Body Image: Beyond Just Liking How You Look

Have you ever said a word over and over, to the point where it starts to sound weird and detach from its meaning? Try the word “purple.” Repeat “purple” out loud or in your head 10 times in a row and notice how it starts to morph. Purple. Purple. Purple. Puuuurrrrpuuulll. Strange, right?

Language is important. If we want to change the story we have about ourselves, it helps to understand the words we’re using. Take the term “body image.” What are we even talking about when we say “body image?”

The National Eating Disorders Collaboration has determined 4 aspects of body image: perceptual, affective, cognitive, and behavioral. The body you see when you look in the mirror, browse through pictures, or glance down at yourself is perceptual body image. It may be completely different from what others see when they look at you, and it may change from moment to moment. When you body check - stand in front of the mirror and monitor your body from different angles, raise your shirt to inspect your belly, or pinch and scrutinize the flesh of your arms - you’re engaging perceptual body image.

Affective body image is how you feel about your body. If a friend said, “I feel gross” in reference to their body, and you knew what they meant, you were discussing affective body image. It’s the emotional state that arises when you consider your body, and it can encompass a wide range on any given day.

Cognitive body image is how you think about your body. When someone suggests a beach day, and you imagine yourself in a bathing suit, you’re using cognitive body image. It’s what’s going on inside your mind when your pants feel tight and the meaning you give the number on the scale.

The way you act on a daily basis is impacted by how you see, feel, and think about your body. This is behavioral body image. Exercising in an effort to change your body’s shape, restricting food because of thoughts about your size, or saying no to that invitation to the pool party because of your appearance, are all examples of behavioral body image.

Consider these four aspects of body image. Which one seems to be causing you to suffer or hold back from living the life you desire? Do you scroll through Instagram comparing your body to the images on the screen (perceptual)? Do you feel anxious trying on clothes (affective)? Are you preoccupied with thoughts of food and exercise (cognitive)? Do you avoid opportunities because of how your body looks (behavioral)?

If you recognize there’s room for improvement in your body image, there’s nothing bad, wrong, or weird about you. We’re all existing in a culture that profits from us feeling like crap about our bodies because the next diet, exercise plan, shape wear, weight loss pill, or “lifestyle change” is going to cure what ails us. But what’s way more effective and powerful than the empty promises of altering your body is altering your body image.

If you’re not sure where to begin, I got you. Give me a call or send me an email, and let’s get to work. Because changing your outsides might improve how you think, feel, and act for a minute, but changing your insides just might change everything. For good.