Dr Oz: From Body Hate To Body Confidence + Chia Pudding

Dr Oz: Body Confidence In America

According to a groundbreaking new study from Yahoo Health, who surveyed 2,000 people between the ages of 13 and 64, 70% of men are body positive or body neutral, meaning they like the way they look or are at peace with how they look. The opposite is true for women, with 66% being body negative or body ambivalent, which means they have a love/hate relationship with their bodies. Approximately 94% of teenage girls have experienced body shaming at some point in their lives, compare to just 64% of teenage boys.

Dr Oz was then joined by Michele Promaulayko, Editor in Chief of Yahoo Health, who said in 2015, we saw the good, bad, and ugly of the body conversation. We saw body bashing and shaming, but we also saw plus-sized models getting huge advertising contracts.

Dr Oz wanted to take a closer look at some of the most alarming findings from the study, beginning with the statistic that just one in seven Americans feel body positive. A lot can play into that, whether it’s the environment you grew up in or the media you’re exposed to.

Dr Oz: Women Feeling Body Negative

More than half of all women feel body negative, and according to Michele, society sets a really high bar for women. When you think about social media, it shows us what we think is reality, when in fact it’s actually skewed and filtered. Women are becoming self conscious at younger and younger ages. Men aren’t immune to body dissatisfaction and men set the bar a little lower for themselves. The number one body type for men was the “dad bod” which is a guy who is a “little soft” but used to be fit.

Dr Oz then wanted to look back at the fact that 94% of teen girls have experienced body shaming, which is truly shocking. So many people don’t realize that the way their own image of themselves rubs off on their children. The survey found that teenage girls are 40% more likely to be body positive if their mother was.

It’s not enough to not criticize your teen, because you should avoid critiquing yourself as well. “Ban the fact talk from your house,” Michele said.

Dr Oz: What Don’t You Like About Your Body?

Before the show, Dr Oz asked the audence to each write down one thing they don’t like about their bodies. Each of the audience members held up a large blue paper with what they didn’t like written on it. Dr Oz then shared that women experience an average of 14 negative thoughts about their body each day. Michele suggested you follow the N for N rule. Whenever you have a negative thought, replace it with a neutral thought.

Dr Oz: Get From Body Hate To Body Positivity

To get from body hate to body positivity, you have to get to a middle ground which is body neutrality. That means accepting “what is” rather than wishing for “what isn’t.” The spotlight effect is a psychological phenomenon that that has us all thinking the spotlight is on just us, when everyone is thinking the same thing. Realize that it isn’t all about you and instead think about what your best friend thinks about you.

According to the Yahoo survey, 40% of body positive people attribute their mindset to eating righ and working out. Michele suggested starting your morning off with a healthy breakfast. If you start the day on the right foot, you set the tone for the entire day. She suggested you eat chia seed pudding made with unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds, pure maple syrup, blueberries, toasted almonds, and cinnamon.

Dr Oz: Bananas Going Extinct?

Before the end of his show, Dr Oz revealed that the banana could soon be rebooted. Years ago, bananas lasted longer and tasted better. But in 1965 there was a fungus that destroyed all the bananas. Farmers started with a new breed of bananas like we all know today. But now there’s a strain of the disease that has returned, spreading all over the world. Bananas are reporting 15,000 plants lost each week. If the banana we know went extinct, we would soon be seeing and eating new bananas.