It’s no secret that body insecurity is a pressing issue for both men and women. According to a survey, around 54 percent of women are unhappy with their bodies, and about 80 percent of them agree looking in a mirror makes them feel bad. But body insecurity isn’t a women-only issue, most men feel insecure about their body 33 percent of the time.
While addressing your body insecurities is not a fun or enjoyable journey, the benefits, in the end, make the awkwardness well worth it. If you’re struggling with your body image, give the following bits of advice a try to see if you can find that place where you learn to appreciate your body for what it is — a wonderland.
1. Practice Positive Self-Talk
The first step to overcome body insecurity is to tune out the inner voice telling you to question yourself. Most of the time, we’re not aware of our negative self-talk and we let our hurtful words get the best of us. If you’re committed to change, start by switching phrases like “I look fat,” for “My body is powerful.” Initially, it might feel weird to talk yourself this way, but eventually you’ll get adjusted and start practicing positive self-talk all the time.
2. Allow Yourself to Be Vulnerable
Many times, we have these judgments about ourselves, but we don’t agree that we’re being judgmental towards ourselves. To start overcoming your body insecurities, you must be honest with yourself first. Be vulnerable enough to realize that your negative self-talk is holding you back and that perhaps you need professional help to find the right path.
3. Be More Mindful
Body insecurities are often the result of a drive towards perfectionism. No one is perfect, and even your ideals of perfection are flawed to you. Putting in the effort to become a more mindful person might combat perfectionism and help you walk away from your insecurities. The same aspect applies to some root causes of your body insecurity. For example, if your struggle is with your weight, perhaps approaching a more mindful tactic to weight loss is your next step.
4. Consider Body Neutrality
Everyone talks about body positivity, and yes, we should all strive to reach that point. However, not everyone is ready to enter that state. If your body insecurities are always bringing you down, trade the pressure of body positivism for body neutrality. The practice of body neutrality calls for those who follow it to appreciate certain aspects of their bodies at this moment and be at peace with the fact that they don’t love every inch of their body right now, but they’re working towards that.
5. Stay Away from Toxic People
We all have those family members and friends that do their best to continue fueling our body insecurities. “You look fat!” “Are you eating enough?” “Those clothes don’t fit you right.” We’ve all heard them more than once. Someone who continually fuels your insecurities is most likely a toxic person, and someone you should avoid. Make sure you find room in your heart to forgive toxic people in your life and move on.
6. Ditch the Scale
When it comes to body insecurities, we can all agree that weight gain or weight loss tops the list. Society has conditioned us to believe the numbers on the scale matter more than our health. Instead, I invite you to find your happy weight by your own definition of what that is. It’s time to throw away your scale and focus on what matters the most — your health.
7. Forget the Diet Mentality
Have you ever not been on a diet? It seems like those of us struggling with body insecurities are always behind the latest diet trend. We’ve been through it all, and we continuously keep changing our diets to see if one day we’ll find the one that works. Well, it’s time to change that diet mentality and start focusing on having a better relationship with foods.
8. Edit Your Social Media
We’re glued to our phones almost all day. Social media is our new way of staying in touch with what’s happening in the world. However, sometimes those accounts portray a perfect ideal that’s unreal. We know celebrities and influencers use image retouching software to tweak how their bodies look getting rid of stretch marks, acne, and any other “flaw” they have. Thankfully, social media apps like Instagram are starting to ban these filters that promote a fake version of oneself. But in the end, it falls on us to edit our social media feeds to protect our mental health .
9. Rethink Your Focus
There’s no doubt that society affects how we see ourselves, but it’s time we take control of our bodies and self-image. Instead of focusing on how we look in the mirror, let’s start focusing on how we feel on the inside. Having a stable self-care routine that focuses on our physical, mental, and emotional health is key to overcome body insecurities. Shift your focus towards those areas of improvement instead.
10. Be Patient
Finally, you have to be patient. Dealing with body insecurities is not fun, but change won’t occur overnight. Just as your insecurities developed over time, your strategies to overcome will do as well. Understand your journey and be patient with yourself. After all, the Roman Empire wasn’t built overnight. GR8 things take time.
Originally published at https://www.gr8ness.com on May 25, 2020.
