About Body Image

Your body image is the picture of yourself that you have created in your mind and believed to be true. The mirror and other people's opinions won't make you change your impression about your physical appearance.

It's too late anyway because the negative comments you've heard during your upbringing, the consistent comparisons, peer pressures and the constant bombarding from the media have already done the damage.

Very few people, especially girls and women, think they look just right for their height or weigh and age. They'll tell you that they are too fat, too short, too large, too tiny or their hips are too big and their breasts are too small.

It's important to love and be pleased with your body type, figure, body shape and build. If you think that you have a distorted body-image, you will feel tempted to modify it and unconsciously destroy it. What's even worse is you develop a negative self image and low self esteem. You won't move around feeling confident because you focus on your perceived flaws.

The Solutions to a Negative Body Image

Change how you see yourself.

Changing your inner picture is the first and most important step. As long as you have a false belief about how you look, it's not going to change how you feel about yourself.

Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, who wrote Psycho-Cybernetics cited many examples of his patients who did not change their body and self image even after going through surgery.

Be realistic

Honestly look within and find out the origin of your dissatisfaction with your body. Are you trying to look like what someone expected you to? Were they your parents, your role models or from your experience of being rejected and ignored?

Is the media influencing you? Do you think that your body is distorted just because your weight and height don't match according to the some measurement standards? Do you really think that you should have a certain weight to match your height? Are you comparing yourself to some Hollywood celebrities, supermodel or your idol?

Change your attitude.

Change your attitude about how your size, weight and appearance should fit your body. Remove your concerns about how others see and judge you. You should feel grateful that you are physically complete and well formed. There are some souls out there who were born physically handicapped.

Keep in mind that whatever your body tells you is linked to your mind. And your mind communicates to your body. They work both ways. So start acting like an attractive person and your attitude will catch up.

Live a healthy lifestyle.

Keep your life healthy by getting yourself involved in physical activities. Weight training increases your body strength. Aerobic exercise and yoga improve your breathing, remove toxins in your body and enhance your wellness.

A healthy lifestyle includes enjoying the outdoors and getting involved in creative activities. Your focus changes and you will no longer become so self absorbed with your body image and wanting to look good all the time.

Eat healthy.

Your body needs balanced, healthy and nutritious food. Avoid trying to have that ideal body to the extent that you develop eating disorders and become emaciated. As long as you don't change your thoughts about your body image, you will always feel dissatisfied no matter what you do.

It's better to focus on lowering your cholesterol level, your sugar and salt intake and avoid getting a heart problem or any other kind of health complications.

Change your focus

Instead of focusing on the parts of your body that you dislike, pay attention to your strong features as well as your strengths and capabilities. Attractiveness includes a pleasing and appealing character. Your charisma lies in your personality and enthusiasm and not in your appearance alone.

When you like yourself and feel attractive, you will attract the people and the situation. Before you decide to fix or repair your physical appearance, why not change the image that you have in your mind? It takes effort but it is cheaper, more practical and healthier.