Bad body image day? Or week? Or month? We’ve all been there. And summertime is particularly hard for body image. Sharing five helpful tricks to address a poor body image day.
Summer is THE hardest season for body image so when you end up struggling at once please know that you simply are NOT alone.
Why is summer so tough for body image?
- It’s freaking hot out so that you’re going to wish to wear less clothing. Less clothing means more of your body is exposed, opening you as much as more vulnerability.
- It’s swimsuit season – need I say more?
- Summer is a season for more social outings and gatherings. This may bring up quite a lot of insecurities, especially in case your body modified over the winter and also you’re seeing individuals who you haven’t seen in a while.
Our culture doesn’t make it any easier on us either. We’re bombarded with ads telling us to get “bikini ready”, fitness instructors telling us to “get those six pack abs for the beach,” and wellness influencers selling us on “feeling our greatest this season” by purchasing their detox tea.
No wonder you are feeling a lot pressure to vary your body come summertime.
Reasonably than in search of a fast weight reduction fix which is able to ultimately result in weight regain, what when you selected to work along with your body as a substitute of working against it?
What when you selected to address a poor body image day as a substitute of attempting to “fix” your body?
Your body doesn’t need fixing. The culture and systems of oppression at play that say your body is just not inherently worthy need fixing.
5 Ways to Deal with a Bad Body Image Day (or Season)
1. Sit within the suck
There’s healing and value in sitting within the suck (as body image therapist Bri Campos refers to it). We want to validate our emotions. To let grief and sadness and anxiety wash over and thru us.
There’s a profound valid grief that comes up within the acknowledgment that we live in a fat-phobic society that doesn’t accommodate for fat bodies.
Allow yourself to feel your feelings – give them space. Perhaps you process them in therapy (with a fat positive therapist or dietitian).
Sweeping your emotions under the rug is just going to create a build-up and once there’s no room left under that rug, those repressed emotions are going to feel BIG and intense because they’ve been bottled up for therefore long.
You may’t toxic positivity your way out of a nasty body image day. Give yourself grace and validation for the way you feel. Hold yourself with tenderness.
2. Know what your “off ramps” are.
Poor body image can feel such as you’re driving on a rotary and you only keep going around and around and around since you don’t see any off ramps (shout out to Marci Evans for this analogy!). You’re stuck in it and also you’re having a tough time seeing a way out.
Even though it’s essential to honor and sit along with your feelings, you don’t wish to be in your feels 24-7. Whenever you’re able to shift off the rotary, remember what your off ramps are – these are tools, skills, practices, and actions that make you are feeling higher.
Your off ramps (or body image toolbox) will probably be unique to you. Listed here are some examples which may resonate with you (be at liberty so as to add them to your rotary!):
- meditation
- dancing
- singing
- art
- walking outside
- getting in nature
- stretching
- drinking water
- having a shower
- swimming
- calling a friend
- loving on a pet
- writing or journaling
- lifting weights
- yoga
- listening to a favourite podcast
- getting a massage or using self-massage
- lighting a candle
- buying fresh flowers
- utilizing a mantra
- practicing gratitude
- taking a nap or resting
- reading a favourite book
- sipping warm tea
- wrapping yourself in a comfortable blanket
- visiting your favorite coffee shop
3. Aim for five percent higher.
What small act can you’re taking today to make yourself feel 5% higher? I really like the concept of 5% higher since it takes a number of the pressure off.
Relating to body image, there are such a lot of body positive messages telling you to like your body, and it creates one other unrealistic ideal to aspire to. It’s one other thing to feel such as you’re failing at.
Higher body image doesn’t mean loving your body or liking the way you look. It means caring for your body, treating it with respect, and listening to and honoring its cues.
You don’t have to aim for feeling 100% higher because that’s also not realistic given the oppressive culture we live in. But are you able to engage in something that makes you are feeling 5% higher? You’re aiming for a subtle shift. A small act.
Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant, authors of Reclaiming Body Trust, tell their clients and members of their community to aim for C- work. Once more, we’re not in search of A+ body image work – that’s going to set us up for perfectionism and black-and-white pondering, which is inherent in weight-reduction plan culture and white supremacy.
Are you able to aim for C- body image work? Are you able to aim for feeling 5% higher today?
4. Practice self-compassion and mindfulness.
Mindfulness allows us to sit down with what’s without judgment. This goes back to what I used to be talking about earlier with sitting within the suck. Notice what feelings are coming up for you within the moment and provides them space to maneuver through you.
Mindfulness also allows us to stay open and curious – perhaps you possibly can get curious around what prompted the bad body image day. Was there a trigger?
Perhaps you saw some photos of yourself on Facebook that you simply didn’t like. Perhaps you’re at the moment in your cycle once you’re extra bloated. Perhaps you spent an excessive amount of time scrolling on Instagram comparing your body to others.
Knowing your triggers can be helpful in coping with bad body image days. It means that you can name what’s happening and provides some context. “Oh that makes quite a lot of sense I’m having a nasty body image day today because I’m on day 14 of my cycle.”
Information and data collecting can feel empowering too since it helps you are feeling less helpless around why you would possibly feeling a certain way.
You may also dig a bit of deeper – if the narrative in your head says “I feel fat”, see when you can dig a bit of deeper and ask yourself “what else am I feeling at once?” You may notice you’re feeling burnt out after just a few really busy weeks at work, possibly you’re feeling quite a lot of grief after the lack of a loved one, possibly you’re feeling wired due to a conflict with a friend.
Body image is commonly a window into our deeper emotional experiences. You give attention to body image since it’s familiar and it seems like there’s something you possibly can change or fix. And it feels easier to fixate on the body than it does on the deeper, more painful emotions that perhaps there isn’t any immediate fix for.
Again that is a possibility to practice self-compassion. Seek advice from yourself with kindness and understanding. “Oh sweetie, in fact you’re feeling bad about your body at once. You’ve had a very stressful couple weeks at work and also you’re totally burnt out. It makes complete sense you don’t feel good in your body at once.”
Self-compassion is essential. Ask yourself, how would I discuss with my best friend who’s having a tough body image day? Are you able to offer a few of that kindness to yourself?
5. Name it to distance from it.
As humans we’ve got an inclination to over discover with our thoughts. A nasty body image day might lead you to say things to yourself like:
I actually have the worst body image.
I hate my body.
I’ll never have a great relationship with my body.
I’m so gross.
Reasonably than saying, I actually have the worst body image or I hate my body, can you are attempting saying “I’m noticing that I’m having a tough body image day.”
Not only does this create a bit of little bit of distance from the thought but it surely also serves as a reminder that this sense is fleeting and temporary. It doesn’t have to define you.
Were the following pointers helpful? In that case, let me know within the comments below. I’d LOVE to listen to from you!
For more body image related blog posts:
3 Ways to Navigate When Clothes Don’t Fit You (without one other weight-reduction plan!)
Methods to Make Your Social Media More Body Positive
Can You Lose Weight with Intuitive Eating?
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