Defining Body Image

Body image is an incredibly complex psychological perception that can greatly influence how we relate to food, ourselves, and others. There are so many different factors that contribute to how we view our bodies. It is important to take time understanding and validating everything that contributes to it in order to grow and create a healthy relationship with the people and things that we interact with each day. 

According to a study done by Eagon, Fish, and Varns (2018), the picture we form of our own body (i.e body image) is created through the combination of body attitude, body checking, appearance orientation, perceived body size, and perceived body space. Let’s take a moment to define each of these to help us better understand what body image truly encompasses. 

Body Attitude/Beliefs

Body image starts with our general attitude towards our body. Our body attitude can be positive, negative, or neutral. We create our attitude towards our body through combining our memories, assumptions, and generalizations to create beliefs about what our height, shape, and weight should be. The beliefs we have about how we should look are formed based on how we grew up, what those around us tell us, what we are taught about weight, and so on. 

There are seemingly limitless things that can contribute to the beliefs and attitudes we have about our bodies but it is important to acknowledge them. Our body attitudes and beliefs influence every other part of body image. If we have a general positive attitude about our bodies and believe that we are built beautifully, then everything else will also seem to fall in a more positive light. Similarly, if we believe that our bodies aren’t built “right” then we will tend to interpret everything else in a more negative light as well. It’s all about what you believe about your body that determines how you feel about your body image as a whole. 

Body Checking

Body checking is a common experience that you may not even realize you do. Body checking is when you double check your appearance in a mirror, scrutinize the way you look, or weigh yourself multiple times a day. Body checking happens when we feel as though we need affirmation about what we think we look like. The problem is, what we see when we check our bodies may change moment to moment based on all of the other factors of body image. Therefore, it is important to notice when we are body checking and ask ourselves what is contributing to what we perceive ourselves to look like in that moment. 

Appearance Orientation

According to Quittkat et. al (2019), appearance orientation “reflects the cognitive-behavioral investment in one’s appearance as an expression of the importance people place on their appearance.” To summarize, appearance orientation is how much mental and emotional importance you place on the way you look. If you weigh more than you thought you would, how does that make you feel? If you look different in the mirror than you expected, how does it affect the rest of your day? It’s all about learning how much our body image matters to us and creating a healthier value system for the way we look. 

Perceived Body Size

This is the size you perceive yourself to be- not the size you necessarily are. Thomas Cash in his book “The Body Image Workbook” explains it best when he says body image is “how you personally experience your embodiment. More than a mental picture of what you look like, your body image consists of your personal relationship with your body.” Our body image is greatly influenced by our own perception of reality, not necessarily reality itself. It’s all about how you experience your size and what that means to you. 

Perceived body space

This is similar to perceived body size, but just slightly different. Body size refers to how big or small you may feel like you are, body space relates to the total amount of space you take up in the world. Depending on your mental health and personal journey, people often struggle with distorted views of the space they “should” or “deserve” to take up in the world as a whole. It’s important to understand the deeper levels of the space you feel that you take up and learn why you feel that way. 

Body image is an extremely complex experience. When working through how you view your own body image, it is important to take in all of the different factors and allow yourself to wrestle with the complexity of it all. Come back next week to read more about how to shape your body image and when to know to seek help. If you need help now or want to talk more about your body image, email Natalie@Nutrition502.com or go to www.Nutrition502.com to schedule a FREE discovery call today. 

Resources

Quittkat, H. L., Hartmann, A. S., Düsing, R., Buhlmann, U., & Vocks, S. (2019). Body Dissatisfaction, Importance of Appearance, and Body Appreciation in Men and Women Over the Lifespan. Frontiers in psychiatry, 10, 864. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00864 

Varns, J. A., Fish, A. F., & Eagon, J. C. (2018). Conceptualization of body image in the bariatric surgery patient. Applied nursing research : ANR, 41, 52–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2018.03.008