Table of Contents
Last updated on February 27th, 2024 at 05:43 pm
Do you frequently find yourself looking at reflective surfaces to judge your body size or your features? You might be body checking.
The trouble with body checking is:
- The more we do it, the more we need to do it to self soothe
- It increases anxiety about your body
- You will begin to assign your value and self-worth to the size of your body
Frequently checking how your body looks can make you feel downright miserable.
Let’s dig into some ways to decrease how much time you spend checking your body for flaws.
What Is Body Checking
Body checking is when you measure or monitor a body part or your entire body by use of mirrors, old images, social media, measuring tapes, and/or scales.
Constantly analyzing our bodies can lead to an unhealthy obsession with searching for the flaws of our body day in and day out. It can be a warning sign of an eating disorder.
Body checking becomes problematic when:
- It occurs repeatedly throughout the day
- You try to soothe insecurity by repeatedly “checking” how a body part looks
- You feel extreme stress, anger, sadness, fear or guilt after you look at your body
- You’re trying to “fix the flaws” you come up with after a body check
- It significantly interferes with your quality of life
Body checking leads to any insecurities and fears we have about our bodies getting BIGGER, not better. Body checking can lead to anxiety, grief, shame, anger, or depression.
Let’s dig into some of the main ways you might be body-checking and how to stop this harmful behavior for good.
Why Do I Body Check?
You might analyze and scrutinize your body as a physical placeholder for a painful emotion.
Ways in which analyzing your body can temporarily seem to relieve painful emotions include:
- It gives us a problem we believe we can “correct” or “solve” instead of sitting with an emotion.
- It can soothe insecurities for short time period
- It gives you a sense of control.
The trouble with critically analyzing our body repeatedly is:
- The more we do it, the more we need to do it to remain calm
- At some point, our body check will not measure up to the standards of our inner critic
- We begin to assess our value based on our physical appearance
Body Checking Examples
Most people are not aware of all the ways they are measuring and assessing their bodies.
Here are a few examples:
- Constantly checking yourself in reflective surfaces (e.g. a mirror)
- Tugging on clothes to make them fit you in a certain way
- Comparing yourself to others in person or on social media
- Weighing yourself
- Repeatedly checking how your clothes fit
- Pinching your skin
- Continually seeking reassurance about your weight/shape
- Pinching other people’s bodies/assessing for body fatness or muscle
- Measuring your body parts (for example measuring your waist or thighs with a tape measure)
- Putting fingers/hands around your body parts to measure
- Using cameras to take photos or videos of yourself and observe them
What Is Mirror Checking
Mirror checking is a form of body checking in which we utilize reflective surfaces (mirrors, windows, stainless steel ovens and fridges, screens and car doors) to measure and monitor certain body parts.
If you’re mirror-checking you will notice
- Your stress levels increase around mirrors
- Intense shame, guilt, fear, and sadness after a mirror check
- Being pulled from a high to a low mood if you accidentally encounter a reflective surface
- Avoidance of reflective surfaces or mirrors
- The need to “correct” flaws perceived in the mirror
It’s critical to recognize that our minds are responsible for what is seen in the mirror. If we’re seeking out flaws and experiencing negative body image, the mirror is likely to reflect that.
If you feel like you hate your body, you may be experiencing body dysmorphia, in which case the mirror is not an accurate representation of what is happening in the world.
Ways To Stop Mirror Checking
- cover mirrors where possible
- Write body-positive affirmations on mirrors
- Refer to your body as she/her, they/them, or he/him instead of “it” or that”
- Post a picture of your child self in the mirror. If you feel inclined to speak negatively to yourself, imagine you are speaking to the child.
11 Ways To Stop Body Checking!
Reduce the intense urge to check your body by doing these things:
- Cover your mirrors
- Write down all the ways you check your body for flaws
- Tally up how many times you try to body-check each day. Make a goal to decrease that number from one week to the next.
- Ditch the diet, dieting will skyrocket body checking
- Resist the urge to dig through old photos or memories on social media. If you want to check out old photos- try reflecting on the experience instead of how your body looked.
- Practice taking and sharing imperfect photos
- Keep a journal and use body-positive journal prompts to examine your relationship and build trust with your body
- Pick one or two things every day to intentionally respect your body
- Practice joyful movement instead of exercise focused on changing your body
How To Be Body Positive On Social Media
Social media is flooded with filtered images, snapshots of staged events, and photos only taken at the best angles. This is a particularly problematic space for comparison as people only showcase their most perfect moments.
- Unfollow anyone that makes you feel worse about your body
- Make a practice of following individuals in bodies of your size or larger. Focus on their great attributes.
- Unfollow anyone talking about diets, weight loss, or “lifestyle programs”
- Remove posts of before/after photos for weight loss
- Taking a break from social media if it’s an option
What Is A Bad Body Image Day
A bad body image day looks like this:
- Increased behavior around looking for flaws in the body
- Negative self-talk or a very loud eating disorder voice
- Body thoughts keeping you from doing social activities
- Restricting your eating because of negative body thoughts
- Excessive exercise because of intrusive body thoughts
- Feeling an intense fear of gaining weight
- Fasting after you think you ate too much
It’s important to remind yourself that your body is NOT the problem.
In fact trying to “correct” the body part that you consider to be a problem can actually increase body checking and emotional distress!
Ways To Cope With A Bad Body Image Day
If you are having a day where you struggle with your body, as yourself these questions:
- Do I feel uncomfortable?
- Do I feel sad/angry
- Am I feeling shameful
- What is the role of pinching myself or getting on the scale?
- What am I looking for?
- Is this helpful?
You might ask yourself what life would be like if you did not pinch yourself.
Could you imagine the rest of your life not pinching yourself/getting on. a scale etc? What would it be like?
In What Ways Is Body Checking Impacting Your Life?
In what ways has body checking robbed you of your time, energy, and happiness?
For many people, the behavior or constantly analyzing our bodies has led to:
- feeling guilty after eating
- Increasing fear foods and food restriction
- Binge and restrict cycles
- obsessively counting calories
- Constantly feeling fat
- Giving power to negative messages from food shamers
A culture obsessed with thinness is one of the primary contributors to body checking and fears around food. Body checking does not serve you, and can contribute to the oppression of those living in larger bodies.
If you’re looking for additional resources to make peace with your body, check out these body positive books.
- Help, I Feel Like I Don’t Deserve To Eat - September 7, 2024
- 8 Reasons Food is More Than Fuel - September 5, 2024
- Intuitive Eating For Eating Disorders: What You Should Know - September 3, 2024