This post is a part of our Love your Body Week series.

Around the world, millions of men, women and children are unhappy with aspects of the way that they look. Loving your body can be hard, but really important. Let's just make a start with 5 evidence-based ways that you can Love Your Body today...

1) Take the Pledge: Read and sign the Butterfly Foundation Love Your Body Week Pledge and then follow through with what you have agreed to!

2) Focus on the functional: Research tells us that focussing on the functionality of the body can improve body image among women. Remind yourself of the things that your body can do regardless of what it looks like.

3) Be kind to yourself: Interventions encouraging self-compassion are showing promise in terms of being able to improve body image and mental wellbeing. These free self-compassion resources have been found to reduce body dissatisfaction and enhance body appreciation among adult women.

4) Move it: There is so much evidence to suggest that movement and physical activity can have a positive impact on body image, depression, and anxiety. Find a way to get active today and read this post if you need some suggestions! 

5) Follow positive influences: Research has found that 'fitspiration' makes women feel bad about themselves and doesn't motivate exercise behaviour. Being visually focussed, instagram has the most negative impact . If the things that you are seeing are making you feel bad about yourself- unfollow! See these suggestions for positive influences and influencers...

#mumfitness #mumexercise #postnatal #mentalhealth #exercisewithkids

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Zali Yager is the co-founder of Body Confident Mums- a research collaboration led by body image experts. We are currently developing evidence-based resources and programs to build body confidence for you, and help you role model this to your children. Zali is also a Mum to 3 kids, a current researcher at VU, and director of Well Researched