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"Going into a brand new year, a lot of us are setting new exercise goals and thinking about how we might change up our eating habits. The problem is that we might be pretty negative about our bodies while doing so. In fact, 97 percent of us will be cruel to our bodies today. But here&amp;#x27;s a small, easy thing that might help put away some of those negative body thoughts. New research shows that writing down the bad thoughts you have and throwing them away--I mean literally tossing them in a garbage pail--may actually help erase them. In an experiment, participants who wrote down negative thoughts about their bodies and held onto the notes reported that they agreed with the negative thoughts. But the participants who threw away their notes seemed to toss the bad thoughts, too. Why? According to Richard Petty, co-author of the study, the action &amp;quot;gives a greater finality to your thoughts.&amp;quot; In other words: you&amp;#x27;re tricking your brain into thinking the bad body thought is gone, instead of just letting it sit on a shelf for later review. Does it sound silly? Petty thinks so. But, he adds: &amp;quot;Sometimes it&amp;#x27;s the silly things that work.&amp;quot; Silly--but it still makes sense, I think! Want to try it?! More on body image: * Would you get plastic surgery on your toes? * Skydiving... in your underwear! * Why this celeb wanted to put on weight Photo: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2012/12/experts-say-this-is-a-new-supe>