Overcoming Body Image Issues

Every woman will unfortunately encounter some form of body issue at one point in her life. Often it can be the mildest sense of dissatisfaction, but other times it can come to dominate your life from the moment you wake up, to the moment you go to sleep. There can body image issues for females as well as males.

To help you live a happy and body positive life, we’ve put together a quintet of ways you can overcome body image issues before they get out of hand. They’re all small changes, but they can make a real difference to your quality of life and how you view yourself.

Tell Yourself You’re Beautiful Every Time You Look in the Mirror

Positive thinking is a powerful thing, so much so that it can completely transform the way you feel about yourself. At the same time, negative thinking will also take root very quickly, and have you feeling down about yourself almost constantly.

A simple way to practice positive thinking is to say some positive affirmations out loud every time you look in the mirror. That way, you’ll be saying something to lift your spirits every time you would normally be presented with an image of yourself you don’t like. Stick with it, and within a couple of weeks you’ll really start to notice a difference in the way you view yourself.

Give Your Mind and Body Everything they Need to Flourish

If you’re not happy with the way you look, you don’t have to accept it. Many women engage in crash diets and exercise fads, and keep jumping from one to the next because they don’t see the instant results they were hoping for. This isn’t the right way to be proactive, because all you’re doing is putting unrealistic pressure on yourself to transform overnight.

If you want to be able to change the way you look in a balanced and healthy way, sleep and diet are all that matters. Get up and go to bed at the same time each day, and always ensure you get your 8 hours of quality shuteye. As far as your diet goes, work on changing one meal at a time, rather than changing everything at once and starving yourself.

Speak with an Expert to Find a Positive Approach

Speaking to an expert at a beauty clinic is another way to alleviate your body image issues. It’s not all about drastic surgery and sweeping changes though. The healthy approach is to speak to someone who knows the human body, and to ask their opinion. They’ll be able to give you some expert input and advice that will help guide you forward. This is the clinic I personally go to and trust, but you can easily find one that you will click with too.

Take your time, and don’t feel like you have to get something done. It’s all about weighing up what you’re happy with, and what can change when you adopt a more positive frame of mind.

ONLY WEAR CLOTHES YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE IN

Feeling pressured to wear the latest fashion is one thing, but forcing yourself into it when you’re just not comfortable is something else altogether. The secret to feeling comfortable in your own skin, is to only wear outfits that make you happy. This could be happy in terms of the comfort of the fit, as well as happy in terms of how you look when you see yourself in the mirror. Take your time with it, and don’t feel like you have to wear something just because everyone else is.

In fact, you can easily get around the pressure to always conform by being bold and creating your own personal wardrobe. It will make you feel empowered to be you, and you’ll love the touch of individual style that you’ll be able to add to your new wardrobe with just a few trips to the shops.

TAKE A BREAK FROM SOCIAL MEDIA, AND FOCUS ON YOU

Social media is a great way to stay in touch with your friends and share your experiences, but there are certainly some downsides to it too. If you’re constantly exposing yourself to unrealistic body images on sites like Facebook and Instagram, it’s not difficult to see why you might struggle to be positive about your own image.

There are two key things to remember here. Firstly, the models in those images only really look like that for the half an hour that the photoshoot is in progress. When they are at home, they certainly won’t be dressed like that. Secondly, you don’t have to view the content if you don’t want to. And even you don’t have a nagging urge to get off it, try it for 7 days and see how it impacts your state of mind. Keeping your phone in a different room in the evening is a great way to get a break, and take some time to indulge in a little well deserved self-care.

AUTHOR BIO

Rebecca is a translator by day, and a traveler mostly at night. She is an expert on living with jet lag – and packing in tiny suitcases. You can read more of her exploits at RoughDraft.