This guest post is from Heather Deranja, creator of the Beautiful U Journey.  

Beautiful U Journey: 365 Days of Learning to Love Yourself, is a campaign for women and girls of all ages.

Women of all ages are affected by negative body image, and by the media culture which dictates the unachievable standards women should live up to. 

As a registered dietitian, my biggest focus when working with clients is helping them to realize that they are worth making a change, and that they are worth their own love and attention. This journey is inspired by my female clients, and the book "Beautiful You" by Rosie Molinary, where she gives 365 days worth of techniques and actions to learn self-acceptance. As I flipped through the pages, every word resonated with me and I knew it would also with every female out there who struggles with loving themselves.

This campaign will launch on February 14, 2017 and those who participate will take a 365-day journey of learning to love themselves, so that one year later when Valentine's Day comes again, they will be full of self-love and self-acceptance. It is completely free to join, and women of all ages are welcome. Any donations made to this cause will go to the National Eating Disorder Association to help women who struggle with body image and eating disorders.

Our mission is to spread this message to as many women as possible, and to create a safe space for them to share their stories of struggle and success. This journey is about learning to silence that inner critic that tells us we're not good enough, and to discover our own needs and how to practice self-care, so that we can live our best lives. 

To join Beautiful U Journey, please visit the link below and request to be a member, and please invite as many female friends and family as possible. You never know whose life you could be changing just with a simple invitation! Join here:

http://beautifulujourney.com/join

There is no one in this world who is more deserving of your love than yourself. Join the movement, spread the message, and let's start a revolution together.

 

 

Heather’s Story (Founder of Beautiful U):

Heather Deranja, founder of Beautiful U Journey and Nutrition Vixen, is a licensed and registered dietitian.

After years of coaching hundreds of individuals on nutrition and weight loss, I discovered that there was something missing. I always ended up in the exact same place with clients: self-acceptance.

My job as a registered dietitian nutritionist is not just to teach people about food, but to help them obtain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. The absolute hardest part about working with my clients, is helping them to realize that they are worth making a change, and that they are worth their own love and attention. It is difficult because most people don't believe they are worth it.

Beautiful U Journey is inspired by my passion for nutrition and living a healthy, well-balanced life from the inside out.

Up until my mid-thirties, I struggled with my body-image and self-worth. I had always thought that I had to live up to some perfect standard, push myself, and set my expectations so high that I sacrificed any sort of balanced life for the feeling of success. I remember feeling so uncomfortable in my own skin, I hated taking pictures, and didn't believe in myself and what I was capable of doing. If you want to read my full transformation story and about my own journey to self-acceptance, click here. I had to learn to make myself a priority, and to just let things go that I once thought were so important. I had to get uncomfortable and embrace myself and all of my flaws.

I know what it's like to be in that place of struggle, when you look in the mirror and hate what you see, and I still struggle with it. But the thing is, self-acceptance is a choice. Every day you must wake up and decide that you’re going to love yourself, talk positively to yourself, believe in yourself, and silence your inner critic.

I created Beautiful U Journey because I want to inspire women of all ages to develop a true feeling of self-love and acceptance. I want to empower women to give themselves permission to wake up and say, "I am enough".