Last year, women in the UK spent nearly a billion dollars on swimwear. That's not surprising -- what is, however, more than a bit shocking, is the fact that 45 percent of those purchases have yet to see the light of day.

That's right -- according to recent research, about 250 billion pounds (nearly $500 billion) was spent on bikinis that have never and possibly will never be worn because the people who bought them don't feel comfortable enough with their bodies to don the merchandise in public.

What gives, ladies? Are we buying these swimsuits with the hopes of being inspired to slim down by their presence in our closets? Or are we just hoping we'll work up the courage to bare all once the inevitable trip to the beach becomes a reality?

Wait -- that's not all. Here are some other startling bikini facts:

Photo: geishaboy500/Flickr

Mirrors don't lie -- or do they? For some people, what they see in the mirror is vastly different from the truth.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a preoccupation with a perceived flaw or a gross exaggeration of a minor existing flaw. The Daily Mail has an article where women describe the way they see themselves and their photos are distorted to show their views.

Racheal Baughan, author of "The Butterfly Girl," suffered from BDD. "While some people have a phobia of spiders, I have a fear of my own face and body," Baughan explained to the Daily Mail. "Every time I see my reflection or a picture of myself I have to catch my breath: I see someone who is different from anyone else I've ever seen before, like an alien."

A distorted image of self can also occur after weight loss. Some people who have lost significant weight have a difficult time accepting their bodies. With this phantom fat phenomena, they may be disappointed in the way their newly-thin body looks, or they may have a hard time viewing themselves as anything but overweight.

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How many times have you looked in the mirror and wished your abs were a little flatter or your butt wasn't quite so big? I think it's human nature to catalog what we perceive as our flaws. But if you really take a look at yourself, I think you'll find that you are strong, capable and beautiful ... even if your thighs have a bit of cellulite.

CafeMom is introducing a new weekly feature dedicated to looking at yourself in a more positive light. I think it's a great idea. A while back, several of your That's Fit writers contributed to a Glamour article explaining how we learned to love our bodies.

So tell me: What is your favorite thing about your body?

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If you only viewed celebrities on magazines and CD covers, you might begin to think that they all live in a land where upper arm skin never jiggles, second chins never appear when they smile broadly, and cellulite is against the law. But celebrities -- even the stunningly gorgeous ones -- are real people, too.

Kelly Clarkson knows a bit about photo retouching. On her blog, Clarkson said "We decided the cover of the album ... it's very colorful and they have definitely photo-shopped the crap out of me, but i don't care. Whoever she is, she looks great!"

Even though she seems to embrace retouching with open arms, Clarkson is honest about it. She attended a self-esteem workshop sponsored by Dove and she told the pre-teens "just to let you know everyone in the magazines is Photoshopped! We're all human!"

Clarkson admits that it's painful for her when she hears her own body picked apart in the media. In fact, she's learned to avoid reading magazines like that altogether. "It's horrible – they'll show celebrities with cellulite and it's like, 'Of course celebrities have cellulite! We're not fem-bots!'"

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When you look in the mirror, what do you see? A little extra padding in the rear? Thighs that remind you of certain electrical weather conditions? Upper arms that continue to wave long after your hand is done waving? Most of us (me included) have a bad habit of making a laundry list of our imperfections. And we're often more harsh than need be.

It's important to get to a healthy weight; being overweight has many ramifications on your health. And there's nothing wrong with trying to tone and strengthen your body. But don't let a quest for health turn into an unreachable goal of perfection. Instead, accept yourself for who you are and learn to love your strong, healthy body. Some feel-good tips:

• Exercise. Being active energizes you and makes you feel great.
• Choose energy-boosting, nutritious foods.
• Compliment someone else. Being kind to others is good for the spirit.
• Steer conversations to other topics. Do your friends tend to get into my-butt-is-too-big conversations? Change the subject and talk about something more positive.
• Break the habit. Every time an unbidden negative thought about your body comes to mind, follow it with two positive thoughts.
• Catch your zzz's. A good night's sleep can help you maintain a good -- and positive -- mood.

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Jess Weiner blogs about body image on Seventeen.com, and she does a great job of cutting right to heart of the self-esteem issues young girls face. Now, I'm a far cry from 17-years-old. Heck, I have sweatshirts that are older than that. But as I was watching Jess's videos, I realized that a lot of those teenage body image issues stick with us through our very non-teenager years.

I know that I engage in negative self talk sometimes. A while ago, I was shopping with my sister and I tried on a skirt that I knew was flattering. Instead of simply saying I liked it, I asked her if it made my butt look big. I don't really know why ... maybe I was fishing for a compliment or maybe saying things in the negative is just a bad habit. Jess has some tips for breaking the negative thinking:

• Stop making negative comments about yourself because you're seeking attention. Negative comments, even when we know they aren't true, usually come from a lack of self-esteem. Put negative thoughts of yourself out there and they'll come back to you.
  
• Don't define yourself by your size. Find better adjectives about your health, your talents, your intelligence and your positive qualities.
• Cut off negative comments. If you have people in your life who are critical about your appearance, directly tell them that their comments are hurtful and that you need them to stop.

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It's just a matter of fact that the pages of our magazines are filled with retouched photos of celebrities and models. Too bad, really. Even if we logically know that Jessica Alba's impossibly skinny waist is a result of Photoshop magic, it makes it difficult to look at pictures of ourselves and not wish for something a little different. So it made me wonder ... if you could have any body part airbrushed in your photos, what would it be? Here's how you responded:

• Removing a double chin is what 2.5 percent of you wished for.
• A smaller butt got 12.5 percent of your vote.
• Thinner thighs were on 25 percent of your wish lists.
• A better stomach is what a whopping 47.5 percent of you would like.
• And 12.5% of you like yourself just the way you are.

I understand the wish for improved features. If the gorgeous Jessica Alba can be improved, I guess we all have room for improvement. But I can't help but wish that more that 12.5 percent had voted for not being retouched at all.

Are you having trouble sticking to your exercise routine? Don't feel bad -- seriously. It might just be the reason you can't follow through.

A relationship between exercise and self-confidence has been proven -- Diet Blog cites a recent study, which "showed self-efficacy alone boosted exercise adherence by 139 percent over the course of a year." That's a major increase!

So, if you're looking to boost your fitness level, maybe you should work on boosting your confidence, too. Check out the gallery for seven tips to boost your self-esteem.

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I had the opportunity to speak with Jenna Vaught, Miss America Plus Elite 2007, regarding her inspiring weight loss story. You can read the first half of the interview here. But Jenna's story doesn't start and stop with weight loss. Jenna's views on body image and what makes a woman truly beautiful are inspirational for all of us -- whether we're a size two or a size 22.

It seems that you achieved not only better physical health, but better confidence through losing weight. What did the process teach you about yourself?

The process of losing weight and maintaining it has taught me that I have everything I could ever need in myself. When I was so heavy, I wanted so much for others to think I was good enough or worthy. Today, I know that I have all it takes to be a strong, successful, and beautiful woman. Literally, I found the real Jenna. Media, society, and others have no influence on the way I feel about myself externally or internally. Most days, when I am feeling great, it's because I know I am doing great things for myself and my life. There are days that really are hard, I have learned to just let that day happen and move forward. Perfect, I am far from it. Persistent, now that is a word I live by day to day!

Jenna Vaught is not your average beauty queen. She didn't grow up in a life filled with pretty dresses and perfect make-up. Instead, Jenna was an obese child and the accessories she wore were shame and self-loathing. In her young 20's, Jenna had her daughter and soon after reached her highest weight -- 427 pounds. Her mobility was affected as was her health. More importantly, Jenna realized she was caught in a vicious cycle -- her insecurities were the root cause of her weight gain and her weight gain was adding to her insecurities. Jenna went on a mission to lose the weight, rediscover herself, and reach her life goals. Jenna's weight loss is inspiring, but even more inspiring is the insight she now has regarding body image and learning how to love yourself. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Jenna so she could share her story with That's Fit readers. Read on for the first half of her interview.

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Childhood obesity is becoming a big problem in the United States as well as many other countries. There are many factors that contribute to the problem, including poor nutrition at home, lack of nutrition education, unhealthy school lunches, and marketing/advertising of unhealthy foods to kids. But as the attention on childhood obesity increases, are we going too far and generating a fear of fat in kids?

A recent survey of 150,000 kids found that 1/4 of 10-year-old boys and 1/3 of girls that age are worried about their body image and shape. I found those numbers disconcerting. Yes, children should be at a healthy weight. Being overweight can have long-term effects on a child's health and self-esteem. But, in trying to help kids achieve/maintain a healthy weight, we shouldn't sacrifice a positive body image and shouldn't damage a healthy relationship with food.

Instead of forcing young kids to think about calorie intake and burning calories, we should just model and support healthy eating habits and make physical activity and play a part of every day. If your child is overweight, try these nine positive ways to help them get healthy.

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Body image is a touchy subject, and we want to know where you stand on yours. So in the past, we asked you what you like about your body. Then we asked what you don't like about your body. And I'm glad we did -- the results were pretty interesting. Here's what you had to say:

• 52% of you -- that's right, more than half of you -- don't like your midsection. I'm with you -- a bulging belly is the pits.
  
• 18% of you aren't crazy about your legs, be it a case of cankles or American thighs.
  
• 10% of you dislike your butt.
• 6% don't like your hair or skin.
• And finally, it pains me to write this but 5% of you dislike everything about yourself. However, 2% of you love everything -- good for you.
  

Thanks for sharing -- now go get those abs in shape, and be sure to vote in other Your Turn polls.

It's part of our human nature to compare ourselves to others. But in a world where money is king and the perfect body can be bought for the right price, it can be damaging to judge ourselves by other people's standards. Last week, we asked you if you were in the habit if comparing yourself to others ... and you spoke up. The results were pretty clear:

• 63% of you compare yourself to others all the time -- you can't help it.
  
• 31% of you only do it sometimes.
  
• 5% of you never do.
  
  

Wow -- it''s very clear that we can't help making comparisons often. Comparing yourself to others isn't necessarily a bad thing -- just make sure you have realistic expectations of your own self and body.

A little inspiration can go a long way. Duke University researchers put the old adage to test when they gave a book with a weight-management storyline to overweight girls. The girls -- ranging from age nine to 13 -- who read the book were slightly more successful at managing their weight than girls who didn't read the book.

The book, Lake Rescue, is part of the Beacon Street Girls series. In the book, a girl is concerned about going on an outdoor school trip. During the trip, however, she builds self-esteem and learns about appropriate levels of physical activity.

Though the weight loss results for those who read the book may have only been slightly better than for those who didn't read it, any small improvement is beneficial in my opinion. Positive inspiration is so important -- especially for young girls who are confronted with unrealistically thin actors, unattainable (air-brushed) perfection on magazine pages, and other images that are potentially damaging to their self-esteem every day.

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Martha recently posted about whether or not parents should be notified if their children are overweight. A recent user question on Momtourage shows that some doctors are doing just that. ... and I think it's a good thing. The parent asking the question is wondering if they should even be concerned that their child is overweight because they feel that their child is active and happy.

Some children are clearly, unmistakably overweight. But for other kids, it isn't always easy to tell. After all, kids go through growth spurts and they grow at different rates. But if a medical professional expresses that your child is indeed overweight, it's time to take action.

As parents, there are many things you can do to help your child live a healthy lifestyle and maintain an appropriate weight.

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