Ways to Manage Bad Body Image Days
Bad body image days are something that everyone struggles with, no matter how committed they are to recovery. And when they roll around, it can feel disheartening to feel that you are taking steps backward in recovery. However, recovery is not about liking your body all the time. It is about learning to treat it with love; even when you do not feel like it.
By: Samreen Khan
Below are some tips for dealing with inevitable poor body image days:
Picking out an outfit on a bad body image day is frustrating. Little is worse than picking your appearance apart in the mirror when you are already feeling insecure about your body. Sometimes, dressing up in a cute outfit can help lift your mood and put a positive spin on your appearance; at other times, you may only want to throw on a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants and call it a day. That is okay. Prioritize your comfort before anything else. It can help to have a few “bad body image” outfits planned ahead of time so that you do not struggle by putting on different clothes and disliking how they feel or look.
Comparing your body to others is damaging any day, but when you are struggling with body image, it can be much more tempting to spiral into that rabbit hole of comparison. So, get off of social media for a day. Even with a perfectly curated feed to your interests, scrolling through Instagram or TikTok makes it far too easy to feel less worthy than others. Remember that it is unfair to compare somebody else’s highlight reel to your worst days.
It becomes even more important to treat yourself with compassion and practice self-care on days like this. Self-care does not have to mean face masks, bubble baths, and vanilla-scented candles. Some days, it can mean getting out of bed, eating your meals and snacks, and keeping yourself hydrated. Even if you feel bad about your body, it is important and necessary to nourish yourself. Contrary to what your eating disorder may tell you, your body has done nothing wrong. Feeling bad about how it looks does not exempt you from taking care of it.
Engaging in mindful movement can be one way to take your mind off of your appearance and appreciate what your body does for you. Exercising on bad body image days can be tricky, though. The line between exercising to change your body and feeling good can become very blurred in eating disorder recovery. Some forms of mindful movement (if you are not feeling up to more intense forms of exercise) could include going for a walk, stretching and yoga, dancing, or practicing breathing exercises. Whatever way you like to move your body, be sure to check in with your intentions; working towards moving to feel good rather than changing your body size.
Working through your negative emotions is generally one of the best ways to cope with them, but let’s be honest – it can get tiring. Especially on days when you feel exhausted from the get-go. Sometimes, you may simply not have it in you to work through why you feel the way you do. It is okay to look for healthy distractions when you are feeling down. You will not feel like a warrior every day, which is normal. Recovery is no easy feat. But you have made it this far, so remind yourself – this too will pass.
At BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™, we offer a variety of programs and services targeted at helping clients overcome disordered eating and develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. In addition to our full-time Day Treatment Program and Weeknight Intensive Outpatient Program, we offer nutrition counseling with a licensed dietitian, meal support, and various other groups and resources to assist those seeking help for food concerns. Our Body Image Group The objectives of our weekly Body Image Group include gaining insight into the relationship with one's body and how eating disorder behaviors and urges are often a result of how emotions manifest in one's physical body.
Our admissions team would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding our programs and services. Book a call below, or read more about our philosophy here.
This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Samreen Khan (she/her/he/him).
Samreen is a senior high school student with an ardent drive to de-stigmatize mental illness and eating disorders. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she experienced the harmful effects of “fitspo” culture firsthand for most of her childhood. Throughout her own recovery journey, she became passionate about deconstructing diet culture and raising awareness about eating disorders in her everyday life. Samreen began extending her own ideology of intuitive eating and body neutrality to others by publishing her own writing online when she was fourteen, and has since received several awards for her prose and poetry. She has conducted research on the biological and evolutionary implications of familial mental illness, and is currently taking college-level Sociology and Psychology courses with hopes to delve further into the social and cultural constructs that bolster disordered eating, especially within marginalized communities. She’s grateful for the opportunity to combine two of her strongest passions — writing and mental health — by working with BALANCE!