Our beliefs about our appearance and our worth come from years of unconsciously accepting judgments -- from ourselves and from others. We are the only ones who can change how we feel. No amount of attention from others can make us feel self-assured; it only keeps us focused outside ourselves for approval and empowerment.

5 Go on a diet from negative self talk. Replace self-criticism with positive affirmation. For example, change the statement, "I'll never look as good as so and so" to "I am a wonderfully unique individual; I am beautiful." Repeat this often.

8 If you find yourself feeling worse for a while, this means that the energy is shifting. It's actually a good sign because the positive feelings will follow. Get a support system, or see someone who can help you with any fears that may arise if you need to. It's OK to get help.

Weigh yourself in front of colleagues, or reveal your salary to them? Seventy-three percent of men would hop on the scale, and only 47 percent of women would.

Be poor and thin or rich and fat? Sixty-three percent of women would rather be poor and have no weight to lose than be rich but significantly overweight. Only 55 percent of men felt the same way.

Lose 20 IQ points to have the perfect body? Seventy-five percent of men and 80 percent of women said," Never -- my brain is more important than my body." However, 17 percent of men and 11 percent of women would consider it. Of those, 7 percent of men and 5 percent of women said they would do it "in an instant."

Try out swimsuits or get your wisdom teeth pulled? More than a quarter -- 27.2 percent of women said they would rather get teeth pulled than shop for swimsuits.

Which body part do you most want to change? Which part do you like the best? Both women (36 percent) and men (48 percent) said abs, and 21 percent of men and 15 percent of women said none. Women (27 percent) and men (42 percent) are happiest with their arms.

Why? He credited aging baby boomers, a strong economy, people with more disposable income and the popularity of TV shows such as "Nip/Tuck" and "Dr. 90210." And aggressive marketing strategies.

"You used to see a couple of cases where maybe the average plastic surgeon would do X number of cases in the week and other cases would make up half of his practice. Now some doctors aren't doing anything else but cosmetic surgery."

Little change in the costs, the increased number of quickly performed procedures such as noninvasive and minimally invasive treatments such as Botox, Restalyne or intense pulsed light therapy and competition for clients are keeping doctors busy.

"Patients come in with different requests, which are sometimes way off course from what they really need," Rogers said. "And the problem is, I see people feeling better, but I wonder how many are spending themselves into significant debt they can't get out of.

"No matter how bad you portray the possible complications-- and they all do have possible complications -- I think patients don't want to hear this," he said.

"I think you are seeing patients come in at a much earlier age," Rogers said. "There are things like the high school graduation augmentation present. Some are just 18."

What do you like the best? I would have to say I like my legs the best. That's the one part of my body that seemed to have kept up. I have very long shapely legs.

What do you like the least? My skin tone, as I have gotten older. I've lost my skin tone, and it's getting those blotches that come with getting older. That and the wrinkles. It's my skin, and I don't like it anymore.

What do you like the best about your body? I like my eyes. But I like my body, too, and the fact that I am curvy and I am not a stick like most models.

What do you like the least? I guess I could be in better shape. I know my body limits, and I could be healthier. I could do it by eating right and doing the right kind of exercise and not going overboard.

What do you like the least? My stomach. I have the stretch marks and the whole baby belly still. Back when I was married, I was going to have plastic surgery, but now I can't afford it. If I could do anything, I would have a tummy tuck. I would be able to feel good in my clothes. I can't wear a bathing suit. I am working on losing weight. I am not real big, but I am self-conscious. I can't wear half shirts. I think if I did something, it would make me feel better.

What do you like the best? Feeling good about you is more than being thin and beautiful. If you do not feel good on the inside, you will not look good on the outside. I like my smile.

What do you like the least? My middle region -- I would like to see it shaped a little better because my clothes don't fit the way I would like them to. I've joined a gym to try to work on accomplishing that.

Attention-getting headlines from magazines promise to show you the best way to hide wrinkles, to lose 10 pounds in a week or to have the perfect hair for lazy days at the beach.

Women are easy prey for these images and advertisements, which are a ploy by the media and diet industry, said Rachel Caplin, author of the newly released book, "I'm Beautiful, Dammit!"

"I wrote the book because I suffered with an eating and exercising disorder for 17 years, and for 10 of those years, I was a fitness instructor here and abroad," said Caplin, 37, of Los Angeles. "During that time, I found that not one woman, including myself, loved or accepted her body."

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you welcome growing older or agonize over new wrinkles and a few extra pounds? For a lot of women, self scrutiny is a daily ritual.

Women in the Pensacola area are no different. Many who entered the "Portofino's Ports of Call" makeover contest -- sponsored by the medical spa, the News Journal and Cat Country Radio Station -- mentioned not liking how they look as they grow older.

Several of the 800 entrants specifically mentioned that when they look in the mirror, they didn't like who they saw. They frequently mentioned visual signs of aging.

Sharron Pate, a licensed mental-health counselor with the Center for Personal & Family Development of Lakeview Center, isn't surprised by the national survey. Some of her clients, ages 12 and older, are dealing with body-image issues.

Most disturbing, Pate said, is the culture shift: Full-figured or voluptuous women were once thought of as beautiful, but now beauty is often tied to body weight.

"The difference is in the marketing of the human body by TV, movies and magazines," Pate said. "Sometimes during the '60s, the overriding belief emerged that thin was beautiful. The advertisers love the teen market and teenagers, and older people who didn't want to grow old bought into this belief."

"Today it gets more dramatic with women looking at models on TV and wanting to be like them," Pate said. "I think this has been a gradual shift, but everything is so much more visual now."

Signs of aging are also a factor; some people never seem to age. Today, it's hard to tell if someone is a grandmother, she said. "Look at Cher, for example."

Society's obsession with being skinny and with outer beauty has influenced many women and young girls to change their looks by dieting, opting for cosmetic surgery or buying expensive products such as winkle-free creams, Pate said.

According to the American Academy of Plastic Surgeons, more than 10.2 million cosmetic procedures were done in the United States in 2005, an increase of 11 percent from 2004.

Laurie Azzarella, a Pensacola reflexologist, believes easy access is why women are getting face-lifts and breast implants and are buying expensive treatments.

Even though visuals play a role, "I still think it is because of the availability," she said. "I think our mothers long ago would've had dish washers and microwaves if they were available."

"We tend to get gratification from the external —— the bigger car, the bigger house, the better job -- but what we are missing is the inside love and appreciation for oneself," Azzarella said.

"The field I'm in, reflexology, I try very hard for people to understand their body from the inside out. If we don't think we look pretty on the outside, to me, that says there is something going on inside that tends to make us believe that."

"I guess with my looks, because I have alopecia, I hope I resonate with people. Many people have shared with me that when they see me, they see that I am beautiful, but when I used to look in the mirror, I used to see this bald-headed freak."

Then 15 years ago, she tossed the wig with the help of good friends and gave up "hiding under a basket. It was like women who hide behind a face-lift, or women who refuse to go without their makeup," she said.

She's not adverse to anyone who seeks self-improvement, but the 53-year-old mother of two said, "I just feel people should work from the inside out."

Marcia Caruso, a 49-year-old Navarre optician, agrees that some women are influenced by society's push for a youthful look, but she makes no apologies for wanting to stay young.

Caruso, who entered the makeover contest, said she is not swayed by media images she sees. But would she like to change something about herself?

"I would like to get rid of some of the sun spots on my face and do something about my weight," the mother of two said. "I am pretty happy with myself, and I think it's a personal mindset. People expect us to look matronly, and I don't want to look like that. I'm going to be 70 and still doing some of the same things."

"I had acne as a teenager —— that's sort of genetic because my dad had it," said Gajewski, a registered nurse who's now a stay-at-home mom. "Your face is the first thing people see, and when it's got red marks, you just can't hide that. It can be a source of embarrassment."

"The average woman sees three to five impossible standards of image daily," said Caplin, also co-founder of CurvOlution, a foundation to help women and girls look at their bodies differently.

"We need to start loving ourselves. No amount of exercise, extreme dieting, surgical procedures or outside implement will ever give us what we are desiring to love and accept ourselves, and we think those will do it."

Pate said many baby boomers are in denial about growing old and dying, and they do everything possible to delay the inevitable -- such as having plastic surgery, Botox, liposuction and exercising excessively.

"Also, women baby boomers are often divorced and have to compete with younger women for available men, issues that weren't as prevalent in earlier generations," Pate said.

"How many ads do you see about developing the inner person? My mother always told me that beauty is skin deep, but TV, the Internet and movies don't get past the surface."

Some women who seek to change their image -- whether it's to lose weight or to have a face-lift -- are not doing it for themselves, said Maia Rizzi, a personal growth and consciousness therapist in Pensacola.

Rizzi said women often try to change themselves because their mother wants them to lose weight, a boyfriend likes bigger breasts or a friend thinks a new hair color is more becoming.

"When women do this, they give away their power," Rizzi said. "We validate other people's opinions more than our own, and we tend to accept others' opinions wholeheartedly about ourselves: If I measure up to your expectations, then, I must be OK."

The fashion industry is a factor, too, she said, because they tell us what to wear. Why do the fashion designers have to decide what's in and what's not? That's simply another moneymaking venture that pressures women into fit in, she said.

"We tend to believe what we are told, unfortunately," Rizzi said. "We see these 17-year-old anorexic models who are supposed to be the paragon of beauty, we begin to believe that is true -- but that is not the reality."

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