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Body image

Body image is how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind.

It encompasses:
What you believe about your own appearance (including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations).
How you feel about your body, including your height, shape, and weight.
How you sense and control your body as you move.
How you physically experience or feel in your body.
Many of us internalize messages starting at a young age that can lead to either positive or negative body image.
Having a healthy body image is an important part of mental wellbeing and eating disorders prevention.

Dieting, drive for thinness, and body dissatisfaction are unhealthy actions and ideals that are often communicated to us and internalized from a young age and continuously reinforced by social media.

People with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and obsessions with weight loss. (NEDA Website). Consider talking to a counselor at the Counseling Center to work on ways to celebrate and love your body.

Body Positivity is a national movement to promote size diversity, body acceptance, and a healthier body image for all ages, genders, races, abilities, etc. It is important that we continue to embrace body diversity by recognizing all bodies as good bodies. The key to developing positive body image is to recognize and respect our natural shape and learn to overpower those negative thoughts and feelings with positive, affirming, and accepting ones (NEDA Website).

Concerns may include: body dissatisfaction, uncomfortable with my physical appearance, obsess over what I weigh and/or what I eat, want to look physically different than I do right now, I don't like the way my clothes fit, I am always on a diet,