Healthy Body Image

It’s that time of year when we start obsessing over our bodies. We know we have a good 2-3 months before we will be in a bathing suit and we want to ensure we look damn good in it. With all the constant measuring, weighing and critiquing of ourselves, we forget the negative affect on our self-esteem and body image. These practices can sometimes diminish our self-esteem if we aren’t achieving what we want. Here are some tips to not getting discouraged while maintaining a healthy body image:
1. Praise your body for the things it does for you. It is easy to get caught up in the improvement of our bodies that we sometimes forget all the wonderful things our bodies can do for us. There are so many things we do not have to tell our bodies to do such as breathing.
2. Don’t critique and criticize your body. Think of all the positive things you like about your body. Use only positive statements when describing your body.
3. Don’t compare yourself or body to anyone else’s. So many different aspects go into body composition and shape including genetics, biological influences and ethnicity. Therefore it is unhelpful and unrealistic to compare your body shape to others.
4. Think about your greatest attributes! These should not include physical features. You should praise yourself for the wonderful traits you have to offer others. Besides your bathing suit doesn’t express your personality just your cup size.
I hope these tips will help you to remember your self-worth is not contingent on the way you look but the way you treat others and carry yourself.