So you’ve seen a “bad” photo or video of yourself.
You were kind of shocked at what you saw, it doesn’t match with how you think you look. Or it’s “worse” than what you thought.
You’re picking apart certain parts of your body - your face, your belly, your arms - and maybe judging them as “fat” or “ugly”.
A COMMON response is to say: “Omg. Something needs to change. It’s time to start working out more, eating less, or doing a new diet so I can lose weight and change these parts of my body.”
This is where many people’s disordered eating begins.
They reactively restrict food and move more to lose weight.
They lose sight of their overall values, hobbies and interests in life.
They lose sight of their mental and physical needs to be holistically healthy.
They ignore their hunger cues and follow rigid, unsustainable food rules.
Periods go missing, they think constantly about food, they isolate themselves from social situations, friends and family to stick to their eating and exercise schedule and avoid temptation to eat.
And eventually, in most cases, they start losing control around food and/or experiencing full blown episodes of binge eating.
Then have to continue restricting/dieting to “make up” for the binge. And the cycle repeats.
If you can relate, here are 9 ways to cope with seeing a “bad photo” of yourself in a HEALTHY WAY (that allows you to maintain a good relationship with food):
PAUSE. Check in with thoughts and feelings.
Responding with restriction and disrespecting your body’s needs for food *literally* doesn’t work
Mantra: “This is my body. It’s okay. I don’t have to change it. There is no right way for a body to look.”
Mantra: “There is nothing inherently wrong with this body”
Picture yourself as another woman you’ve seen (maybe online) who doesn’t fit the beauty standard and rocks it. If you don’t have an example - use your imagination. Picture yourself in your current body, completely accepting and loving it. Even feeling confident in it and embracing it. Feel how that energy is magnetic and enticing.
Picture yourself as a fluid, flowing, fertile, feminine goddess. See old paintings of aphrodite or the renaissance women.
Remember that our society conditions us to pick apart our bodies - you get to decide if you want to buy into this or create your OWN life and reality by design, based on what really matters and how you want to feel at the end of your life. You can live an amazing life in THIS body. Go out and do the things that bring you joy, that give you a sense of purpose, find things you’re passionate about. See and feel that there is so much more to life than how your body looks
Ask - how can I continue to meet my body’s needs for enough food and rest despite how I’m feeling about how it looks right now?
Trust that your body will look exactly how it’s meant to when you are *holistically* healthy and well (which includes a peaceful, flexible relationship with food)
*All of this is not to say that you can’t want to change how your body looks in a healthy way.
But it only *really* works when led with self-love and respect for your bodies above all else, not desperation.
For more on this?
Listen to the full episode!
Other episodes disscussed in this one:
How to Pursue Fat Loss and Physique Goals in a Healthy Way
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Email me elena@elenakunicki.com
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