The word body image reflects one’s perception of what they think and feel about their body. If you feel comfortable in your own skin and quite happy about how you look, you have a positive body image. However, if you are not satisfied with your height, weight, body shape, and other physical features you are more likely to be suffering from negative body image.
Top Signs Of A Negative Body Image
Below are a few top signs of a negative body image that can help you identify whether you have a negative body image or not.
- Persistent negative thoughts and feelings about your body and having a strong belief that there are some flaws in you that make you look ugly.
- Seeing yourself again and again in the mirror trying your hardest to match with that perfect body image you created in your brain.
- You are constantly checking your body weight multiple times a day, regularly skipping meals, and continuously looking for validation from people around you.
- Despite having a wardrobe full of clothes you particularly choose a few styles and colours to hide your body shape.
- You feel the need to do excessive makeup touches again and again to cover your dark circles, blemishes, acne spots, and above all the colour of your skin.
- Parties and social gatherings haunt you. You have lower self-esteem, continuous anxious thoughts about the flaws in your physical appearance and at the end of the day you choose isolation over bullying.
Overall, you are not generally happy about how you look. Maybe soon this feeling of dissatisfaction with your body goes above and beyond making you go through cosmetical procedures to fix the shape of your nose, lips, the colour of your skin, the appearance of your hair, and much more.
But do you know if you are suffering from negative body image disorders, even after going through cosmetic procedures you will not get that feeling of body image satisfaction because the root problem here is not your body but your faulty thinking pattern?
Your body was never made to be perfect. It is not wrong to say this, there is nothing wrong with your body but there is something wrong with your brain.
If you are suffering from negative body image, we have good news for you. There are many effective treatment options exist that that can help you restructure your thoughts.
How To Achieve A Positive Body Image?
Starting to respect and accept your body is the first step to achieving a positive body image. Try to turn your negative body thoughts into positive ones by following these tips.
- When you look at yourself in the mirror try not to focus on the specific body parts you don’t like rather look at those body parts that you love. It can be your eyes, hands, feet, your smile or any other part. Look at them with gratitude and you will definitely start feeling good.
- Start appreciating your body for running for you, laughing for you, breathing for you, fighting for you, and above all giving you that sparkle of energy to fulfil your dreams regardless of its weight and shape.
- It is said, that beauty is a state of mind not in your body. If you have a beautiful mindset and positive feelings about your body, you will get that feeling of self-satisfaction and self-acceptance. You will feel confident, determined, inspired, enthusiastic, delighted, focused, insightful, and full of happiness and gratitude.
- Understand that the beauty standards our society makes are one of the biggest deceptions. When you scroll through social media it may seem every other person is perfect and flawless. However, the reality is quite harsh, the people you see on social media also definitely have many flaws that are beautifully concealed with the help of filters, lighting, and photo angles.
- Stay far and far away from toxic people who mock you, and bully you, and do not miss any chance to fuel up your body’s insecurities. These people are your real self-esteem breakers. It’s high time to give them a shot call. Next, you bully yourself, in a firm loud voice saying, can you please stop it? I am really not enjoying your company I am not going to accept this behaviour! And the winning part of this situation will be when you call out that person calmly without getting angry. It should sound like there is no one that can disturb your mental peace.
I am sharing with you this one tip that is going to empower you with tons of positivity. Make a habit of positive self-talking. Try to take out at least 10 minutes for yourself and say these sentences to you in a loud voice:
- I am the hero of my life. I am different and being different is beautiful
- My body is not broken I will not try to fix it rather I will fix my thoughts
- All skin colours and body sizes are beautiful. Our bodies were created to achieve something big not to pass the false beauty standards
- I am powerful I am strong, and I love every part of my body
- Start loving your body the way your body loves you. Your body adjusts for you, fights for you so take good care of it.
- When you start loving your skin, and body shape, you will glow differently
