Do you hate your body and how you appear in the mirror? Do you feel like you are at war with your body? Do you struggle to believe there is a world where you can tolerate, appreciate or feel grateful for your body?

Most of us experience ongoing body image distress day to day. 

BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!

Healing the relationship with your body takes a lot of work and processing the underlying hurt we have placed on our bodies.

I believe that distressing body image is an emotional experience we hold. 

I see distressing body image as the tip of the ice berg, it’s what gets seen, however there’s usually so much more underneath the surface and to truly heal our body image distress we have to be willing to examine what’s under the distress.

Here are 5 tips to begin healing to move towards a healthier view of your body:

• UNFOLLOW THINSPIRATION and influencers who promote negative messages

You can open  up any social media and immediately be bombarded by “before” and “after” pictures, what I eat in a day, information telling you what to eat or not eat, and images of toned, ripped and distorted bodies that have been widely photoshopped or projected in a way to make the person flawless.

We have to take care of our mental space therefore, we have to cleanse out what is not serving us well. Thinspiration does not serve us well!

Be sure to unfollow and let go of any accounts that do not make you feel happy. 

There’s emerging information that social media platforms are actually “pushing” this type of media and favoring images that lead to body image issues. Thanks Instagram!

While you are scrolling social media, ask yourself if you felt better after all the scrolling or if you may need a break from it all.

You’ve heard it a million times but the images shown are perfectly placed, lighted, photoshopped and simply an illusion of what is real. Don’t forget that!

• DO A CLOSET CLEANSE

Rummage through your clothes and get rid of anything that does not serve you. Are there clothes you hold onto waiting for that smaller body?

Donate or sell anything that does not make you feel your best. When we are not wearing things that make us feel good or fit with our personalities we cannot possess the full confidence that is possible within us.

No longer wait for that “right” body to wear the outfit. Don’t wait for the perfect moment to wear that incredible dress. Wear it anyways! Feel like a badass! Wear it now!

I also cannot stress enough the importance of wearing the appropriate size of underwear, bras and other items. Don’t wear underwear that makes you feel squeezed, too tight or uncomfortable. We cannot move through our day feeling squished into something! 

• BREAK UP WITH NO FUN EXERCISE

To honor our bodies is to move our bodies in enjoyable ways. Exercise should no longer be a source of punishment.

As you go to the gym or work out, ask yourself, do I actually like this? If not, stop! It’s that simple.

Do things that bring you joy, help you feel balanced and pushes your body to feel good. Exercise is not about reaching a point of total exhaustion.

Did you know? By doing exercise you hate, you may actually be raising your cortisol, which is your stress hormone? That’s right! When we do activities we hate doing, it may actually be bringing about more stress in our lives than enjoyment.

Only do fun exercise!

• DITCH THE SCALE

YEP, you heard right! Ditch it! The scale does not help anyone who is trying to recover from distressing body image or a disordered relationship with food.

The scale provides an external piece of information that has the ability to change our whole mood and outlook for the day. WOW it has some power!

Imagine I weighed myself in the morning before I went into work. I did not like the number I saw and thought, hey, I’m going to be a crappy therapist today because I feel crappy. But that’s exactly what happens. 

It makes no sense to give away our power to the scale.

Ditch it! I can’t say enough how important this is!

If you want even more info on why- check out this post: https://www.eatingrecoverytherapy.com/blog/break-up-with-your-scale

• BE OPEN TOWARDS A NEUTRAL STANCE

If you are 100% invested in hating your body, that’s exactly what you are going to get!

I don’t expect anyone to go from body hatred to body acceptance quickly. BUT, you have to be willing to start somewhere. Understand that hating our bodies is a learned behavior, therefore, it CAN BE UNLEARNED!

If you want something to change, you have to be at least 1% open to that change.

Be open to the idea that you may be able to view your body from a neutral point.

Think of your body as the vessel that allows you to live your life, not an object to be adored by others.

Body image often feels at the core of who we are, however that is simply not true. We are not our bodies. Our bodies though can represent who we are as people. 

You deserve to find peace within yourself and I hope you found these few simple steps as a great place to start.

It’s time to heal your body image today.