5 Tips for Better Body Image

Are you struggling with poor body image?

Many years of working in eating disorder recovery and of course my own recovery journey has taught me that even after your relationship with food and exercise improves you are usually still consumed with hypercritical thoughts and feelings regarding your body.

Recovery is a long road and even after behaviours are changed it is really common that residual uncomfortable thoughts and feelings about your appearance can linger. They are often anchored in longstanding negative beliefs about ourselves. The overarching one usually being some variation of “I am not good enough.”

Here are a few helpful pointers to start challenging that statement and improving your body image:

1. Focus on your body as a whole

Basically what happens with poor body image is that we tend to focus on one or several body parts that we don’t like and when we look in the mirror those parts are all we can see. If you find yourself using the mirror to scrutinize and criticise for example your stomach it can be helpful to remember that you are not just a tummy and redirect your focus to other parts of your body. Be aware of where your attention gets directed to and challenge negative thoughts as they arise. Be mindful of how much time you are spending using the mirror to scrutinize and practice at least start with a neutral stance with your appearance if you can’t initially manage to say anything overly positive.

2. Engage with people, places and things that make you feel good

Undoubtedly when we are surrounded by negative energy, we tend to feel more negative about ourselves. The same works in reverse if you are surrounded by a positive environment. Evaluate your friendships. Ideally good friends are focused on building each other up not cutting each other down. The same goes for where you are spending your free time, are your hobbies making you feel good and or are they appearance focused? The same goes for your social media feeds- what are they reflecting back to you? Ask yourself if you are surrounding yourself with an environment that encourages you to be the best version of yourself. If the answer is no it might be time to re-evaluate your playground and your playmates.

3. Ask yourself what your values are

I am going to guess that if you were to ask yourself what you value in your life you would say your relationships, being a good person and giving back to others in some way. I often say to my clients that our appearance is not what matters, it’s living a full and meaningful life. Our body is simply the vessel that carries us through our life, so we need to take care of it. Life is too short and too precious to be spent hating your appearance because it holds you back from what is important to you. Make a list of your core values and the ways that engaging in critical body thoughts holds you back from living up to those values. If you are having a particularly bad body image day it can be helpful to pull out that list as a way to redirect your thoughts.

4. Avoid comparisons

Comparing yourself to others is the downfall to developing better self-esteem and people with good self-esteem also have good body image. As a result how we perceive our appearance is a direct reflection with how we feel about ourselves. For this reason limiting time on social media is essential as no matter how much you justify it social media platforms are the embodiment of comparisons and feeling not good enough. We are living in a world that is increasingly valuing conformity and sameness and devaluing being different. We are told we should live up to an impossible beauty standard and that if we are not trying to, we must be somehow lazy. Opt out of comparisons and social media and engage in practices that bring you back into your body and being with your inner self.

5. Practice self-compassion

In short having good body image is not about having a perfect body. Firstly, perfect does not exist so if you are trying to attain perfection you will never feel satisfied or content with who you are. To overcome poor body image, you have to accept that good enough is not about being perfect it is about being ok with being you. Today I can look in the mirror I can see all my flaws, bumps, cellulite, the lot and still be ok with who I am. I practice engaging in kind, compassionate thoughts and reassure myself daily that I am enough just how I am. It takes time and patience but the way I see it the only person you are stuck with for the rest of your life is you so you might as well become friends with yourself!

I hope these tips are helpful. Therapy can also really help if body image issues are an ongoing concern to you and is definitely something to consider if you haven’t already.