Tag: body image

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Body Positivity Starts With You! by Kim Travis

The road to body positivity is filled with bumps and potholes, but it’s important to remember you’re not alone on your journey. Everyone struggles with loving themselves for who they are, especially in recent years with today’s surge in social media use.

Young girls today are more afraid of becoming fat than they are of cancer, nuclear war, and even losing their parents, and up to 80% of 10-year-old girls have dieted.


What’s more, body dissatisfaction in boys has tripled in the last 30 years, and 12% of teenage boys have reported using steroids or other supplements to alter their bodies.


In a 2018 survey conducted by the Girl Scouts of America, a total of 90% of girls between the ages of 13 and 18 said they felt pressure to be skinny from the fashion and media industries. And social media platforms give these industries the ability to reach young women and men not only from magazines and television but also from their phones and computers.

Kids aged eight to 18 spend up to 7.5 hours engaging with social media every day, ingesting damaging “thinspiration” and “fitspiration” ideologies that promote anorexia and fat stigmatization.

Unfortunately, social media is a major part of our lives, which makes it difficult to step away from. So how can you promote body positivity while still using social media?

While social media can expose you to a lot of negativity, it’s up to you to take control over what you see. Start by becoming familiar with body positivity hashtags and understanding that what you see on Instagram isn’t a completely accurate representation of everyday life.

If folks on social media can fake elaborate vacation pictures, then influencers can use editing to attain the same unrealistic results in their own photos.

Remember that you have control over what you see online. Don’t be afraid to unplug from certain websites, block accounts, or unfollow people who make you feel bad about yourself.

It’s all too easy to fall victim to negative influencers. By putting your comfort, joy, and body positivity first, you’re putting yourself on a smoother path toward a better relationship with your body.

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Diabetes Late Nite Podcasts of 2016 Encore

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We’re taking a look back at the past year in podcasting. I’ve enjoyed a tremendous year of meaningful moments with interesting topics, amazing guests, games, prizes and music on our shows. My goal has been to provide inspiration and motivation to keep you happy and health.

Every podcast is available on demand, anytime, anywhere at i-Tunes, Divabetic.org and blog talk radio. Enjoy!

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? How about January’s podcast featuring music by Adele. We discussed  the best ways to set realistic goals about your diabetes health and also salute one of our favorite singers, Natalie Cole. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Mama Rose Marie, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach (Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE and MaryAnn Nicolay MEd, NDTR), Jennifer Jacobs, Dana Collins Carr and Cindy Lou, who is living with type 2 diabetes from Kentucky.  LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/01/12/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-adele

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Was it our February show with  music by Tamar Braxton. Tamar inspired us to talk about sexy shoes that don’t just look good on your feet but that also make your feet feel good with a podiatrist. We also kick off our new game, “Which Shoe Do You Do?” with prizes courtesy of Earth Brand shoes. LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/02/02/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-tamar-braxton

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out March’s show with  music by Rachel Platten? We’re talking about the best  morning routines for living well with diabetes self-care. LISTEN:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/03/08/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-rachel-platten

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out April’s show with music by Etta James? On this show, we discuss the different weight loss surgery options and how they impact your diabetes health. LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/02/23/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-etta-james

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out May’s broadcast with music by Elle King?  We take a deeper look into the topic of ‘Body Image and Diabetes’. Do you ever feel like you and your body are on opposite teams? Or like your scale has more authority than a therapist or a doctor? Maybe it’s time to discover, challenge and reset the beliefs that are holding you back from being unapologetically you in today’s perfection-obsessed society?  Guests include Dr. Lori Shemek PhD, We Are Diabetes founder, Asha Brown, Author Ginger Vieria, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Poet Lorraine Brooks, Divabetic Image & Style Advisor Catherine Schuller AICI, CIP and Mama Rose Marie. LISTEN : http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/05/10/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-elle-king

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out June’s podcast with music by A Tribe Called Quest. ‘Quest’ member, Phife Dawg’s sudden death at the age of 41, related to diabetes health-related complications, inspires us to talk about kidney disease and diabetes. Phife Dawg, born Malik Taylor, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in May of 1990. Experiencing constant thirst and bathroom visits, his grandmother, a nurse, tested him for diabetes after a performance in Connecticut. Initially, Phife admitted he did not take his diagnosis seriously, and maintained his same lifestyle.

“It’s really a sickness,” Taylor said in Beats, Rhymes & Life, Michael Rapaport’s candid 2011 documentary on the group. “Like straight-up drugs. I’m just addicted to sugar.”Guests include MaryAnn Nicolay DTR, Dr. Braxton Cosby, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Poet Lorraine Brooks, Funny Man Mike, Arnon Krongrad, MD, Catherine Lawrence and Mama Rose Marie. LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/06/14/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-a-tribe-called-quest

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out July’s program with music by P. M. Dawn? P.M. Dawn’s lead singer, Prince Be‘s death, related to diabetes health-related complications, inspires our discussion on amputation and diabetes.Prince Be had suffered from diabetes for more than two decades, and had various health problems over the years, among them several strokes, including one in 2005 that left him partly paralyzed, and gangrene, which led to the partial amputation of one leg. Guests: Poet Lorraine Brooks, Mama Rose Marie, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Lynette Luckers from the Marion Luckers Kidney Foundation, Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’, Janis Roszler, RD, CDE, FAND and Leon Petrossian. LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/07/12/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-pm-dawn

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What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out Mr. Divabetic Show on Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)? PMDD is a severe, sometimes disabling extension of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) that start about 7 to 10 days before a woman gets her monthly period. Dr. Andrea Chisholm MD, OB-GYN discusses how hormones impact your diabetes health. Guest, We Are Diabetes founder, Asha Brown shares her own personal struggle of living with type 1 diabetes and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) too.  LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/07/19/mr-divabetic-show–premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-pmdd

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What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out August’s with music by Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King. We all know what anger is, and we’ve all felt it: whether as a fleeting annoyance or as full-fledged rage. Anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion.  But  keeping your temper in check can be challenging especially while managing your diabetes.  Diabetes is the perfect breeding ground for anger. Anger can start at diagnosis with the question, “Why me?” You may dwell on how unfair diabetes is: “I’m so angry at this disease! I don’t want to treat it. I don’t want to control it. I hate it!” LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/08/09/diabetes-late-nite–the-angry-show

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out September’s Diabetes Mystery podcast featuring music from the classic film score of ‘Sunset Boulevard’. Our third annual Diabetes Mystery Theater Podcast, ‘Suspect Boulevard’ revolves around dogs, dementia, diamonds and diabetes. This special mystery theater production is loosely based on Billy Wilder’s film, Sunset Boulevard. Our cast includes Poet Lorraine Brooks, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, ‘We Are Diabetes’ organization founder, Asha Brown, Catherine Schuller AICI, CIP, Susan Weiner MS, RD, CDE, CDN, Chef Robert Lewis, USA Today Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes and Mama Rose Marie.  LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/09/13/suspect-boulevard-diabetes-mystery-theater-podcast

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out October’s podcast featuring music by Meghan Trainor. Guests include Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach (Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE), Style Blogger Doris Hobbs, Emmy Award winning Producer Linda Bracero Morel,  Poet Lorraine Brooks and Mama Rose Marie.  LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/10/11/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-meghan-trainor

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What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out the Diabetes Game Show hosted by Mr. Divabetic. During National Diabetes Awareness month, Divabetic teams up with prominent healthcare vendors to giveaway great prizes to celebrate our listeners’ ongoing commitment to self-care.  Special guests: Pharmaceutical Chemist and Diabetes Physician, Dr. Stanley Greenfield and Carlos from the Diabetes What To Know community.  LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/11/01/diabetes-game-show

What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out  November’s podcast featuring music by Ella Fitzgerald.  We continue our celebration of National Diabetes Awareness month with music from our favorite jazz legend “divabetic” who captured audiences everywhere with her astonishing vocal range, scat singing, and improvisational ability. Unfortunately she had to have both legs amputated below the knee. Despite ill health, she continued to perform at least once month into the early 1990’s. Although her quality of voice slowly deteriorated from the early 1970’s, even at the end of her career, her singing retained a remarkable rhythmic acuity.  Diabetes Late Nite guests include the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach (Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDE, CDN) Poet Lorraine Brooks, Ansley Dalbo, Best-Selling Author Anna J. Stewart, Leola and Cornelia,and Mama Rose Marie. LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/11/08/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-ella-fitzgerald

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What’s your favorite Diabetes Late Nite podcast of 2016? Check out December’s podcast with music by Leona Lewis. Can you really ‘get off’ your medication? I discuss how to the possibility of cutting down on three oral medications for anxiety, diet and erectile dysfunction with my guests including: Diabetes Alert Dog expert, Debby Kay CDT, CDTA, PDTI, Megrette Fletcher, MEd, RD, CDE, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Janis Roszler RD, CDE, LDN, Emmy winning Producer, Linda Bracero Morel, Poet Lorraine Brooks and Mama Rose Marie. LISTEN: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2016/12/13/diabetes-late-nite-inspired-by-leona-lewis

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‘I Gotta Be OK’ by Lorraine Brooks

I’m innocently watching a bit of TV
To relax, with a hot cup of joe.
I put my feet up, on the chair next to me,
And got ready to enjoy the show.

I breathed in and out, in a sigh of relief
As the day is beginning to end.
A moment of silence, however brief,
In this moment, feels like a friend.

But just as I start to unwind and get quiet,
I feel my jaw start to get tight.
A million commercials that tell me to diet
That what I look like isn’t right.

So,come to Weight Watchers, or try Jenny Craig
And what about Zumba or swimming?
Or,how about hopping on just one leg,
Or wearing these pants that are “slimming”?

Or maybe a pill that will help me eat less
Or an operation on my belly.
Or maybe I need to control all my stress,
So my buttocks won’t shake like it’s jelly.

And books that are titled “Eat This, and Not That”
And DVDs set to pop songs.
And spokespeople yelling “get rid of,your fat!”
And showing young models in thongs.

So I change the channel and what do I see?
But more of the same, it’s so sad.
Get “healthy”, get “fit”, it’s so easy to be!
And. making me feel pretty bad.

So I turned off the telly, and got out a book
And started to read for my pleasure.
To forget about diets and how I must look,
And what I should do in my leisure.

‘Cause this is the package that I’m wrapped up in
And no sense me feeling ashamed.
I’ll never be skinny or painfully thin,
And likely I’ll mostly get blamed.

But I’m not complaining, well, not any more,
I’m just gonna chill, and be mellow
And celebrate all that my life has in store,
While enjoying my sugar-free jello.

Because in the end I just want folks to say
Even though she did not wear size seven,
She was kind, she was honest, and she was OK…
And we hope that there’s chocolate in heaven.

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