel so great, and I’m going to try and challenge myself each day to start loving myself.”

In honor of the OB Book Release, women (and men) all over America and the world are submitting guest posts describing their own experiences, struggles, and triumphs over body image issues.  To learn how to participate, check out this page.

Here are today’s featured posts:

• Liz: How Cooking Changed My Relationship With Food
• Kayla: Why the Number on the Scale Does Not Define Me
• Jen: How Binge Eating Disorder Made My Life Better
• Marci: Choose Happiness and Tune Out the Outside
• Amanda:  Cycling My Way To Happiness
• Olivia: Finding Something to be Proud Of
• Lauren: The Journey to Find My Voice
• Laurie: Living Healthy and Trying to Feel It All
• Gabriella: Don’t Let the Media Shape Your Health
• Laura: Stop Feeling So Embarrassed About Yourself!
• Bree: Use Your Own Filter To Get Rid of Negative Self Talk
• Meleah: Love What Your Body Can Do
• Liz: How Feelings Changed the Way I Saw Myself
• Kiersten: Saying "I Feel Fat"
• Lauren:  My New Skin: Loving Your Body After Pregnancy
• Laura: Running to Find My Happy Weight
• Cynthia: How Loving Myself Helped Me Share That Love With Others
• Molly: Strong Is The New Skinny
• Elizabeth: How Shifting Perspective Gave Me a New Normal
• Amber: Today I Love My Freckles
• Catherine: How Appreciating What My Body Can Do Gave me Body Confidence

Love Operation Beautiful and want to participate?  Post a note, take a picture, and e-mail your story to Caitlin at [email protected].  Each note goes up on the site for thousands of others to read and enjoy! Make a change in this world… it starts with YOU!