Can A Better Body Image Improve Your Eating Habits?

What’s the main reason people attempt to transform their eating habits?

They want to change the way they look.

Whether that be losing body fat or building muscle—getting “skinnier,” “leaner,” “jacked,” “shredded,” or “toned”—the desire to change one’s physical appearance reins strong.

This motive to change the way they look is often accomplished under the guise of “becoming healthier,” whether that be eating less, consuming more protein, or saying “no” to the cookies.

Fat loss attempts don’t always lead to improved health, however.

Not only is healthy not synonymous with weight loss or becoming smaller, but the new eating habits these individuals try to adopt in a bid to change their appearance can actually be more damaging than beneficial.

Contrary to popular belief, eulogizing that regimented “diet narrative” isn’t always the best solution for health.

Fortunately, it is possible to improve your eating habits without jumping on the latest dieting bandwagon or white-knuckling your way through an arduous and soul-sucking method of behavior change.

You can improve both your eating habits and simultaneously feel better in your body.

How?

By improving your body image.

What Is Body Image?

Body image refers to a person's perceptions, thoughts, and feelings about their own body [1].

It involves how individuals see themselves, how they believe others perceive them, and their overall satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their physical appearance.

A poor body image is why people will say they’re “feeling fat,” or they “hate the way they look,” or will frequently compare their own physiques to those of friends, family, and the dense catalog of Instagram influencers they follow.

Body image is influenced by numerous factors, including societal standards of beauty, cultural values, media representations, personal experiences, and individual characteristics.

It is comprised of four key components:

• Perceptual: The way you see yourself (e.g., “I’m too fat”)

• Affective: The way you feel about how you look (e.g., “I feel ashamed with the way I look”)

• Cognitive: The way you think about your body (e.g., “If I were leaner, I’d be more confident”)

• Behavioral: The things you do concerning how you look (e.g., “I can’t go to the beach looking like this”)

These, along with historical and current societal influences, all form to shape certain body shape attitudes—whether that be a satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a person’s body or the importance placed on that body shape.

Often, this over-evaluation of body weight, body fat percentage, and overall body shape sparks “body image disturbances,” which can include:

• Body preoccupation

• Body checking (e.g. weighing yourself, looking in the mirror, pinching or stretching body parts)

• The fear of weight gain, and

• Body image avoidance (e.g. avoiding mirrors/photos, wearing baggy clothes, avoiding activities like swimming or clothes shopping)

Body image has the power to significantly impact a person’s mental and emotional wellbeing, ultimately influencing their self-confidence, social interactions, and overall quality of life.

Most importantly, it can influence how an individual tackles their eating habits.

How Does A Negative Body Image Influence Eating Habits?

It’s been frequently shown that repeated exposure to societal pressures and messages glorifying thinness in women and muscularity and leanness in men leads people to equate “what is thin with good and beautiful” and “what is not thin with bad and ugly” [2].

The endorsement of this thin–ideal as the criteria for beauty is thought to promote people’s dissatisfaction with their bodies, especially given that these standards are near impossible to achieve for most [3].

It turns out that perusing your social media feed glittered with half-naked, ab-laden, and super-slim individuals isn’t that helpful.

Importantly, the resulting body dissatisfaction increases the chances of individuals using certain strategies—namely dieting—to either increase body satisfaction or minimize blows to self-confidence, self-esteem, and pride created by the discrepancy between one’s internalized ideal body and one’s current body. We can envision this outcome in a simple equation:

Internalized Ideal Body Shape/Size – Current Body Size/Shape = Body Dissatisfaction

Of course, when these same individuals diet to overcome their discontent, they engage in archaic rigid and strict rules, leading to subsequent overconsumption of food and resultant feelings of guilt and shame.

This leads to a vicious cycle:

Body Dissatisfaction -> Pressure To Diet In A Restrictive & Rigid Manner -> Unhealthy Eating Habits-> Less Control & More Overeating -> Greater Body Dissatisfaction

It’s been continually shown that this body dissatisfaction is the number one cause of dieting and disordered eating [4].

When the desire to improve eating habits arises from external sources of motivation—such as wanting to look like a famous actor, be as lean as that YouTube influencer, or striving to live up to society’s insurmountable physical standards—it actually becomes harder to make the necessary, long-lasting changes.

Disturbed eating behaviors—and even binge eating in some cases—can arise.

Unfortunately, a poor body image can often bring more problems than solutions when wanting to improve eating behaviors.

When the immediate response to coping with body dissatisfaction is to change eating habits, disordered eating patterns can arise; however, by addressing your body image first, this can all change…

Can A Better Body Image Help Improve Eating Habits?

It’s clear that if you want to improve your eating habits, arriving from a place of dissatisfaction with your physique isn’t a sustainable and effective strategy.

Instead, appreciating your body, regardless of its shape, size, or perceived flaws, and adopting a healthy and realistic perception of your physique will actually improve your eating behaviors.

When individuals escape the desire to look a certain way, they remove the need to follow strict dieting rules and, subsequently, are able to cultivate a flexible, enjoyable, and healthy relationship with their nutritional habits.

One study, carried out over a year-long period, aimed to help develop participants’ body image in the hope of improving and successfully regulating eating behaviors [5].

These individuals were provided lessons on improving body acceptance and body image, as well as other cognitive-behavioral aspects such as identifying personal barriers, overcoming lapses, defining adequate goals, and implementing self-monitoring.

Other strategies included viewing and exploring their body and its parts in front of a mirror—and in the privacy of their home—and establishing more realistic goals and expectations for themselves and their weight and body.

They were even provided with dance and relaxation classes to aid the process.

It was found that changing and improving body image—specifically reducing its value in one’s life—helped enhance eating behaviors.

In addition, it’s been shown that those who are “self-determined”—that is, fulfilling the need for competence, relatedness, and autonomy in their lives—are more likely to act in alignment with their values rather than succumbing to the pressure of sociocultural messages about body image [6].

This, in turn, helps in the regulation of eating behaviors.

Essentially, by reducing the importance of your body in your life, you’re less likely to succumb to harmful dieting behaviors and subsequently develop better regulation of eating habits.

Of course, positive body image alone may not completely determine someone's eating habits, as individual circumstances and other factors can influence behavior, but when individuals arrive from a place of satisfaction with their body, they increase their chances of viewing food as nourishment rather than something to be feared or controlled.

And, additionally, are more attuned to their body’s hunger and fullness cues and create a more positive sense of self, thus avoiding using food – and dieting – as a vehicle to cope with negative emotions and seek validation.

What If I “Let Myself Go”?

A common fear when working on developing a better body image is that individuals believe they’ll give up on themselves.

That their eating habits will get worse.

It’s important to note that cultivating a better relationship with your body isn’t about “letting go” but, instead, taking care of yourself. You can still invest in your appearance; the difference is in how and why you do it. In Food Body Self coaching, we discuss this concept using terms like “eating with love” and “self-discipline as self-care.”

Not only has it been found that those who develop body acceptance and other facets of body image positivity may increase participation in health-related behaviors [7], but they will also report higher levels of optimism, self-esteem, social support, adaptive coping, and weight stability [8].

As my fellow coach Shannon Beer says:

“Having a positive body image isn’t about feeling great every day. It’s about respecting and appreciating your body, even when you don’t feel so good. It means that you still go ahead and do what matters to you, even on your off days.”

Ultimately, harnessing a positive body image is about appreciating and respecting the body you have, filtering out harmful influences, and conceptualizing broad beauty and what your body can achieve.

In doing so, you’ll actually be more willing to exercise, develop pertinent eating skills, improve eating regulation, and avoid engaging in unhelpful nutritional behaviors.

How Can You Develop A Better Body Image To Help Improve Your Eating Habits?

Ditching the temptation to diet or adhere to inflexible eating rules will require time to chip away at the long-held beliefs and notions you may possess around your body and the importance of appearance.

Working on your body image—and subsequently your eating habits—is an ongoing journey.

While the general concept of cultivating a better body image goes well beyond the scope of this article, here are a few initial pointers to consider:

1. Start by noting down one or two moments throughout your day that serve as triggers for how you view your body…
   
   …whether avoiding jumping on the scales to see how this affects your thoughts and emotions, engaging in more beneficial self-care activities, or noticing when making physique-based comparisons with friends, family, or those you view on social media.
   
   Think about what strategies you may adopt to overcome these hurdles, and use a diary or journal to write down any unhelpful thoughts that arise from these behaviors.
   
   What are you criticizing yourself for? How does this make you feel? What are the consequences of doing so? How can you alleviate any critical self-talk from your day?
   
   

2. It may be useful to home in on any current “body-checking behaviors” you currently engage in, whether that be looking in the mirror, grabbing any body fat, or checking your muscles in the changing rooms at the gym.
   
   Feeling the urge to inspect and constantly analyze your body may lead to increased embarrassment, fear, and insecurity.
   
   Ask yourself: Why am I checking my body so frequently? Do I feel better after doing so? How can I work to eliminate this particular behavior from my day?
   
   

3. Start questioning why you feel the need to place such importance on your physique and body shape. After all, there was once a time when you didn’t care about the way you looked.
   
   Where do your beauty standards arise from? Is it your parents, the television shows you watch, cultural norms you’ve been open to from an early age, or the algorithm on your social media accounts?
   
   Remind yourself that you don’t have to succumb to the pressure from these extreme ideals.
   
   Understanding where your concerns come from—whether through influential events and experiences from years gone by—will help shape future beliefs about physical appearance.
   
   

4. What other aspects of your life can you focus on that bring true meaning to you? How do you want to be remembered?
   
   Starting by focusing on your values and figuring out statements, character strengths, and morals you will adhere to that will dictate how you want to act, behave, and treat others and the world around you.
   
   Defining yourself by your appearance curtails the opportunities you can experience, the accomplishments you strive for, and the thoughts you have around your life, relationships, career, and meaning to life.
   
   Recognizing that societal beauty standards are often unrealistic and unattainable for most, and instead celebrating your body’s strengths, abilities, and the joy it can bring you, will help you foster a greater connection with your physique—and, ultimately, improve your eating habits.

Food Body Self Promotes Working On Your Body Image

Dieting is not an appropriate choice for everyone at all times. There are times when it can be ineffective or harmful to one’s mental state, especially when it comes to developing better eating habits.

Working on and cultivating a better body image—or at the very least reducing its salience in one’s life—is something we continually work on within Food Body Self® coaching.

We believe—based on evidence and the experience of our coaches and students—that ditching archaic dieting rules and, instead, focusing on reducing body image concerns and developing a healthier relationship with your appearance is a sustainable and effective strategy for getting the most out of your life and body.

The answer to overcoming disordered eating and gaining control over your eating habits, and feeling comfortable and confident in your body, doesn’t lie in a shiny new diet, but rather in your mindset toward food, your body, and yourself.

References

1. Cash, T.F. (2004). Body image: past, present, and future. Body Image, (1)1, 1-5.

2. Stice, E. (1994). Review of the evidence for a sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa and an exploration of the mechanisms of action. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 1–29.

3. Wolf, N. (1991). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. New York: Doubleday.

4. Shisslak, C. M., & Crago, M. (2001). Risk and protective factors in the development of eating disorders. In J.K. Thompson & L. Smolak (Eds.), Body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth: Assessment, prevention, and treatment (pp.103–126). Washington, DC: APA.

5. Carraça, Eliana & Nunes Silva, Marlene & Markland, David & Vieira, Paulo & Minderico, Cláudia & Sardinha, Luis & Teixeira, Pedro. (2011). Body image change and improved eating self-regulation in a weight management intervention in women. The international journal of behavioural nutrition and physical activity. 8. 75.

6. Pelletier, L. & Dion, S. (2007). An Examination of General and Specific Motivational Mechanisms for the Relations Between Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Behaviours. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26, (3), 303-333.

7. Frisén A, & Holmqvist, (2010). What characterizes early adolescents with a positive body image? A qualitative investigation of Swedish girls and boys. Body Image, 7(3), 205-12.

8. Williams, E.F., Cash, T.F., & Santos, M. T. (2004). Positive and negative body image: Precursors, correlates, and consequences.