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RYB Day 2016!

Celebrations are underway for
RYB Day 2016!

We hope you'll join us!

Check out our page to find out how you can get involved!
(click here)

Enough is Enough: An Artist's Take On Body Image

Being an actor means a lot of things: adhering to a gypsy lifestyle, a lot of wonderful creative connections, creating work with different people, just to name a few. It also requires a lot of discipline, resilience, and time. Being a professional actor also means there is a lot of pressure and a lot of emphasis placed on how you look. Body image is a skewed topic in this professional field, and like it or not it directly effects your job.

I knew when I was young I wanted to be a performer because I love…

Special Announcement! We're Expanding!

We are thrilled to announce that Realize Your Beauty is officially expanding its programs to Colorado!

We will kick off our Colorado programs with Camp Realize Your Beauty, July 17-22nd 2016, Granby, CO.

Thank you to all of our supporters for helping make this expansion possible. Check back often for updates and more special announcements!
(image design from Printable Quirks)

Be Brave: Bravelets

Want to donate to Realize Your Beauty, and at the same time purchase beautiful and inspiring jewelry??

We are thrilled to announce our new fundraising page on Bravelets! These bracelets & jewelry, with the inscription "Be Brave", are a great way to motivate yourself or a loved one with a positive message of encouragement.

Bravelets will donate $10 of every bracelet purchased from our Brave Page to Realize Your Beauty! What a beautiful way to support our programming!!

You can browse their lovely selection of…

Giving Tuesday - Final Call for Donations!

Today, on Giving Tuesday, we are sending out the final call for donations.

Thank you so much to everyone who has already given. Your donations keep our programs going, and we absolutely depend on them. Together, let's build a world where children grow up learning to love themselves & others, and learn to treat each other with kindness & respect.
Follow link to be directed to our fundraising page: RYB Fundraiser
Thank you so much for your consideration & continued support.
In gratitude, Stacey

Founder &… Read more

Thanksgiving: Survival Guide for a Healthy, Happy Holiday!

Sometimes in friendly holiday movies, Thanksgiving is depicted as smooth going, serene and an uber friendly time to family bond, but in real life it can be super stressful. You have to hang with every cousin you ever met, defend your career choices and eat bulging turkeys all on one night!! It seems like there’s so much pressure to have this perfect family dinner that it can almost be debilitating.

For people struggling with disordered eating, the holidays can be an especially triggering time: questions like…Read more

Join In on the Conversation! Twitter Chat Addressing Holiday Triggers

Realize Your Beauty is thrilled to be taking part in this important discussion!

Twitter chat focused on:

Common Holiday Triggers
Avoiding Body Bashing
and Support Resources

Hosted by Proud2BmeUS.
With: National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), Ravishly, Scholastic Choices Mag & Adios Barbie

Join in on the conversation: 11/19, 3-4pm EST!

(graphic courtesy of Proud2BeMe)

RYB's Guide to Rocking the New School Year!

There is a lot to love about back to school time; using your crisp new school supplies, reuniting with friends, getting a whole new chance at the school year. It’s fun and often exciting. Halloween is right around the corner! As exciting as it can be, there are often a lot of different emotions to deal with as well. Sadness that the summer has come to an end, and some of your plans didn’t turn out the way you had hoped. Feeling nervous or anxious about adjusting to new teachers or maybe even a whole new…Read more

What is a 'trigger'?: How to talk about ED & Body Image

There are so many news stories and tell all novels about body image/eating disorder related topics and after awhile one can feel a little overwhelmed! Especially when the stories aren’t told in a responsible way. It is so tempting to want to give every detail about what it feels to struggle with body image, but hold off, son ;)!!! At the same time, if you see an article or book that you feel sensationalizes the experience or is too specific in detail, it’s okay to hold off and not read it. As a body…Read more

Twitter Chat! RYB Teams up with EBNYC & NEDA to take on the Fitnessgram!

Special announcement!

Twitter Chat!! RYB teams up with Endangered Bodies NYC & NEDA to take on the Fitnessgram!

Follow us on twitter: @bodylove_ryb & Join us: 4/19/15 at 8pm ‪#‎BMItruth‬

Fat Is Not A Feeling Petition: A Reflection by Catherine Weingarten

I recently have gotten involved with an awesome “change.org” petition that wants to do away with the “fat” emoticon on facebook. The emoticon appears when you are writing in your status and adding a “I feel” to the end of it. The feelings include things like sad, happy, depressed and also ugly and fat. Endangered Bodies and I felt this was problematic since fat is not a feeling, it’s an adjective that we usually use to shame ourselves.

The petition has gone viral and has been featured in such magazines as…Read more

NEDAW 2015: Thank you & A Recap

As National Eating Disorders Awareness Week winds down, I find myself reflecting on all of the great conversations, interactions, and outreach that happened this week. Seeing so many people come together for the cause was very inspiring. We made many new friends, connected with new & fantastic organizations, and did our very best to contribute to the goal of this week: raising awareness for this important cause. Thank you to everyone who engaged this week in our posts, tweets & events.

If you have any…Read more

Facebook: Fat is not a feeling!

Petition to have the 'I feel fat' & 'I feel ugly' icons removed from Facebook. Please help us tell facebook that 'fat' and 'ugly' are not feelings.

RYB Resident Playwright & Board Member, Catherine Weingarten, is working with Endangered Bodies NYC to help make this change. Please take a moment to read the petition & sign: Change.org Petition

"Fat is not a feeling. Fat is a natural part of our bodies, no matter their weight. And all bodies deserve to be respected and cared for.

Facebook is the most popular…

New Year, New You?

Written by Catherine Weingarten

It is now officially 2015 and as usual, there are a ton of ads targeting people’s resolutions/hopes for the new year. It is always energizing to have goals and things you are working towards, but too many young women are pressured to make 2015 their healthiest year yet/lose a certain amount of pounds. It seems that every sexy teen magazine has an article talking about the newest workouts to get washboard Twilight abs this year or what yogurt will make you look like a shy…Read more

'Girls' Star Zosia Mamet opens up about ED

In the upcoming September issue of Glamour, Girls start Zosia Mamet opens up about her struggles with an Eating Disorder. In her brave and important article, Ms.Mamet shares how she found her way to recovery.

Thank you to Glamour Magazine for featuring this important article, and thank you to Ms. Mamet for being brave enough to share your story. In Ms. Mamet's own words, "To battle this all-too-common beast, we've got to start talking."

Please take a moment to read and share the article here.
"The first… Read more

Be Unlimited!

We love this new ad by Old Navy! The ad is a music video that encourages students to keep reaching up towards their dreams.

How can you teach and encourage the students in your life to keep pushing forward?

Watch the video here:

A New Kind of Summer - written by Catherine Weingarten

Growing up, bathing suit season was something I feared. The summer brought with it a nice break from school, time to hang with my kinda boring friends and bathing suit season. Throughout the school year I had watched shows like “The O.C” where petite actress/models wore small colorful glittery bikinis and laughed, hair in the ocean, while they made out with random guys. Could I really be that hip during bathing suit season? Could I wear a glittery bikini and not feel self conscious? Could I sun bathe…Read more

Truth in Advertising Act: Petition for Change!! - written by Catherine Weingarten

I remember when I was almost a teen and constantly picked up big, shiny, overly expensive fashion magazine and looked at the pictures of the fashion ads and just fell into the pictures. I felt like I Was looking at this perfect goddess like image of what I could be like. The sexy ideal chick. I knew she had a perfect life and probably just took lavender bubble baths and ate lavender chocolates while making out with her boyfriend; and she never gained weight, of course! For years this kind of images…Read more

NEDAW and 'House of Mirrors'

Today kicks off the first day of NEDAW: National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. RYB is proud to be partnering with NEDA for this very important week.

This year, we have a very special song to share. The song is called 'House of Mirrors' and was written and performed especially for Realize Your Beauty by Singer/Songwriter Gretchen Witt. This song reflects the feelings and experiences of many women, young and old, caught in the conflicting demands of today's complex world. The link to the free download is…Read more

Realize Your Beauty Day 2014!

April 28, 2014

We're so excited to announce this year's Realize Your Beauty Day! Activities are being planned all over the country to celebrate this special day.

RYB Day is a day to celebrate what makes you uniquely beautiful. You can participate as an individual or as a group. So get your Students, Girl Scout Troops, Sports Teams, Community Groups and friends together and start planning!

To sign up to participate, and for details and activity list, click on our special RYB Webpage!

Welcome New RYB Board Members!

Realize Your Beauty is thrilled to announce our newest Board Members:

Kellie Amend (Board President)
Catherine Weingarten (Board Secretary)
Tracy Jennissen (Board Member)

To read their bios, click here.

Welcome aboard!

Indwelling Performance

Realize Your Beauty is honored to be included as a featured performer at this year's Indwelling event, hosted by the Women's Therapy Center Institute and Endangered Bodies NY. This year's Indwelling honors Dr. Leonore Tiefer, author, educator, researcher, therapist, and activist. Featured speakers and performers at this year's event include Realize Your Beauty, Poet Lily Meyers (bio) and Samantha Levine, formerly from Mayor Bloomberg's admin., creator the NYC Girls Project.

The event details are as follows:

… Read more

NYC Girl's Project!

Mayor Bloomberg has become the first mayor in the country to launch a campaign entirely focused on raising self-esteem and healthy body-image in children, and we are absolutely thrilled! This wonderful campaign echos the mission of Realize Your Beauty, encouraging children to see themselves as beautiful, just as they are.

The campaign features a PSA and a series of images that encourage children to look at the beauty of their character, skills and attributes- not physical appearance.

You can find more…Read more

Girl Scouts of Greater New York 100th Anniversary Bridge Crossing Event!

Realize Your Beauty is thrilled to announce that we will be taking part in the Girl Scouts of Greater New York 100th Anniversary Bridge Crossing Event. This once-in-a-lifetime event will celebrate 100 years of Girl Scouting in NYC!

Event Information: Sunday, June 2, 2013. 11am-5pm, Randall’s Island. For more information or to sign up to participate, please visit: www.girlscoutsnyc.org/events/100-100th-anniversary-bridge-crossing

NEDAW 2013

Realize Your Beauty is proud to be participating in National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (NEDAW) 2013. This year, we will be participating in the form of a social media campaign on facebook and twitter (@bodylove_ryb), as well as a performance and workshop aimed at spreading awareness.

From the NEDAW website: “NEDAwareness Week is the largest education and outreach effort on eating disorders in the United States, taking place February 24-March 2, 2013. The aim of NEDAwareness Week is to increase…Read more