Having unhealthy body image CAN lead to an eating disorder. The truth is MOST people no matter what their sex or history struggle with some form of unhealthy body image.
Here is a wonderful reflective exercise from the book 200 Ways to Love the Body You Have. by Marcia Hutchinson
So here's the question you need to ask yourself
What will YOU miss out on if you fail to love your body and treat it as it truly deserves to be treated? What has it cost you so far?
And here are some HONEST answers from people just like you. Do you ever feel like this?
I will miss out on the integration I could have. The joy of a body and a mind in unity with each other. The cost so far has been confusion, self-disgust and fear
I think so far I've missed out on the pride and wholeness that comes when a person's self-consciousness is minimized. I will definitely miss out on a fulfilling sex life if every 4th thought is to how I look. And ultimately, if I focus on my body in lieu of other people and the joys that each day *could* hold, I think I'll be missing out on life.
If I fail to love my body as it truly is, i will miss out on unconditional love from the one person who knows me completely. so far this has cost me more than i can calculate in terms of my level of self esteem. Confidence in my self would have empowered me to make decisions about my life that i have failed to make who knows where i would have been now.
I just turned 50 this year, with it brought a whole new set of problems on my acceptance of my body. I have gone back to college for a nursing degree( no small feat) and have raised 3 children, with varying degree's of success. Yet none of this matters when I get stuck on how my body SHOULD look. Never mind it has brought me much pleasure and wonder over my life time. I do have to say as I grow older I have come to at least understand how ludicrous this obsession for perfection has become. Maybe in my next 50 years I will accomplish this distorted body image problem...
Not loving my body has forced me into a life long cycle of weight loss and weight gain, so much so that I am never content with my size. If I am close to my goal weight then I become obsessed with becoming "perfect" and how being "perfect" will change my life. And if I am over my ideal weight, then I become obsessed with how disappointed I am that I am so far from being "perfect". But the most astonishing realization for me is when I look back on pictures of myself at various stages in my life, I am always aware of how good I looked "back then"...even though at the time the picture was taken I thought I was hideous. Not loving my body has been a circle of self-hatred, regret and hopelessness, which has overshadowed my ability to fully enjoy my life
I will miss out on the freedom to have plain old fun. I look back, when years ago I was so self conscience about my body-and I looked great. I could have taken off my shorts and worn a bathing suit in swim classes. I could have worn a skirt with out pantyhose, I could have had more fun building sandcastles with my daughters. But I held back, because I hated my body so much. I missed out on a lot of fun, with my friends, husband and my children while they were toddlers.I punished myself, I lost out on a lot of happiness, I only hurt myself because of my insecurities.
I miss out on a lot because I hate my body. First of all, I don't enjoy sex as
much as I could because I always think that my boyfriend hates my body as much as I do. This is not true, in fact he tells and shows me that he loves it. Apart from that I don't have as much fun as I could have. Before going out to work, a party or seeing a friend or I can become completely miserable because I think everybody will think: My God, she's fat! Even when I know that most of these people don't care about my weight.
WHAT ARE YOU MISSING OUT ON????
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
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