Health and Fitness

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Healthy

Eat right!

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Capable

Healthy does not come in one size

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am Powerful

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Enlightend

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Sufficient

 I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Fit

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Empowered

There's no age limit for maintaining health and fitness!

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Strong

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Beautiful

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am... Adventurous

I Am Woman, Therefore I Am.. Able

Remember always: A healthy, fit body is all you need!

Find BCBM on: Facebook and Twitter

Love Your Body Day 2013 - October 16th

Today is...

Love Your Body Day

Tell us why you love your body

What do you love about your body? What makes you beautiful?

Taking care of your body is loving your body

A sound mind makes a healthy individual, and does the body good!

Just do it!

Note to self

DO it for YOU!

Preserve the HEALTHY YOU

Define your beauty

Say these words to yourself, EVERY DAY!

Find BCBM on: Facebook and Twitter

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Like us on Facebook - Body Confident, Beautiful Me

Follow us on Twitter - @WYBFoundation

Phenomenal Woman by Dr. Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them

They say they still can't see.

I say,

It's in the arch of my back,

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

the palm of my hand,

The need of my care,

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me. 

Poem by Dr. Maya Angelou

Appreciate yours, celebrate hers!

Appreciate your beauty, and celebrate the beauty of others!

YOU are beautiful!

Beautiful: Comes in all shapes, colors, and sizes!

LET’S TALK: MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE THREE-OUNCE TUBE

Name: Aisha Koroma
Age: 26
The three body parts that I love are my EYES, LIPS, and definitely my SKIN TONE


Four years ago, I experienced stubborn acne breakouts. After months of experimenting with various beauty products, the bumps were gone, but the scars remained. Frustrated with the tiny dots on my face, I went hunting for a miracle product. Tried different things but nothing worked until a friend introduced me to a tiny little three-ounce tube. With no questions asked, I started using the product in the tube. Two weeks later I noticed the fading of my scars. Filled with excitement, I purchased another tube. Months later, not only did the scars disappear, my entire face was smooth and bright.


Loved what I saw so I was like “ummm, face is bright but the rest of my body isn't … How about using the “tube” on the rest o f my body.” A few weeks went by and saw minimal results. Then I upgraded to a “cocktail” of tubes and soap bars. With these cocktails came a ritual. Every morning and night, I glazed my body with a cloud of soap mixture followed by a polish tube twirl. A year later I went from being a 60% Hershey dark chocolate to a caramel milk chocolate.

I’ll admit, for a while, I fell in love with the “new me.” Then I took a closer look in the mirror one day and realized that I was still the same person but with a lighter/brighter complexion. Asked myself, “who is this ‘new girl?’ Is she any better than Aisha with the darker skin tone?” Answer, I was the same person with the same amount of melanin production. The only thing different was the increase levels of chemicals/toxins in my skin.


Had a moment and I said “STOP!!!” The color of my skin at that moment didn't make me any better of a person than I was nor did it bring me inner satisfaction. Difference: my skin was lighter. Bleaching my skin had no positive contribution to my personal well-being so I stopped intoxicating my beautiful dark skin with chemicals. Unlike others, I didn't just wake up one day and decided to become “yellow bone.” It was a process … Not a justified process, but something led to my encounter with the three-ounce tube.


As we try to educate others, it is necessary for us to trace and understand all roads that lead to a certain destination. Sometimes we fail to educate ourselves before educating others. When this occurs, you’ve intentionally displaced the significance of schooling. Ask, analyze, and understand before you teach/preach … Let’s get REAL … Bleaching your skin may change your perspective of what defines beauty, but it won’t change WHO you are … If there is a dissonance between what you see and what really exist, I urge you to dig deeper for a MERGE.

---
Want to share your story? E-mail us at WYBFoundation@gmail.com or fill out this survey

Media's distortion of beauty

BCBM Tour (6A)

BCBM Tour (5B)

Presentation on February 16th with members of Mu Sigma Upsilon's T.I.A.R.A Interest Group at Virginia Tech.

Thank you to:

T.I.A.R.A Interest Group

Mu Sigma Upsilon

Virginia Tech

Make it a habit!

YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL from head to toe, always remember that!

BCBM Tour (5A)

Join us tomorrow at Virginia Tech. Topics include Body Confident, Beautiful Me, eating disorder awareness, and many more!

Happy New Year

Happy 2012. Be beautiful, strong, and remain empowered.

BCBM Tour (4)

Speaking to students in the Feminist Theory class on November 29, 2011.

Thank you to:

Dr. Barbara Ellen Smith

Dept. of Women's and Gender Studies

Virginia Tech

BCBM Tour (2)

Speaking to students in the Global Feminisms class on November 10, 2011.



Thank you to:

Dr. Minjeong Kim

Dept. of Women's and Gender Studies

Virginia Tech

BELIEVHER: Christina Dyal

Name: Christina

Age: 21

What three physical features do you love most about yourself that makes you feel beautiful?
Answer: Hair, Eyes, and Waist.

---
Phenomenal Woman by Dr. Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

BELIEVHER: Francil

Name: Francil

Age: 24

What three physical features do you love most about yourself that makes you feel beautiful?
Answer: Eyes, Nose, and Lips.

---

"Why are women so much more self-critical than men? Because women are judged on their appearance more than men, and standards of female beauty are considerably higher and more inflexible. Women are continually bombarded with images of the 'ideal' face and figure – what Naomi Woolf calls 'The Official Body'. Constant exposure to idealised images of female beauty on TV, magazines and billboards makes exceptional good looks seem normal and anything short of perfection seem abnormal and ugly. It has been estimated that young women now see more images of outstandingly beautiful women in one day than our mothers saw throughout their entire adolescence."

SOURCE:
http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html

BELIEVHER: Doris Tawiah

Name: Doris

Age: 21

What three physical features do you love most about yourself that makes you feel beautiful?
Answer: Smile, Lips, Breasts, and Hips.

---

"Step Away from the Mean Girls… and say bye-bye to feeling bad about your looks. Are you ready to stop colluding with a culture that makes so many of us feel physically inadequate? Say goodbye to your inner critic, and take this pledge to be kinder to yourself and others. This is a call to arms. A call to be gentle, to be forgiving, to be generous with yourself. The next time you look into the mirror, try to let go of the story line that says you're too fat or too sallow, too ashy or too old, your eyes are too small or your nose too big; just look into the mirror and see your face. When the criticism drops away, what you will see then is just you, without judgment, and that is the first step toward transforming your experience of the world" Oprah Winfrey.

BELIEVHER: Aisha Koroma

Name: Aisha

Age: 25

What three physical features do you love most about yourself that makes you feel beautiful?
Answer: Eyes, Lips, and Skin Tone.

“For some crazy reason, I used to bleach my skin until I realized that it was a waste of time and money. Looked in the mirror and realized that the light-skinned girl was not Aisha and I swore to never ever do that to myself again. Plus, an honest friend pointed it out by saying: ‘this is not for you'” Aisha Koroma.

BELIEVHER: Liletta Thompson

Name: Liletta

Age: 37

What three physical features do you love most about yourself that makes you feel beautiful?
Answer: Eyes, Lips, and Skin Tone.

---

"You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy."