By Beth Donovan (~INDYGIRL)

Valentine's Day is a day on which we celebrate love. Love has many definitions. There is security love, the feeling of being cared for and nurtured. Friendship love is the kind of bond you share with a very close friend where you can be totally open and comfortable in sharing your true self. Romantic love is the kind of love that makes your heart flutter and your knees go weak when you see the person of interest. There is my favorite, unconditional love, the kind of love that endures no matter what. Self-love treats oneself to all of the above. That is in no way a comprehensive list of the types of love, just a quick list for this blog.

Today I want to talk about self-love. This Valentine's Day, I want you to dress so fine that you make your own knees go weak. If you’re alone, I want you to find a close friend and make fabulous plans. If you don’t have a close friend, I want you to work on building relationships and make some plans to celebrate loving yourself. If you do have a love interest, I want you to feel wonderful and enjoy the day with your treasured someone.

First, the clothes. No matter if you are alone or if you have a date with a best friend or love interest, you may want a new outfit or lingerie depending. Clothing, especially lingerie can be hard to find in larger sizes. There are a few websites to go to for fantastic shopping in large sizes:

OneStopPlus.com: They carry sizes 12- 44W (Women’s to 6x). With many stores on one site, it is like a virtual plus size mall. They also carry lingerie.

Torrid.com: They carry size 12- 30/32W (Women’s to 5x). This is a trendier site that seems to cater to people in their teens and 20’s--and it does carry lingerie.

To do a search for even larger lingerie, type "large lingerie 6x" into your search engine. You will get some good selections. (Because of the nature of lingerie, I did not want to promote a particular site here because of the pictures involved.)

KingSizeDirect.com is great if you are a guy trying to look your best this Valentine's Day. (Need more tips on finding plus-size clothing? Read this blog post!)

Just because it’s Valentine's Day that's is no reason to blow your entire eating plan. Keep the self-love going. Try these great low-cal date and treat ideas:

• Watch a movie with a fruit or veggie tray. (Think they are expensive? I used to until I realized I would spend that much on unhealthy fast food without batting an eye.) Try some T. Marzetti's Chocolate Fruit Dip or Chef Meg's Chocolate Fondue with your fruit. (Don’t forget to measure!)
  
  
• Go to a park and play. The exercise is good and it’s kind of romantic. Take a low-cal picnic or cook something nice at home before or after.
  
  
• Girls' night out! Get your single friend(s) together and go out someplace fun.
  
  
• A dinner theater perhaps? Take your cell phone and snap a picture of your plate. Enter it in your tracker when you get home. Intermission is a great time to take a walk around the building.
  
  
• Go to a movie and sneak in your own treats. I like to sneak things in that are healthy, but I wouldn’t normally buy for myself because of the cost. Take a long romantic walk after or a nice long bubble bath by candlelight--even if you're by yourself.
  
  
• A romantic or friendly swim might be fun. My husband and I go on dates to the YMCA and swim. We kiss in the water and do our laps. It’s fun really. If you don’t have someone to swim with, a gym is a great place to meet friends.

Whatever you decide to do, have fun. The point of the day is love, not loathe. There can be no body hatred on Valentine's Day this year. This is the year to dress your body up, love it, appreciate it, admire it and be good to it. This is the year to share your heart with yourself, as well as others. Remember that as you go through the year and have fun discovering just how wonderful you truly are.

How will you love yourself today?