Healthy Is the New Skinny: Your Guide to Self-Love in a Picture Perfect World

by Katie H. Willcox

Overview

We live in a world where beauty is everything. Society tells us that if we just looked a certain way, if we had the right products, if we were skinny enough, then we would be enough—we would have value. Society is wrong, but it took Katie H. Willcox years to understand this:"Over the course of my 30 short years, I have both worked as a professional model and been the exact opposite of our culture’s beauty ideal. I have struggled with my weight and felt like I didn’t and never would fit in. Then I had a powerful realization: my misery and self-loathing didn’t change with my weight or how ‘pretty’ society thought I was, so my looks weren’t the source of happiness and worth that I had believed them to be. But then, what was? And how had I come to invest so much of myself in beliefs that were so untrue?"In these pages, Katie shares the lessons she learned in her journey to find the answers to these questions. She reveals who gains from our feeling small and why we need to examine the messages we receive from our culture and our families. She explains how we can redefine beauty, make healthy the new "skinny," and harness the power of our thoughts to choose self-love. Katie encourages us to discover our true magnificent selves, find our purpose, and pursue our dreams—and help others to do the same.Join the movement! Visit www.HealthyIsTheNewSkinny.com and follow us on Instagram @healthyisthenewskinny.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781401947217
Publisher:	Hay House Inc.
Publication date:	01/17/2017
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Katie H. Willcox is an international model, body-image activist, and founder and CEO of the modeling agency Natural Model Management, Inc., (for healthy models between "straight" and "plus" sizes). She is also founder of Healthy Is the New Skinny, a company dedicated to promoting healthy body image through positive social-media outreach as well as workshops and presentations focusing on girls and young women. Katie offers Re-Model Me workshops at high schools and colleges to teach girls how to see through media manipulation and rebuild their self-esteem and sense of worth. Website: www.healthyisthenewskinny.com

Table of Contents

A Note from the Author xi

Introduction xiii

Part I Why We Feel Bad about Ourselves

Chapter 1 A False Dream 3

Chapter 2 An Unattainable Ideal 19

Chapter 3 How the Beauty Ideal Brings Us Down 35

Chapter 4 Desire and the Subconscious: It All Started with a Man Named Freud 55

Chapter 5 Awakening to the Media Manipulation 67

Part II What You Can Do to Feel Better Now

Chapter 6 Big Girl in a Skinny World 89

Chapter 7 Examine the Messages You Received at Home 105

Chapter 8 Break Your Negative Life Cycle 119

Chapter 9 Redefine Beauty 129

Chapter 10 Harness the Power of Your Thoughts 137

Chapter 11 Change Your Mind about Your Body 149

Chapter 12 Make Healthy the New "Skinny" 161

Chapter 13 Create Great Health 175

Part III How to Get Started Being You

Chapter 14 Discovering Your True Self 185

Chapter 15 Choosing Self-Love 197

Chapter 16 Discovering Your Purpose 209

Chapter 17 Finding and Pursuing Your Real Dream 219

Part IV How You Can Help Heal Your Corner of the World

Chapter 18 Spreading Your Love 239

Chapter 19 Becoming a Role Model 249

Chapter 20 Girl Gang 263

Afterword 275

Bibliography 277

Acknowledgments 285

About the Author 287

Editorial Reviews

"Katie Willcox’s personality and her passion for healthy body image resonate throughout this entire book. Her message is both powerful and relatable. I feel that Healthy Is the New Skinny can be every girl’s go-to guide for empowerment and body positivity!"
— Robyn Lawley, international supermodel, designer, and author of Robyn Lawley Eats

"A lively and useful guide to understanding and overcoming the destructive messages of the beauty ideal. Katie Willcox shares her journey with wisdom, insight, and humor, encouraging us to love our bodies and reclaim our power—not just to improve our own lives but also, more importantly, to change the world."
— Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., activist, speaker, creator of the film series Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women, and author of Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel

"Katie Willcox is such a positive voice for balance, wellness, and radiant self-confidence in the online world and modeling industry. Now, with this book, I am thrilled that she will be able to reach even more people with her message. (YES for ‘girl gangs’!) I can absolutely relate to the struggle to find inner confidence that Katie writes so thoughtfully about—and, man, once you do find it, all I can say is that incredible things happen! Katie tells her story with such beauty and eloquence that, after reading this book, I feel like we are the best of friends."
— Jordan Younger, founder of The Balanced Blonde and author of Breaking Vegan

"Katie Willcox’s altruistic personality and first-hand experience in the modeling industry come through in this book to cultivate a welcoming, positive, and insightful environment for women of all ages to feel empowered."
— John Edward, psychic medium, author, and host of Crossing Over with John Edward and Evolve with John Edward

From the Publisher