What is Body Image? Self-Perception is More Than Appearance
An overly simplified definition of body image is how you picture yourself in your mind’s eye. This often has strong focus on appearance – looks, height, shape, size, and other physical attributes.
And, yes, how you picture yourself is part of the equation. However, that definition falls short of the complex (and sometimes contradictory) way you think, feel, and perceive your body in this world. These beliefs about your body can be both positive and negative and can change over time as you are exposed to new information or experiences.
Body image is a deeply personal internal experience that can be heavily shaped by external influences.
How you think about or define body image might be different than I have described here, and that is ok. It is more than ok, it is welcome. It just makes sense that your experience in your body is unique to you.
The Body Image Spectrum: From Negative to Positive Self-Perception
To understand body image, it's important to recognize that it's not a fixed, static state. You have likely had the experience of moving in and out of good and bad body days (or even moments). If you are reading this, you might currently be having more bad body days or body image negativity (most of us aren’t googling body image when we are feeling awesome), but it is possible with some intention and practice to shift your body image to more positive or neutral experiences.
I do think it is fair to point out that a normal part of the human experience is to have some tough days, and this includes tough body image days. The goal of body image work is not to eliminate all bad days, but to build body image resilience.
The endpoints of the body image spectrum are negative body image and positive body image.
Negative Body Image or Body Dissatisfaction
Negative body image or body dissatisfaction is having negative thoughts and feelings about your body or parts of your body, often driven by appearance or your perception of appearance. Body dissatisfaction can lead to unhealthy behaviors to monitor or change your body. It disrupts your connection to your body (aka interoceptive awareness).
The greater the difference between how you perceive your body looks and how you think it should look, the greater the dissatisfaction.
Negative body image can damage mental, emotional, and physical health. It carries an increased risk for disordered eating and eating disorders, depression and anxiety, low self-worth, and unhealthy exercise behaviors.
Positive Body Image or Body Appreciation
Positive body image is having a healthy sense of self-worth that extends beyond your appearance. It is accepting and appreciating your body for its abilities and feeling comfortable in your skin.
Body appreciation focuses on attending to your body needs (like food, movement, connection) while rejecting unrealistic appearance-based ideals.
It is worth noting that the body image spectrum is related to but not the same as social justice movements like body positivity, body neutrality, and body liberation.
External Influences on Body Image: Media, Society and Culture
You started to develop your body image in childhood. It happened in stages as you learned more about yourself and your surroundings. You learned that you are an individual (not your parents or other caretakers), you learned the parts of your body, and you figured out that your body parts don’t always look the same as others. Then through societal and cultural messages you learned that people feel different ways about certain types of bodies or body parts. As a result of these cultural messages, it is estimated that kids socialized as females start to desire thinness starting in the 1st grade.
As you got older you were exposed to more cultural messages from advertising, television/movies, magazines (when we still had magazines…), and social media. The fashion and beauty industries are cyclical, but they never stray too far from the thin white ideal. The perpetuation of this body type in media sets unrealistic beauty standards.
These media messages are often amplified closer to home from family, friends, caretakers, coaches, teachers, or doctors.
You have likely internalized these messages, telling yourself this is what “good” bodies look like. The pressure to change your body to look more like what is portrayed in media invites damaging body comparisons and props up the multi-billion dollar diet industry. The result? Body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and poor mental health as individuals attempt to get as close to the “ideal” as possible.
Internal Factors: How Your Mind Shapes Body Image
Many of your internal factors are shaped or informed by the external influences mentioned above. We express our body image experiences through thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors. Though we will never be able to control all the external messaging related to bodies, we can change how we internalize them.
Body Image Thoughts and Self-Talk
How you think about your body is often referred to as self-talk. It is the voice or tape that plays in your head commenting on your body or comparing it to others. Often self-talk has a distinct tone, a specific voice, and/ or uses certain words.
As you tune into your thoughts about your body you might start to notice if there is a pattern to when they appear, how upsetting you find the thoughts, and if you are able to change them.
It is a real chicken or egg situation here. Your beliefs about your body (and bodies in general) are the lens through which you interpret external messages. The external messages also inform your internal dialogue.
Navigating Body Image Emotions
Feelings can be tough. Many of us weren’t taught much about how to identify what we are feeling, let alone how to manage big, hard emotions like shame, guilt, or disgust. You may want to reflect on what feelings come up during times of negative, neutral, or positive body image moments. Are some harder to tolerate than others?
Also consider if making a plan to “fix” or monitor your body helps you to manage your emotions. Many of my clients are soothed in the short term by making a plan. When the plan doesn’t pan out, it is a different story…
Your feelings about your body can influence your self-esteem and mood in both positive and negative ways.
Body Image Perception
How you perceive your body can change depending on the circumstances. Have you found that certain places, people, clothing, or even weather change how you see your body? Have you had the experience of starting the day feeling one way about your body only to have it change later in the same day? What might have shifted?
Your perception of your body could be distorted or inaccurate. This distorted view of your body can lead to body dissatisfaction or body dysmorphia.
How Body Image Influences Behaviors
Some behaviors related to body image might go unnoticed in the moment, but become more obvious when you start looking for them.
Do you find yourself checking your body? Maybe in the mirror, how certain items of clothes fit, or by poking or pinching different body parts. Do you find you try to hide parts of your body or avoid social situations? Does body image impact what, when, or how you eat or move?
Negative body image behaviors can reinforce disordered eating, disordered exercising, and poor mental health.
Taking time to reflect these four factors can help you develop a more compassionate and appreciative view of your body. As you practice taking a different disrupting automatic thoughts and behaviors, you might start to see shifts in language or tone, an increased capacity to tolerate emotions, or the desire to practice new supportive self-care habits.
All of these aspects are related and can impact one another. This means you can start with one area, like feelings, and find that it also changes some of your behaviors too.
How to Cultivate Body Image Resilience
As mentioned above, bad body days and body image struggles happen. Working on body image isn’t about “good vibes only” or toxic positivity. It is about building the tools and skills that allow you to ride (a hopefully gentler) body image wave or, in other words, to cultivate body image resilience.
Since your experience in your body is uniquely yours, some of these things might speak more to you than others. Much like Intuitive Eating, body image work is all about experimentation, reflection, and learning.
A few practices tied to positive body image or body acceptance include:
Media Literacy: Critically evaluate the messages that you are getting about bodies from external sources like social media, television, books and websites.
Self-Care: Your body needs nutrients, connection, sleep, movement, and creative expression, just to name a few. Shifting your focus to taking care of your body rather than trying to “fix” or change your body can be healing.
Awareness and Acceptance: Practice to tuning into your body signals and your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and perceptions without judgment. Recognize that people naturally come in different shapes and sizes. Be with and in your body instead of for or against your body. The Intuitive Eating framework can be a helpful guide.
Self-Compassion: Acknowledge when you are struggling and that struggle is a shared human experience, treat yourself with kindness, and be mindful of your thoughts and feelings. All your feelings are real and valid, but thoughts and feelings are not facts.
Challenge Your Thoughts and Perceptions: As you become more aware of your needs, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, you can start to challenge the negative thoughts or perceptions.
Is your body getting blamed for something else that is going on?
Make a list of all the things you would do if your body was different – what is stopping you from doing these things now?
Are the promised “rewards” of a smaller or different body even true?
Weight Neutral Physical Activity: This can be a tough one, but being physically active or moving your body in ways that feel good can support better mental health and positive self-perception. Depending on your experience, it might take a bit of time and effort to decouple moving your body from being a diet culture exercise used change your appearance.
Your Body Image Journey
Remember, body image isn’t a fixed thing. As you learn new information and have new experiences, you can shift from body dissatisfaction to body acceptance. Building body image resilience takes time and effort in the beginning, but over time it becomes easier. To quote Aristotle, “You are what you repeatedly do.”
Your body image journey is yours to shape. What small step can you take today to lean into acceptance or challenge a negative thought?
For personalized guidance and support in transforming your relationship with your body and food, consider scheduling an appointment.
The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be medical advice or to diagnosis, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This information does not replace a one-on-one relationship with a physician or healthcare professional. Dietary changes and/or the taking of nutritional supplements may have differing effects on individuals.
To learn more about how working with a nutritionist could help you, schedule a free 15-minute call.