For me this is the bit which really rings true: "I successfully avoided my picture taken. Not so much consciously, but more with the knowledge that it would co

For me this is the bit which really rings true: "I successfully avoided my picture taken. Not so much consciously, but more with the knowledge that it would come out not particularly flattering." It reminds me of a point Tina Fey made in her Google talk that she just had to learn a particular expression which would make her look good and then bust it out whenever her radar picked up someone taking a photo. I started mimicking that idea, along with various body language tricks and found myself pleased with the results. It makes it much easier to get motivated to work out and dress stylishly when your starting point is already better than you thought because of a few powerful little modifiers. In the spirit of the OP, that's not the end - it's the start of getting better at something!