How to know if body acceptance is for you
Is body acceptance for you?
I know not everyone is ready to accept their body. It feels alien in a society that doesn’t encourage you to accept anything about yourself.
But when you constantly try to change your body, it doesn’t help you to feel better.
What if you could accept your body instead? Would that help you feel good in your body?
In this post, I’ll help you explore if body acceptance is right for you.
Specifically you’ll learn:
- Why body acceptance doesn’t mean giving up
- How body acceptance promotes a better body image
- Key signs it’s time to give body acceptance a try
- Questions to help you figure out if body acceptance is for you.
Listen or read below:
Body acceptance isn’t for me
The unlikely choice
For most women, accepting their body isn’t the obvious choice. This is especially true because our culture promotes the idea you can have the perfect body if you only try hard enough.
So, it doesn’t surprise me to hear women saying things like, “body acceptance isn’t for me” or “I can’t accept my body because that’s a cop out.”
Accepting yourself isn’t giving up!
But these comments show a misunderstanding of what body acceptance means. The myth that it’s ‘letting your body’ go is perpetuated by diet culture and other industries that profit from body hate.
Body acceptance isn’t giving up. It’s moving on! It means treating your body with kindness, compassion, and respect, and knowing that you’re good enough regardless of what you look like.
It doesn’t mean you stop moving your body or eating nourishing food. Body acceptance is rooted in the belief that your body deserves your care and respect regardless of how it looks.
You can’t hate your way to a better body
Compare this with the belief that if you hate your body, it will motivate you to achieve the body you’ve always wanted.
But this so-called motivation often results in misery and doesn’t deliver the results you hoped for.
Restrictive diets, punishing and unenjoyable exercise regimes result in exhaustion, and disillusionment and make you feel even worse about yourself.
You can’t hate your way to a better body. But when you learn to come to a place of acceptance, you can have a kinder relationship with your body that will promote better physical and mental health.
It’s your journey
But even though I truly believe in the benefits of body acceptance, I know that not everyone is ready for it, and that’s okay. Everyone is on their own journey.
To be ready to give body acceptance a try, you need to recognise the harm that body hate, and your constant attempts to change your body are having on your health, happiness and quality of life.
How do I know if body acceptance will work for me?
So how, or even when, do you know if body acceptance is for you?
I thought the best way to help you figure out if body acceptance is for you is to share the things clients say to me before we start work together.
Here are four quotes from clients. See if any of these resonate with you:
“No matter how much I weigh, I never feel good. I think way too much about how to lose weight and I want to finally learn to accept myself and my body.“
“I exhaust myself every time I go out and do something fun with my friends or family as I am always worrying what I look like, and it has started to take away the enjoyment of socialising for me!“
“On holiday, I’m too embarrassed to get into the pool and have fun with my 7-year-old. I’ve struggled with poor body image since my early teens, and it’s gotten much worse over the years. I’m sick of feeling this way and want to be able to have fun and relax!“
“I’ve had issues with the size and shape of my body since I was 8 years old. I have thoughts about not being good enough. I’m terrified of seeing myself in photographs. I’m fed up with body confidence issues affecting my relationship and wasting so much time thinking about it.“
Take a moment to consider if you recognise yourself in any of these comments. What thoughts, feelings or insights do they bring up for you?
Is body acceptance for me? Some coaching questions
And to help you get even clearer on whether body acceptance is for you, I’ve got some coaching questions to help.
These are the same ones I ask all my clients before we work together:
1. What is the impact of the way you feel about your body on your life?
Does it stop or restrict you from, exercising, socialising, going on dates with your partner or looking for a partner? Or do you spend way too much time thinking about your body, food, or ways to change your body to the exclusion of other things you want to do?
The bigger the impact on your life, the more important working towards body acceptance is likely to be to you.
2. How long has this been going on for you?
Is it a recent thing, or more likely, has it been a constant throughout your life? How much longer are you prepared for this to affect your life in the ways you mentioned in answer to question 1?
When body image issues have been going on for years, you typically reach a point where enough is enough, and you’re ready to accept your body.
3. How might your life be different if you could accept your body?
What would that allow you to do? If you can envisage your life being considerably different (and better), you’ll be more motivated to give body acceptance a try.
4. How important is it to you to improve the way you feel about your body?
Is it a high priority or are you not ready to commit to it right now? The bigger the impact poor body image has on you, and the longer it’s been going on, the more motivated you’ll be to make a change.
Give these questions some serious consideration to help you decide if now is the time to accept your body.
I truly believe that body acceptance is the key to a better and healthier relationship with your body. It can have a big impact on your life, so I really hope you’re open to it!
If you think body acceptance is for you, and you’re ready to commit to doing the work, let’s find out if my coaching programme, The Body Confidence Journey, is a good fit for you:
