Exploring and healing body image is deeply personal work and there is not a timeline for it. It is important to understand that healing your relationship with your body does not mean changing your body. A common misconception is that to heal body image concerns you need to “fix it.” It makes sense that you might have these thoughts because that is what society tries to make us believe. Whether you are scrolling on your phone or watching TV these messages seem to pop up everywhere.
We want to let you in on a little secret though… you do NOT need to change your body to have a better relationship with it. In fact, this can keep you stuck in a body image spiral.
Our bodies are constantly changing throughout our lifetime so if you learn to only love the current version, you are going to continue to struggle. Also, we know that if you have to engage in harmful behaviors such as restriction or over exercising to keep your body at a certain size, that is not truly where your body wants to land. Body image work is mental, not physical. You might be thinking, how can that be true?! Here’s an example: Have you ever woken up one day and felt okay, maybe even good, in your body, and the next day woke up and hated it? Your body did not change drastically within 24 hours, but your mindset did so that tells us that is where the work lies.
This might leave you questioning how to start healing your body image. It’s important to note this process is going to look different for everyone and it takes time, it’s also not linear. Trust us, we wish there were some magical words or a wand we could wave to help heal body image, wouldn’t that be great?! Have compassion with yourself as you start to unravel messages you have heard and thoughts that come up as you begin your journey. Let’s take a look at some activities and prompts that might help you along the way. Keep reading to learn 4 tips for improving body image.
1. Take a Look at Social Media
Take a look at social media: When you spend time on social media check in with how you’re feeling before, during, and after. If you notice that you often feel down on yourself or in a bad mood after you’ve spent time online, it might be time to evaluate the accounts you’re following. Take some time to unfollow or mute accounts that make you feel bad about yourself or leave you stuck in a comparison trap.
2. Marble Activity
The marble activity: Bare with us for this one! This activity might seem silly but it can be really beneficial to see where your priorities lie. Take 15 marbles (or cotton balls work too!), 5 clear glass cups/jars, and 5 “post it” notes. On one “post it” note write the words “body image” and stick it on a cup. On the other 4 write things in your life that are important to you such as school, family, friends, travel, hobbies, etc. and place those on the remaining cups. The marbles represent your thoughts, take the marbles and place them in each jar according to how often you spend thinking about the topic on the cup. Now take a good look at them, and then move the marbles around to represent how often you want to think about the topic on each glass. When you are struggling with body image you might put a lot of marbles in the cup labeled “body image”, but when you rearrange them to what you want to think about instead there are often hardly any in the body image jar. Sometimes seeing this visual can be really helpful to see what thoughts of body image are taking away from. We only have so much energy and brain space in a day, if you spend the majority of it thinking about body image it’s hard to have much left for other important areas of your life.
3. Body Image Reframes
Body image reframes: When you think about healing body image it is important to note that it takes conscious effort, this is really hard work you’re doing! As mentioned before, body image work is mental work. A huge part of it is catching when you are having a negative body image thought and reframing it. The reframe does not necessarily have to be “positive” if you do not feel you’re ready for that, you can stick with factual neutral statements that remind you what your body does for you. The following are some examples:
- “My eyes help me see”
- ”My legs helped me kick in the pool today.”
- ”My arms are strong and help me lift things.”
- “My stomach protects my vital organs.”
This activity is helpful for two reasons. One, the more you allow yourself to have certain thoughts, you are going to continue to have them. It is important to catch those negative thoughts as often as possible and form a new thought.
Two, the more you pause to reflect on all the amazing things your body does for you on a day to day basis the more likely you are to respect it and have gratitude for it.
4. Check In With Your Values
Check in with your values. You can do a quick google search for “values” or bring it up to one of your team members (dietitian or therapist) that you would like to explore your values. We often find that “appearance” lies low on the value list, but somehow still takes up a lot of brain space. Explore your values and think about how thoughts of your body are taking away from other things you care about. You can also think about what you would say to a friend or loved one if they came to you with similar body image thoughts.
Final Thoughts to 4 Tips for Improving Body Image by Redefining Your Relationship with Your Body
Thank you for reading our resource on 4 tips to improve body image.
There likely isn’t one activity or phrase that will all of a sudden make you have a better relationship with your body. However, the more you can try to implement some of these practices and build gratitude for your body you are more likely to, at the minimum, appreciate and take care of it. It’s so important to nourish your body and show it respect even on hard body image days. If you need more support in this area, reach out to a dietitian or therapist.
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Courage to Nourish is a group of eating disorder specialized dietitians. We have in person locations in Alexandria, Virginia, Columbia, Maryland and College Park, Maryland. We offer virtual services across the state of Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. We offer individual nutrition therapy. As well as support groups. We would love to guide you in building a better relationship with food.
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Leslie is a weight-inclusive, anti-diet eating disorder dietitian who specializes in working with adolescents, families, and college students who struggle with all eating disorder diagnoses. Additionally, she enjoys working with those who are curious about intuitive eating and looking to have an
overall better relationship with food. Learn more about Leslie here.