Body Image Affects EveryBODY!

Eating Disorders and body image go hand in hand. I've never met anyone with an eating disorder that didn't have issues with body image. And I've met just as many people without eating disorders that have just as many issues with body image. So what's all this body image stuff about, you may wonder. Body image can be broken down into three different aspects: perception, attitude, and behavior. 

Perception

What you actually see when you look in the mirror is your perception. This may or may not be distorted. This perception is affected by culture and context. For example, a teenage girl going through a growth spurt who is 5'9" and in a healthy weight range may perceive herself as "big" compared to her mom who is 5'0" and at the low range of acceptable body weight.  While a grown woman who's weight is considered "overweight" may perceive herself as small compared to her mother sister and father who's weight is considered "obese". Everything is relative. 

Do you compare yourself to movie stars or other people watching the movie? Do you compare yourself to your yoga teacher or to other people in the class? Who you choose to compare yourself to can quickly alter your perception. 

Some studies also suggest that those with anorexia have a different brain response when looking at picture of themselves compared to those without anorexia, even though both groups have the same brain activity when looking at pictures of other people. 

Attitude

Your attitude towards your body is the meaning that you give your perception of your body. If your self-worth is solely or predominately derived from your appearance, then your attitude about it can result in tremendous suffering and desire to change it. 

The diagnostic criteria for both anorexia and bulimia cites: "self evaluation unduly influenced by shape and weight" as well as "disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced."  However, in a society that places so much importance on body shape and weight, the aforementioned aren't limited to those individuals suffering from an eating disorder. 

Behavior

Perception and attitude fuel behavior. As explained in Carolyn Costin's book, Your Dieting Daughter, "Body image dissatisfaction is a better predictor of eating attitudes and behaviors, and dieting pathology than other variables such as self-esteem, depression, and social anxiety combined."  We live is a society that rewards weight loss. So it makes sense that dieting to lose weight will help alleviate body dissatisfaction. The question is: how far are you willing to go? For some people without an eating disorder, they lose a few pounds, feel great, get complimented, and that's as far as it goes. For others, it spirals out of control and each pound lost is never enough. The compliments turn into worry and fear by friends and family.  Others may try to diet only to fail, and then they have so much guilt and shame that they turn to extreme compensatory behaviors to assuage their guilt and shame over failing. 

While it is necessary to stop disordered eating or eating disordered behaviors, it is just as crucial to address your perception and attitudes. Without doing that part of the work you will find yourself white knuckling the behavior cessation and it will be so difficult to maintain those changes; you will likely return to some or all of your behaviors. It's important to come to a place of body acceptance and realize that LOOKS different for everyone. Hurting your body and betraying your soul to look a certain way, hit a number on the scale or fit a certain size is no way to live. 

I am in a bigger body now that I am recovered; however, I feel better about my body than I did at any point in my eating disorder or early recovery. I also know dozens, if not hundreds, of recovered individuals who feel the same way. Take a minute to think about what THAT would feel like!  I'd love to help get you there.  Remember, being recovered is possible and I'm here to help. Love and Light.