Here's 10 ways to feel better about your body – leading up to the single most important way to feel good about your curves, skin, weight and personality.

1. Learn where your body image comes from. If you have a bad body image, does it spring from being overweight or pushed to be perfect as a kid? Perhaps you were slim and fit until your 30's or 40's, and then life caught up with you. Look at your past: how did you get here?

2. Pay attention to where your mind goes. Maybe your poor body image comes from being teased as a child: learn to replace those negative thoughts with healthy, uplifting ones. It's retraining your brain (simple in concept, difficult in practice). It becomes a habit – soon your negative thoughts about yourself will be replaced with positive ones.

3. Learn how our culture affects your self-perception. Big cultural influences are the media (tv, radio, movies, the internet). Smaller – but equally influential – is your family, workplace, school, or neighborhood. How are those cultures affecting how you feel about yourself?

4. Substitute healthy, fun activities for watching tv. Almost every woman is thin and beautiful on tv and in movies. It's not real; the more you watch those images of perfection the worse you'll feel about yourself.

5. Stop comparing yourself to others. When you compare yourself you'll either come up short (sometimes literally) or you'll think you're "better than." Neither result is helpful to relationships or self-image.

6. Repeat "It is what it is." Just saying "it is what it is" or "I am who I am" can lead to greater acceptance of situations, other people, and your own body. When you stop wishing things were different or fighting things you can't change, you set yourself up for disappointment and unhappiness.

7. Get a handle on your strengths & weaknesses. Be honest about who you are as a whole person, not just your weaknesses. When you criticize your hair, follow it up with appreciation of your skin tone or the color of your eyes.

8. Accept & appreciate compliments. Savor it when someone says you look good, have lost weight, or are glowing! Instead of denying or making explanations, let the compliment penetrate your soul.

9. Focus outward. Instead of wasting time obsessing about your weight, volunteer at a food bank or at a children's hospital. Clean up your community or figure out the best way to "go green" at home. Looking outward instead of inward will change how you see the world.

10. Get involved in your goals, dreams, plans for the future. When I'm wrapped up in writing a book proposal or selling an article to a magazine, I'm not thinking about my spider veins or generous bottom. I’m thinking about my life – my goals and dreams. My appearance is the last thing on my mind.

For me, #10 is the single most important way to overcome a poor body image. Which is best for you?