The difference between a good body image day and a bad body image day has very little to do with the number on your scale and the size of your body. It only has to do with the thoughts in your head and your long-held beliefs.
How many times have you gotten onto a scale and the number dictated the kind of jeans you wear or how confident you feel?
And if you’re not one for weighing yourself, if your jeans feel too tight, what are the thoughts that run through your head the rest of the day? How does that influence your mood?
The thoughts you have about your body are influenced by the messages you received from parents, caregivers, siblings, peers, your culture, the media, movies and other influences in your environment from a very young age. Over time, the different influences, different environments created a story, and a narrative that have influenced your relationship with food and body. The body image you have then, has evolved out of an adaptation and evolution of influences and standards determined by what is socially popular at a given time.
And going by today’s standards, it’s that photoshopped, botoxed, filled, trimmed, buffed ideal that is praised. It stands to reason why so many of us out there are unhappy with our bodies, have low self-esteem, and why eating disorders are so prominent. This unrealistic, unreal and often unachievable goal is setting so many up for failure because for so many there is confusion. How can I be happy with my body if it doesn’t measure up to a certain ideal?
Instead of wasting your time and energy in changing how your body looks, change how you see your body.
The challenge is learning that in order to have a good, positive body image, you don’t believe your body looks good but rather you know your body looks good despite its perceived imperfections. It’s about understanding that beauty and your body ought not to be measured and valued by the kilograms and numbers on a scale or sizes of your jeans, but instead by your value and your worth, and that your ideal body image begins with learning to love the body you have now just the way it is. The truth is that it isn’t about needing to change the body that you have, but rather it is about changing the thoughts you have about your body. Instead of wasting your time and energy in changing how your body looks, change how you see your body.
Be less judgemental of yourself
Developing tools to build resilience in a world and society where bodies are objectified and used as commodities allows you to value your true self. Moving toward body positivity and body acceptance can give you the space to reconnect to your body, be less judgemental of yourself and allow you to focus living. of yourself and allow you to focus on living.