3 Steps To Ease A Tough Body Image Day
“Healing begins with acceptance and culminates with letting go.”
—Young Pueblo
No matter how far along you are in your journey to a better relationship with your body, tough body image days are inevitable. Even if your mindset is dialed in, diet culture messaging is so rampant that you can inadvertently slip into an intrusive self-image thought just by virtue of interacting with the people around you, going on social media, watching TV/movies, etc.
Taking small steps to ease your discomfort can go a long way in lowering the intensity of a tough body image day. Here are three ways to do just that:
The narrative inside your head matters. It can be easy to start the negative self talk spiral on a tough body image day. It usually sounds something like, “I feel/I am/I hate/I look [any judgement about your body].” What if you tried something different? Instead of reinforcing harmful self-narratives, try this phrase, “I’m having a tough body image day.” Just like other types of bad days, a tough body image day will pass and this mantra is a great way to remind yourself of that.
If you can, put on comfortable clothes ASAP. Wearing clothes that hug and squeeze your body is like picking at a scab—it makes it a lot harder to heal. You can even create a go-to outfit that you can put on when a tough body image day comes around so you don’t even have to think about it, you just put it on and immediately reap the benefits.
Take a break from spending time in front of the mirror. It is totally normal to use reflective surfaces to check your body. Often it a symptom of attempting to reduce anxiety. Diet culture messaging tells us that if our bodies are “okay,” then life is “okay.” The challenge is that frequent body checking rarely has the desired calming effect and instead just exacerbates feelings of anxiety, criticism, and lack of control. So, on days when you feel especially vulnerable, when it comes to looking the mirror, keep it short and keep it moving!
If these tips resonate with you, add them to your self-care toolbox—a collection of people, mantras, books, podcasts and more that you can engage with and lean on when you need support.
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I would love to support you as you heal your relationship with your body! I have experienced the undeniable positive effects of having someone in your life give you unconditional permission to embrace your body as it is, and I want to be that person for you.
