On Sunday, we posted a note that Shannon found during a race. She said, “I heard about Operation Beautiful on Saturday when I was at my first 5K in Troy, NY. It was so hard and there was a girl there who had this sign on her back. I was able to see it in front of me for a lot of the run & I felt great!!!”
Guess what? We FOUND the women wearing the shirt. Her name is Heather!
She also wore this note on the fleece she walked around in before the race:
Heather was actually QUITE BUSY this Halloween weekend with Operation Beautiful notes. She said, “I live in a two-family house, and my door isn’t really visible for trick-or-treaters, so I set two tables outside to great the little ones in costume. And of course, I had to dress up to hand out the candy. What better than an Operation Beautiful note (with stars painted on my cheeks)?”
Here’s a story of how one little note had a profound impact! Cynthia wrote in to say, “I was a seminary student just outside of NYC and we went into the city all the time for different things. I had started gaining back some of the weight I lost once I entered seminary because the food was free and plentiful and I also was dealing with a severe back injury that prevented the running I loved so much (it’s all fixed now). We happened to be walking past a subway stop and I was looking at the ads. One was for something I don’t remember exactly but touting the new hot thing to make you look great. But right next to the model’s face was a little orange post-it that said "You are beautiful just the way you are." It just kind of hit me hard. I wasn’t happy with me at the time and was looking for ways to fix me. But I didn’t need fixing..I am beautiful just they way I am. I didn’t need some new fad diet or some fancy make up to make me beautiful. I really think it was realizing this and the note as the catalyst that helped me get past the self hatred and get to a happy place where I could just work on my inner beauty not my outer. I’ve started leaving the same message I saw in places like the gym locker room and the changing rooms at the mall. It is important for everyone to know they are beautiful just they way are!”
Brittany FOUND a BUNCH of notes. She wrote in to say, “This note says "you put the stars to shame, none are as bright and beautiful as YOU are." This was the first time I found one of these notes. I wasn’t having the best day, and the timing couldn’t have been better. This definitely lifted my spirits. Since them I find them all over the place at school. The bathrooms, the computer labs, bulletin boards… Just today I found one that said "you are the world, no matter what anyone says." I attend Central New Mexico University [CNM] in Albuquerque, New Mexico. All the notes I find are typed and on colored paper. There’s almost always more than one, and I’ve decided I’ll start posting some too. Not just at school, but everywhere.” Are you the mystery lady posting these notes? 
Nicole ALSO found a note! She said, “I found this note at a dance performance dressing room! It certainly made me feel more sure of myself and the performance I was to be a part of! I’m sure all the other ladies thought the same! Thanks to the random person who put this lovely note in the dressing room!”
S put up this pretty note:
Sandra said, “I am a teacher at the AMERICAN INTL SCHOOL OF MUSCAT in Oman. We launched our own Operation Beautiful with the Middle School girls. Here is a sampling of the notes posted in the bathroom the day following the debut of the Operation Beautiful video at an assembly….”
WOW! What amazing notes we had today!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I found a note too! I go to Florida State University and in the first floor laundry room of Jennie Murphree dorm there’s a on a heart shaped piece of paper on the wall that says “you are beautiful. operationbeautiful.com.” I was so shocked to see a note where I live – I always feel like I’m the only one in Tallahassee that has heard of Operation Beautiful or even healthy living blogs for that matter. It’s awesome to see that somebody in such close proximity to me shares the same ideals because I haven’t met anybody like that since I’ve been here!
I wrote a note to myself and carried it with me in my marathon this weekend that said “You are stronger than you think you are”…it was the boost I needed to stay strong and keep going!
You know, I can appreciate the spirit of what is being done on this site, but I can’t help but feel the general sentiment of these messages is that complacency and stagnation are good, and that self-improvement is to be avoided.
Telling an overweight person that she’s beautiful and that she doesn’t need to change a thing about herself might be a nice message in the short-term, but did it ever occur to you all that feelings of inadequacy might actually be the mother of personal improvement and, in the end, actually make her an objectively better person?
I’m sorry, but our nation (and Canada, and the UK, and Mexico, and Australia, etc.) contains a disgustingly large percentage of overweight people and your message seems no less unhealthy than any pictures airbrushed models.
the point of the site is not to tell an overweight person they do not need to change anything about themselves to get healthy. the point of operation beautiful has nothing to do with weight at all. its about accepting yourself for who you are and loving yourself despite your imperfections. that does not mean you need to be complacent. in America, more women have anorexia than breast cancer, and most girls go on their first diet by age 8. operation beautiful is about stopping self-hatred, not encouraging people to be lazy. in fact, the site is all about taking action. i hope you take another look at OB from this angle.
trust me, berating someone for their faults and encouraging feelings of “inadequacy” is not “the mother of all personal improvement.” in fact, psychologist will wildly agree that beating yourself up over something is not the method for change.
also- I think that it takes LOVING YOURSELF FOR WHO YOU ARE and KNOWING YOU TRULY ARE BEAUTIFUL in order to change unhealthy habits/things you dont like about yourself.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself-
and it wasn’t until I truly came to grips that I am WORTH the effort of healthy living, (nutritious foods, not binging, getting exercise, making it a lifestyle, and more) that I could make the change for the right reasons.
Wanting to change because of what the world wants often leads to unhealthy changes, and short term efforts-
Doing something because you LOVE WHO YOU ARE and know you truly deserve it can totally change your life.
I went to the bathroom today because i was upset and while in there i saw a sticky note on the mirror. It said you are beautiful and this website link. This truly made me smile and made my day so much better. After coming to this site I’ve smiled a lot more, and I really do feel beautiful!! Thanks to everyone who are putting out these notes, i’m going to do one myself! (: