The prospect of the new year is rather exciting; it is an opportunity to start fresh and try something new. While everyone deserves a new beginning, especially after the holidays, the thought of New Year’s resolutions brings about pressures and expectations that we have to reinvent ourselves. New year, new you...right? The media has sung the same old song for years, associating the “new you” with a fitness and health guru. 

Resolution: a firm decision to do or not to do something. Goal: the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. Which sounds more appealing?

I’ve never been a fan of New Year's resolutions, probably because it seems that most of the resolutions people tend to make are revolved around changing something about their exterior self that they are not happy with.

My​ ​body​ ​began​ ​to​ ​shake.​ ​It​ ​started​ ​at​ ​my​ ​core​ ​and​ ​radiated​ ​slowly​ ​outwards,​ ​like​ ​those concentric​ ​circles​ ​you​ ​might​ ​see​ ​in​ ​a​ ​tree​ ​stump.​ ​Or​ ​as​ ​a​ ​rock​ ​falls​ ​into​ ​a​ ​lake,​ ​the​ ​way​ ​each smaller​ ​ring​ ​chases​ ​the​ ​one​ ​just​ ​bigger​ ​than​ ​it.  

Leon Silvers is a psychotherapist, founder, and director of Silvers Psychotherapy, a group therapy practice in NYC. He specializes in working with clients with eating disorders, substance abuse, trauma, and LGBT issues.

It’s no secret that advertisers are not always the most reliable when it comes to portraying realistic bodies. However, sometimes a company does get it right and launches a campaign centered on ensuring that very thing happens.

Women are taught to not be seen. It’s still considered a shameful thing in our society for our natural, naked bodies to be on display. In fact, the general public is so disconnected from real bodies that seeing one can cause shock and inspire heaps of criticism. 

Last week, my close friend Colleen and I were invited by NEDA to see the NYC premiere of Fattitude. This documentary film was created by Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman and it explores the discrimination fat people face—done by society, strangers, and even by loved ones. 

I’ll never forget the day I arrived at a job interview with my hair dyed black with a subtle hint of blue. I didn’t think it would be an issue at a supposedly young and innovative media company, but my interviewer couldn’t see past my hair to my qualifications. Instead of listening to my responses to her questions, she looked at me like I flew into the interview from outer space and our conversation ended after only 15 minutes. 

We spend more time than ever using media and everywhere we turn there are messages telling us how we should look that can make us feel less confident about our appearance. While we’re probably not going to use less media, we can protect our self-image and body confidence from media’s narrow body ideals that reinforce thinness for women and muscularity for men. It’s all about asking the right questions. 

It’s National Media Literacy Week, and you might be thinking, “I’m a savvy Millennial who knows everything there is to know about the Internet.” At least that’s what I thought until I read this really awesome, easy-to-use, super weapon called the Get REAL! Digital Media Literacy Toolkit. Before reading the toolkit, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about the digital media culture because I grew up in it.