What to do on a ‘bad body day’

Do you ever have days when the way you feel about your body really gets you down?

Perhaps your negative voice is on overdrive?

Or maybe you’re so body-conscious you don’t want to leave the house?

These are what I call ‘bad body days‘.

Rest assured, we all have them from time to time.

If bad body days are getting you down, I’m sharing four things that I do to cope on a bad body day.

Watch or read below:

What’s a bad body day?

A bad body day isn’t when your body is ‘bad’.  Your body isn’t good or bad, it just is!  BUT, I think you will relate when I say I certainly have days when I perceive my body to be ‘bad’.

These are the days when my negative body thoughts go on overdrive and I’m telling myself things like:

 You’re looking old

 You’re piling on weight

 Your hair looks awful

 Your skin is a mess

Long before I started working on my body image, I would get stuck in these thoughts.  I’d believe everything that I thought and wind up feeling awful about myself.

How to cope with a bad body day

Over the years, I’ve learned many different tools and techniques to cope with the onset of a bad body day.

I don’t think they ever completely go away, but they do become less frequent, and when they do happen, I can handle them head on.

To help give you some ideas on how to cope with a bad body day, here are four things that I do:

I do something that makes me feel good

This is normally something that lifts my mood, like my favourite exercise or being in nature.  I find that doing these things also distracts me from my thoughts, helping me to be more in the moment.

I figure out what’s really going on

Often a bad body day is not about my body, it’s about something else.  In the past, when my relationships weren’t going well, I’d blame my looks and would pick and obsess over many of my features.

These days, bad body days tend to come up for me when I feel I haven’t done something well, or I’m not achieving the goals that I’ve set for myself.

Getting clear on what’s really going on allows you to take the spotlight off your body, and on to what really needs your attention.

I remind myself that I’m more than a body

Telling myself that I’m far more than a body reminds me that I’m a human being who is loveable and worthy for many reasons other than my appearance.

I tell myself that thinking my body is ‘bad’ is an old pattern that I’m slowly and consistently breaking.

I repeat empowering body beliefs

I’ve created what I call ‘empowering body beliefs’ – healthy, balanced and positive ways to view my body.

I choose to see my body as active, strong and powerful.

On a bad body day, I’ll go back to these beliefs and read them over or say them out loud.  This helps to remind me of how I choose to see my body, not how society has brainwashed me to see it.

I did an episode of Body Confident Friday about how to create empowering body beliefs which you might want to check out – it’s Episode #46.

I’d love to know what tools and techniques you use on a bad body day.  Please leave a comment below.

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