Create and maintain a healthy body image

Understand your body image

If you’re fighting a negative or false body image, it’s important to acknowledge it, understand its roots, come to terms with your true appearance, and – if you’re losing weight - gradually adjust to your new body.

Know when you’re at risk of regaining weight

Once you’ve lost weight, it’s important to watch for signs that may prompt weight regain, including:

• Resentment and anger at people who seem to notice you for the first time, even though you’ve met before. “I’m the same person I was when I was fat”, you might think.
• Anxiety when you receive attention for your new appearance.
• Pressure to meet expectations, both yours and others’.
• Inability to see you’ve lost weight.

If you experience any of the above, it is important you notifyyourhealth care professional. Also, it is critical you remain at the lower weight long enough to allow yourself to work out the conflicting emotions of pleasure and fear inspired by your weight loss. The goal is to learn to be more comfortable IN your body not just WITH your body. To do this you will need to set your own standards of an acceptable body image and work to reinforce them. Once you have finished this article, complete the goal-setting exercise at the end.

Face the obvious

How do you react if you unexpectedly see yourself in a full-length mirror or store window? Do you avoid posing for pictures? Many overweight people go to great lengths to avoid looking at their bodies, although they may be willing to see their face and hair. In fact, many spend a great deal of time grooming their hair or putting on makeup, but they avoid viewing their overall appearance. Some people avoid looking at themselves so successfully they are surprised when they see a photograph of themselves.

Understand your fears

As you became heavier did you notice changes in how you moved, sat, or stood? Some obesity researchers question if being sedentary leads to obesity, or if obesity causes people to be sedentary. The latter could be because movement is uncomfortable or because overweight people are self-conscious about their weight so they try to avoid the attention movement attracts. Overweight people tend to try to become invisible, setting the stage for further negative feelings about themselves and their bodies.

Researchers also report that heavy people are more aware of weight gain than weight loss. This means they may carry the image and feelings of being fat even after they lose weight.

Why would someone ignore weight loss? Fear of failure. Dieters who have a history of losing and regaining weight may be afraid to believe long-term weight loss is possible. Or they may be frustrated and embarrassed that their 20-kilogram weight loss isn’t noticeable. In contrast, being aware of weight gain helps them mentally prepare for criticism they anticipate receiving.

Identify where your body image comes from

Your body image is built from many different influences, including how you feel about your overall appearance, how you feel about specific features (like your height or nose), and how coordinated you believe you are (for example, clumsy or graceful). Cultural beauty standards, life experiences, and people’s reactions to you also play a role.

• Think back over your personal history.
• What do you recall about the development of your body image?
• Can you pinpoint a time when your body image was positive?
• When did it become negative?
• Or has it always been negative?

Your body image, like other feelings you have about yourself, is influenced by many factors. Since the size and shape of your body is not something you can completely disguise, your body image has been affected by others’ reactions to you.

Peer pressure during adolescence exerts a powerful influence on body image. The teen years are a period of increasing social complexity. Teens trying to deal with uncertainty and insecurity look for ways to control their environment. Observing their own physical appearance and that of others provides a ready benchmark to judge social acceptability. Teens may develop a negative body image because they feel they don’t fit in, are different, or aren’t accepted by their peers. It is easier to say “they don’t like me because I’m big” or “not thin enough” than it is to say “they just don’t like me”. Some people sail through their childhood and adolescence with no real weight problems and a relatively healthy body image, but later they begin to overeat and gain weight in response to adult stressors.

The death of a close family member, divorce, serious illness, financial pressures, career concerns, relationship problems, and parenting responsibilities can all contribute to overeating. The resulting weight gain leaves many people with a sense they have lost part of themselves. Eating temporarily distracts us from our problems and reduces our stress levels, but the long-term consequence, weight gain, ultimately causes more problems than it solves.

Developing effective mechanisms for coping with adult stresses can minimize weight gain, contribute to enhanced self-esteem, and improve body image.

Recognize cultural beauty standards

Standards of beauty vary among cultures, and within a given culture, over time. These standards reflect a combination of religious, economic, and political influences.

Because a woman’s status has generally been more strongly tied to her appearance than has a man’s, ideas about the ideal female form have undergone more changes over the years, from women wearing figure-hiding clothing a few decades ago to clothes that showed off the body in the 60s and 70s, masculine suits for the office from around 2000, to softer and more feminine fashion across the board today.

That’s not to say men have had it easy. Historically, men gained status and desirability through displays of power. Athleticism, leadership, and business skills were prized above physique. However, today men report feeling pressure to be fit, which many sociologists attribute to the increasing independence and fitness of women. Looking well-toned has replaced looking well fed as a symbol of male prosperity and desirability.

Cultural beauty standards are impossible for all but a few people to attain. This does not stop people from trying or wanting to match the ideal, however, resulting in widespread discontent. In fact, disappointment with one’s body is so common among women that psychologists have termed it ‘Normative Discontent’.

Know that having been abused might affect your weight

People who have experienced abuse or assault often report very negative feelings about their bodies, combined with strong feelings of guilt, shame, anger, and fear.

Their actual weight may have little impact on their body image, but they unknowingly connect their appearance to the abuse or assault. Some individuals admit gaining weight to make themselves seemingly less attractive. Their negative body image and excess weight typically persist until they resolve their feelings about the trauma they experienced.

Now that you are familiar with the major factors shaping body image, you may be asking “if having a negative body image is so painful, why do people stay fat?”

Acknowledge the hidden so-called ‘benefits’ of obesity

Coming back to what we said at the start of this article, some people believe that obesity provides benefits that outweigh the negatives of being fat in a thin-loving society. Potential benefits include the following:

• Excuses for unmet goals — Many overweight people blame their unmet goals on their weight instead of taking control of their ambitions. “Management is prejudiced against fat people which is why I didn’t get the job”, or “I can’t get a date because of my weight” are some of the excuses overweight people could use. Losing weight can be stressful because it removes the excuses.
• Power — Overweight men, in particular, report they like the sense of power they have as a “big guy”.
• Increased professional credibility — Some women feel being heavy signals they are serious about their work.
• Decreased threat to friends and peers — People often mistrust someone they feel is too attractive. Being overweight can be a way of saying “I’m not a threat; I’m just like you”.
• Test of a partner’s commitment — Being overweight can be a way of saying “Do you love me for me? Prove it! Love me even though I am fat”.

Set your goals

Using the advice in this article, develop 2–3 goals to work towards to improve your body image. Don’t forget, your dietitian is always available to offer you support.