2 secrets that make a healthy body image easier

A healthy body image is a lot easier than you think (yes, really!).

To help you understand why this is, in this post, I share 2 secrets about body image that help my clients feel better in their body.

Listen or read below:

I see many women wanting to feel better in their body making it a lot harder for themselves than they need to.

And I totally get WHY!

There’s this expectation that having a healthy body image means that you LOVE your body – but the bar for a healthy body image is a lot lower than you think!

So, let’s dive into why that is.

I’ve got two things to share with you about body image that you’re probably not aware of. Understanding these have been a real game changer for clients.

First, body image is fluid

Your perception of your body isn’t permanently fixed. It can change from hour to hour, day to day, month to month, year to year and so on!

Think about it. Have you ever felt pretty comfortable in your body, been having a good time, then suddenly something happens to trigger negative feelings about it? Maybe you’ve compared yourself to someone else or someone has said something that you found triggering?

Your body image is fluid, so you’ll never feel exactly the same about your body.

So, if you’re expecting a healthy body image to mean you’ll always feel good in your body and never have any negative thoughts about it, that’s not realistic.

Even if you’re pretty good at feeling neutral in your body a lot of the time, there will always be things in life that trigger negative thoughts and uncomfortable feelings.

We live in a world that isn’t neutral about bodies, so we can’t protect ourselves from those triggers 100% of the time, and that’s okay.

So embrace that fluidity – it’s normal. Just because you have a bad body image day, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a healthy body image.

Second, body image exists across a spectrum

I love sharing this secret with my clients because it can be a real game changer for them.

Body image exists across a spectrum, from body hate to body love

So, here’s an example spectrum (where 1= hate and 10= love) :

1) Body Hate
2) Body Dislike
3) Body Tolerance
4) Body Neutrality
5) Body Acceptance
6) Body Appreciation
7) Body Peace
8) Body Respect
9) Body Confidence
10) Body Love

You’ll notice that there are lots of different ‘stops’ on the way to body love.

A healthy body image is anything from stop 3 onwards! So, that means if you can ‘tolerate’ your body, you’re already on the way to a healthy body image.

If you’re struggling with the way you feel about your body, maybe you need to give yourself a break! You don’t need to LOVE your body to have a healthy body image.

So, if you currently feel hate or dislike for your body, start with body tolerance.

Body tolerance means being open to the idea that hating your body isn’t helping you. You may not love or like your body, but you’re tired of fighting against it.

Bear in mind that because of the first point I mentioned, body image fluidity, you can move up and down this spectrum across a day, week, month, year, etc.

Clients find that having this spectrum written up somewhere they can see it is useful to gauge where they are, gently reminding them that it’s okay not to be at 10, because very few people get there, and that’s okay!

How does it feel to know that it’s healthy to be able to tolerate your body versus feeling like you have to love it?

I hope that’s taken a weight off your shoulders.

I’d love to hear what you’re taking away from this episode. Do these 2 secrets help you feel that a healthy body image is easier than you thought? Please leave a comment below.