The Gift of Self-Love: A Workbook to Help You Build Confidence, Recognize Your Worth, and Learn to Finally Love Yourself

by Mary Jelkovsky

Build confidence, boost your self-esteem, and overcome body image issues using this inspiring and interactive self-help book for women.

The Gift of Self-Love is an honest, heartfelt, and relatable book that will guide you on your journey to self-love, self-care, and body positivity. Author Mary Jelkovsky, better known on Instagram as @maryscupofteaa, shares her story of conquering her insecurities (after years of an eating disorder and intense, self-sabotaging work as a bikini fitness model) and finally learning to love herself exactly as she is. Written like a letter to a close friend, this self-improvement book provides practical advice and exercises that will help you finally give yourself the gift of self-love.

The Gift of Self-Love includes:
• A mix of the Author's Personal Stories, Research, and Meaningful Advice to help you accept and celebrate yourself for who you are
• A Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence Quiz to assess how you feel about yourself today and identify areas to give yourself more love
• Writing Exercises to help you rewrite limiting beliefs and stop pressuring yourself to meet other peoples expectations
• A Positive Self-Talk Guide to help you reframe your thoughts and silence the negative voice in your head
• Recommendations for Loving Your Body and embracing healthy living at any size
• ...and more!

After recovering from an eating disorder and healing her body, mind, and spirit, Jelkovsky started her online platform Mary's Cup of Tea to inspire women to be confident in their bodies and love themselves unconditionally. Mary is committed to empowering women of all shapes and sizes through her social media, online programs, and worldwide self-love retreats. She now shares her life story and most sought-after advice in this book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Personal Development

193 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2021

Reviews

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 🌟
The Gift of Self-Love is a self-help book, unlike any other self-help book I have read. It brings a lot of useful tips.
I love that Jelkovsky doesn’t impose anything on the reader, she only gives tips.
Throughout the book, you can really see her experience with an eating disorder and her road to self-love, which really add to the book.
Jelkovsky is not just someone who gives tips thinking they will fix everything in your life. You will have to work for your self-love and she clearly states that. She does provide good starting points for applying the tips she gives in daily life, through providing journal spreads with questions to fill in, and so on.
I think this is a great workbook that can be very useful in your road to self-love and self-appreciation.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was a great workbook! I enjoyed the exercises and some of the insight. There were sections that did not apply to me, but I skipped over them. Touch cheesy in moments, but that’s normal for a self help book. Definitely recommend! 4.5 stars

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

i typically don’t read self help type of books unless they’re written by someone who is a practicing clinician/ researcher. i did enjoy this book, i felt like a lot of her advice was very helpful and super accessible. i did feel like a third of the book was filled with filler “worksheets.” at the end of the book it did not end strong. she ended the book with a story of helping a teenage girl with an eating disorder, despite herself from struggling with her own body image. 1) she even stated that she did not feel qualified to help, 2) that’s a situation where only a licensed clinician should be helping. or at the very least refer the girl to a support group that’s facilitated by a licensed clinician.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marked as read but will go through it again and again. Loved this.

[Karolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished this incredible workbook. It took me a while, but I wanted to take it slowly and give the exercises a lot of thought. I can’t say that this book changed my whole perception of myself and made me fully love myself, but it gave me the base that I can work on to grow. Mary’s story is so relatable and the exercises seem so simple at first, but when you actually have to take a pen and write, you are left with a blank page and an empty head. I struggled so much with writing positive things about myself, but it was so easy to depreciate myself and write essays about all the negatives. I think many readers can relate to that.
I am so proud of Mary for releasing this book and I recommend it to everyone who is on their self-love and self-acceptance journey. It’ll make you think about who you are, who you want to be, and what is really important in your life. 5/5

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"𝐻𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎; 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻."

This is DEFINITELY not your typical self-help book; it's compassionate, actionable, and acknowledges that everybody is coming to their self love journey with a slightly different experience. Mary shares her own stories in a way that is relatable and uses them to convey powerful lessons to the reader. I saw myself reflected in her, and was able to see where in my life I'm struggling with similar issues.

What I appreciate most is that the book was in a workbook format so there were many opportunities to journal about the lessons or guidance she provided. It allowed me the time and space to apply the takeaway to my life. I feel like I'm walking away with real life tools, instead of just empowering quotes or ideas that will fade away as time passes. I highly, highly recommend this book and Mary's podcast (Mary's Cup of Tea) to any human out there who wants to love themselves and spread more love in this world. I cannot wait to start the 100 Days of Self-Love guided journal and see what Mary publishes in the future.

[Sam Yin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually buy more Christian themed books but was curious about this one and glad I tried something different. Mary's story is sadly something too many women can relate to. There is so much pressure and focus on body image and can be soooo damaging to our mind and confidence especially for younger women and teens! She went through some hard time and learned much from it, so you would be missing out to not also benefit from those lessons. The worst you could do it have to learn it yourself the hard way too!

Mary is a very funny and real person and that comes through in her book. I don't agree with everything and you shouldn't expect to in a book like this. A workbook kind of format is supposed to make you think for yourself and this one did it just right. She makes is so relatable and like you are talking to someone and not getting a lecture from a teacher.

[Mikayla Feldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute journal! It provides some soothing words that validate any feelings the reader may have that are negative about themselves, and hits almost every single area in which someone may struggle in some fashion. Because it is a short book and hits various topics, sometimes it does not delve deeper enough into the specifics of each and how one may get over some issues they may have with themselves or their insecurities, but it's good for a start and good to help the reader come out of it with an overall more positive view of themselves. Overall, a wonderful workbook that did help me to think about some of how I see myself and aim to make them more positive. I would recommend to someone who is insecure about themselves in any fashion and needs a bit of a pick-me-up or a journal in which it feels that the author is directly speaking to you!

[Nathalie Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! The second I opened it up and read only a few pages I had already sent a message into my girls group chat telling them they all had to get it! Truth be told I shed a few tears when it hit me how amazing this book is going to be in helping me build my much needed confidence and finally recognise my worth. I could write an essay long review but I think you just have to get the book yourself and feel for yourself the overwhelming feeling of excitement and joy from simply opening it. Not only does it bring us on a journey of self love but it's also super cute and aesthetic looking (sorry had to add this cause I was impressed). Thank you Mary for this book and the safe space you have created with your influence on instagram. So grateful, you should be proud!

[Adelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow… where do I start? The last chapter was absolute fire I actually cried when I’d finished reading it. I’ve struggled for years with low self esteem and lack of confidence but this book broke everything down into manageable, doable tasks and thought provoking questions along with exercises to get me out of my comfort zone and really explore the person I am and would like to be. There’s nothing in this book that I didn’t already know or read before but Mary (the author), writes in such a comprehensive way, with research and stories to aid her points it helped me to see I can begin and continue on my journey of self love.

[Polina Kukhareva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the parts about believes and self-criticism. However, as the author got into more health-related topics, the advice became less useful. In the modern world believing in intuitive eating is naive. Foods engineered to maximize flavor, often with high sugar, fat, and salt, override internal hunger and satiety signals. These foods are designed to be irresistible, making it hard to stop eating even when full. So, I think people should follow mainstream nutrition advice instead of hoping that their body will magically win against an army of food scientists and marketers. On a separate note, pink font on pink background is hard to read. Overall, I don’t recommend this book.

[Karthiga Elenggo · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love love love this book!! i was so excited to finally get it in the mail and i started reading it right away when i got it😭 Mary Jelkovsky has helped me so much in my journey of recovery from Anorexia and Bulimia, and my journey of self love, and when i heard she was writing an actual book, i KNEW i had to get it. the journal exercises in here and simply mind blowing and i can’t wait to meet her at her next retreat😭 i think everyone, whether or not you’re struggling with body image or self love, should read this book.

[Tanja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have followed Mary for several years on Instagram and she has inspired me so much, so I had no doubt in my mind that I had to have this book. And I was not disappointed!! Just looking through the book when I first got it and reading some of the questions I started crying. This stuff is so important to work with and I’m grateful that I now have this opportunity despite living in a completely different part of the world. Mary has a way with words and anyone struggling with self love should read these words. Mary is a gift to this world and I’m so thankful for all the work she does.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Run, don't walk, and BUY THIS BOOK!! I haven't even finished this whole book yet, but can say confidently that this is the best self help/self confidence book I have ever found. Mary is such an incredible and talented author ❤. She is so relatable, and her way with words is absolutely beautiful. This is not your regular self confidence book, this is a workbook where she has many beautiful writing prompts/questions/exercises that are challenging, but in the best way possible. I recommend this book 100% 🥰

[Akrivi Zoitopoulou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so sure this book will encourage so many people to love themselves and be themselves.
Social media has managed to make us feel like we're not good enough because we don't have the perfect body ,the perfect hair, the perfect anything.
And then there's such true and honest people like Mary on social media who help people and write books like this to make them feel comfortable in their own skin.
Congrats Mary! To many more books. 😍
#foodfreedom🍕🍔🍅

[Mena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It doesn't feel like the usual self-help book, where they just tell you all the magical things you can achieve without actually saying how.
This is an activity book, and if you actually do and focus deeply on doing your exercises it's a book that truly helps in a self love journey.
She's a kind writer, and it feels just like a sweet friend guiding you in loving yourself as much as she loves you.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't quite finished it because I want to soak it all in. It's helped me immensely with my self love journey so far. I've talked a lot about the activities in therapy and my therapist said she was going to recommend this book to her other clients. I can't believe how much the I relate to this book. It's like someone finally understands the inner workings of my mind.

[Haille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary does a fantastic job providing readers with all of her wisdom. Between Mary's podcasts, her book, and her Instagram, I have learned so much about myself and how I subconsciously think about my self-worth. Definitely a must-buy!

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary's a very inspirational writer and speaker and this book is amazing.
She offers so many tools and ideas to really start loving yourself and I recommend everyone who's looking to go on a self-love journey get this book and really work through it. It will change your life!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love that this isn’t just a book, it’s a workbook which really gives you tools and ideas to start loving yourself as you are, right now! This is the first book like this I’ve bought and would recommend it!

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been working in this workbook essentially since I started my teaching credential program with student teaching. It’s helped me SO much to focus on self compassion, self love and everything in between. I hope to be able to use all of this info to help myself and my students to love themselves.

[Audrey Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked my way very slowly through this book, and I thought that the information and exercises were very helpful and practical.

There were quite a few typos and editing mistakes throughout, but overall they didn’t detract too much from the book or the experience of reading it.

[Kalyani Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how the journal starts with the basics and tries to get you to answer some hard hitting questions before delving into the changes that one wants to address.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a very long time to finish this book. 2 months to be exact. It’s so beautifully made and it’s just beyond what I expected but I was so afraid of tackling the last few chapters because it was the issue that was impacting me the most, but after reading through and doing the exercises, it wasn’t so bad and it made me feel so loved and safe. Thank you, Mary.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is changing how I see myself, my body and litterally changing my life upside down for the better. Mary poured her whole heart in this book and I am so greatfull that she did. I haven't finished it yet because i'm taking my sweet time filling it in but I highly reccomend it for anyone wanting to change the relationship with their body.

[Sophie Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary is an inspiring, amazing woman and is teaching other women around the world how to stop thinking negatively about themselves and their bodies and start living their lives to the fullest. Definitely recommend this book!!