Body Image: Tips For Checking In With Yourself

It is always nice to be proud of who you are and what you look like.

Unfortunately, for teens a negative body image in their youth can make them more likely to experience depression as adults, with CNN rightly blaming society’s standards. In the end, you have nobody to please for the way you look but yourself, and that is a healthy starting point.

Still, it is valid to make changes to your body for personal preferences only. But how do you know when the time is right? Here are some tips for checking in with yourself and your body image.

Get Creative

Sometimes, tinkering with your body image is a temporary measure only, a creative canvas that can be liberating.  

For example, if there is an event or special occasion around the corner, then it is not uncommon to make a few adjustments to your look. Perhaps you want to look a particular part for a fancy-dress occasion or fit more comfortably into a certain outfit for a memorable wedding. It could also be that an impending modelling or acting job demands you to look a certain way, or you may just want overhaul everything for the fun of it.

Fleetingly changing your appearance can be quite a liberating experience. After all, you would be bringing to life untapped parts of yourself that you never knew you had stored within you. The best thing you can do with your body image is to own it and to authentically be yourself always. That said, on certain days, being yourself might mean something different than it did yesterday or will do tomorrow. It does not mean that anything was wrong with you before, it just means that people change – often just for the fun of it!

Consider Context

Your body image might change with perspective and context.

Today, many people use an insightful bmi calculator to keep tabs on their body mass index, checking that they have a healthy weight relative to their height. Muscle Madness provide a great bmi calculator that provides in-depth information on what is healthy. Not only this, but they have published educational programs on bodybuilding and weight loss also.

If you struggle with your weight, then examining it in its proper context could help you change your perspective about yourself. While those ‘imperfections’ may bother you, you could actually be at a normal size or close to it when you take your height into consideration. If not, then these kinds of services can help you change if you want to. In any event, you have options, and your body image is yours to customize to your heart’s content.

Engage with Positive Influences

It is not only bmi calculators that can be incredibly useful in helping your body image.

Though social media is responsible for many body image woes today, your experience on there can be customized to an acute level. This means muting certain words and phrases you do not want to see or blocking accounts you no longer wish to infiltrate your feed. In doing this, you can ensure a steady inflow of positive content gets delivered right to you online.

Your social circles can also be influential in how you perceive yourself. Surround yourself with positive people who bring you up rather than tear you down. Good friends celebrate you for who you are, without any preconceptions about who you should be or what you should look like. Leave behind anyone who does not meet that quota.