Body Image and Disordered Eating
- Good and Bad Body Image
- Social Pressure
- How Can I Improve My Body Image?
- Disordered Eating
- I Think My Friend Has An Eating Disorder, what Can I Do?
Simply put, body image is the way we feel about our bodies. People with good body images feel happy, settled and comfortable with their body size and shape. People with bad body images tend to feel dissatisfied or hateful about how they look. Body image does not depend on what size or shape you are; women and men who do not fit socially prescribed standards of beauty can feel great about themselves while other men and women, who fit these same molds, can hate they way they look. Body image is how we feel and perceive ourselves.
In our society there is immense pressure to look a certain way. We are constantly surrounded and bombarded by images and messages that tell us how our bodies should look, feel and even smell! These beauty messages are usually trying to sell a product; the more we believe these "beauty messages," the harder we work to become like them. This usually involves buying a product to help us achieve beauty "perfection."
One of the most difficult aspects of achieving or maintaining a good or healthy body image is resisting the social pressures around us that tell us that we are our bodies are not good enough. It is easy to internalize external messages about beauty and to inflict them onto ourselves and those around us! What we have to realize is that these messages are contrived and unrealistic; bodies come in different shapes and sizes and all bodies need to be accepted and loved!
How Can I Improve My Body Image?
Body image can be a hard thing to change. We get used to giving ourselves negative feedback about the way we look. Thinking negatively about one's self can become an addiction. Like smoking, thinking negatively about one's body is a habit that is hard but important to break. There is no sure-fire or easy way to achieve good body image and, once achieved, maintaining positive body image takes work and persistence! Some tips for improving one's body image include:
- Consciously fight every bad thought about yourself: recognize when you are being critical of yourself and remind yourself to be kind.
- Speak to yourself only as you would speak to a friend, family member or someone you love.
- Consciously focus on the things about you that you like. Be proud of these things!
- Criticize the images that make you feel uncomfortable with yourself; try to recognize why these images are being presented to you (what are they trying to sell?) and realize that your bad self image helps to sell a product or an idea.
Disordered eating (also called eating disorders) occurs for many reasons. One big reason is because there is terrific pressure to achieve certain body types, even if it means using extreme measures to do so.
Disordered eating can take many forms. For some, disordered eating can mean eating a lot, for some it means eating little to nothing, for others it can mean a combination of the two. In general, eating becomes disordered when it becomes a major preoccupation or obsession in someone's life or is causing distress or harm to the individual. Two major eating disorders include Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa, however, disordered eating does not have to fall under these categories to be harmful. Yoyo dieting, constant thinking about weight and shape, feeling guilty about eating and weighting one's self more than once a day are signs that body image and eating is disordered.
Anorexia Nervosa: Anorexia Nervosa is the name given to a disorder where someone eats very little or nothing at all. People with Anorexia feel the need to restrict eating by a significant amount, often while engaging in other extreme forms of behaviour such as strenuously exercising for long periods of time. Some warning signs of Anorexia include:
- Excessive concern about weight, shape, and diet
- Unwillingness to eat or eating habits that appear abnormal
- Dramatic weight loss
- Irritability or moodiness
- Excessive or extreme exercise habits
- Wearing of clothes that hide the body
Bulimia Nervosa: Bulimia Nervosa is the name given to a disorder where someone binges and purges (eats and then throws up, takes laxatives, or restricts eating heavily). Signs of Bulimia include:
- Fluctuating weight (people with Bulimia are not necessarily skinny)
- Preoccupation with weight, shape and diet
- Frequent disappearances or trips to the bathroom after meals
- Secret eating
- Irritability or moodiness
I Think My Friend Has An Eating Disorder, what Can I Do?
Like other addictions, it is very hard to talk someone grappling with an eating disorder out of it. Recognize that your friend is dealing with something that is large and painful and may take a long time to work through. It can be very frustrating to be the friend of someone with disordered eating! Some tips for helping someone with disordered eating are:
Remain open and honest with your friend: let them know gently that you are concerned about their well-being and are happy to provide support and information Don't take their eating disorder as a personal insult: they are the ones dealing with the disorder, not you. They do not have the eating disorder to hurt you. When relapses occur or when eating patterns get worse, do not guilt, shame or be angry with your friend. Continue to support them. Do not try to counsel your friend; encourage them to find a professional counsellor or therapist. Maintain a positive attitude about bodies, food and weight around your friend. Do not comment on their body or anyone else's (even your own!). People with eating disorders are acutely aware of comments about body, food and weight.
Do not criticize or congratulate changes in weight; tell your friend you will love them, whatever size or shape they are (and mean it!)
Student Community & Leadership Development (SC&LD)
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