10 things that will not help your body image
In a society where you’re constantly being told your body needs to change for you to be worthy or acceptable, it’s easy to get sucked into trying to physically change your body.
I used to believe that if I ‘worked hard enough’ on my looks, I’d be proud of my appearance, and everything in my life would fall into place.
I thought that having a ‘perfect’ body was the key to being lovable, acceptable and successful.
My pursuit of body perfection drove me to do what I now think are some crazy things. Here’s a taster of what I tried:
In pursuit of the ‘perfect’ weight and shape ….
1. I only ate cottage cheese and Ry-vita for lunch (plus a handful of peanuts to give me some energy) in an attempt to slim down my belly. Thank goodness for the peanuts, or I wouldn’t have made it through the day!
2. I’d step on the scales every day in the hope that I’d be at a lower weight. If I wasn’t, my day was ruined, and I felt like a failure.
3. Every night I obsessively did 100+ sit ups to flatten out my tummy.
4. I went to the gym before work without eating breakfast and would feel exhausted afterwards. One morning after my work-out, I decided to give blood, after which I passed out!
In pursuit of perfect features ….
5. I used hemorrhoid cream on my under eye bags because I read it was the celebrity beauty secret to looking rested.
6. I tried filing one of my front teeth (with a nail file) to make it the same length as the other one.
7. To get the ‘perfect’ brow, I plucked at my eyebrows until I hardly had any left.
8. Obsessed with my body hair, I used to bleach any dark hair on my arms, back, stomach – pretty much anywhere.
9. I cut out fizzy water because I read it ‘caused’ cellulite.
10. I used toothpaste to get rid of any big spots or blemishes that appeared on my skin.
Some of these may sound familiar or similar to your own attempts at fixing your body. BUT, If you haven’t tried any of them, please don’t!
Attempts to physically change your body DON’T improve body image
Did any of these things help me feel better about my body? No! Mostly, they fueled my insecurities even more.
If I wasn’t obsessing about what I was eating or how much exercise I was doing I was worrying about covering up my flaws.
Experts call this kind of behaviour ‘appearance fixing’ and it’s exhausting. As soon as I’d ‘dealt’ with one flaw, I quickly found another that I had to fix.
It didn’t matter what I did to my body, it didn’t change how I felt about it. Obsessing about, and constantly striving for physical change made my body image worse.
What really helps improve body image?
The one thing that I wasn’t trying to change (but needed to), was what I believed about my body.
What I’ve come to realise is that positive body image isn’t about believing your body looks good. It’s believing your body is good. It’s being able to appreciate your body for more than how it looks.
The truth is that body image isn’t improved through physical change. Physical change doesn’t deal with the real reasons you don’t feel good in your body.
If you aren’t comfortable in your skin, it’s the beliefs you have about your body that are the problem, not your physical body.
When I learned to challenge the beliefs I held about my body, I realised that I could be lovable and acceptable regardless of my looks. This vital shift in mind-set improved my body image more than any attempts at physical change.
What are you trying to improve your body image?
If you’re using physical means to feel better about your body, maybe it’s time to change your body beliefs, not your body?
Perhaps you’ve tried every diet, exercise programme or beauty treatment going in your quest for the perfect body, but nothing ever makes you feel good in your skin?
Take it from me, constantly trying to mould or shape your body into something different isn’t the route to better body image, but examining and challenging the beliefs you hold about your body is.
