5 Reasons poor body image can affect your life

Are you someone who walks past shop windows or mirrors and refuses to look? Do you refuse to have a full-length mirror at home? Do you hate clothes shopping and trying clothes on? If this is you, there is a high chance you are suffering from poor body image.

Most women do not like something about their body, whether it is their stomach, their legs, their arms or their boobs and many choose clothes based on what they hide and can therefore feel comfortable in. But, when we cannot show a certain body part or get upset because something is showing, it starts to affect our life and can be detrimental.

If you have been filled with anxiety taking clothes off at a pool day, hated being asked to be a bridesmaid in case your friend chose a dress you hated, or spend time every day body-checking and telling yourself how disgusting parts of your body are – we need to find a way to change this!

Having a poor body image is not just about hating the way you look. It can actually affect several areas of your life. Here are 5 ways poor body image can affect your life:

Relationships – being low in confidence around your body image can mean you do not like undressing, even around friends or family for a swimming activity or in hot weather. This may mean you miss out on events or special occasions and cannot enjoy holidays the way you should.

Social life – not feeling good about your body can make you not want to go out, put make up on or be around friends when you feel everyone is pretty except you. Meeting new people is also hard when you do not feel good in the way you look, it becomes harder to put yourself out there socially.

Confidence – not liking your body can really stop you from putting yourself forward for interviews or experiences because you do not feel confident in how you look. Not having a suit to feel comfortable and strong in can make you not want to show up and give your best. Similarly, trying to date when you are embarrassed by your body can be difficult because it amplifies the fear of rejection.

Overthinking/ obsessing – when you start your day by speaking negatively to yourself while getting ready in the morning, it makes it hard to focus on normal activities such as work or dealing with everyday life. You can lack concentration on tasks you have to do and can spend hours thinking of ways to fix the parts you do not like. Researching diets, surgeries, therapy or exercise routines can eat into time you have to be relaxing.

Anxiety – negativity around how you see yourself can make you anxious or paranoid that others will notice the things you hate, and it means you then can take what people say and do the wrong way, overthink and be anxious around social situations or work colleagues.

You may not like or accept everything about your body, but you can try to appreciate them by showing gratitude. If you hate your legs, be grateful that you are able-bodied and can walk. If you hate your stomach, be grateful that your digestive system works properly and if you hate your hips, be grateful that you have shape, as some people would love that. We always focus on the negative, but our bodies are amazing and do saggy boobs or a big bum or wobbly stomach make us any less of a person? NO. They may be things that annoy you and make you imperfect, but no one is perfect and even people with perfect bodies (in our eyes) will have things they hate. Being a good person is way more important than having a flat stomach.

The truth is that other people do not see what we see. We are by far our own worst critics. Most other women will see a fab bikini or an amazing figure or great hair. Even in the worst-case scenario, they may think to themselves something negative but you will never know. So, strip off, speak kindly to yourself, embrace your curves, own that bikini and tell yourself how amazing you are. In addition to the gratitude, say to yourself every day ‘I am perfect the way I am’. And even if you do not believe it, the more you say it, the less you will hate yourself. When you feel negative self-talk coming, change it to this affirmation and take note of any changes. Being aware of how mean you are being to yourself and trying to change that, will create small movements towards total body acceptance.