Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
For most of us women, how we feel about our bodies dictates our self-worth. Research reported that 63% of women based their worth on their body image. But why is that? Is it because of social media, their self-image, or being criticized by people? In this post, we’ll dive into 10 things you can do to develop a positive body image and have confidence in yourself using a case study conducted by two Psychologists, Tracy L. Tylka and Nichole L. Wood-Barcalow.
What is Positive and Negative Body Image?
Before we start, let us define positive and negative body image.
Positive Body Image
A positive body image is having a deep appreciation and acceptance for your body and its abilities. It isn’t influenced by beauty standards. Furthermore, a positive body image is focusing on your body’s capabilities and taking care of it rather than obsessing over your appearance. Some examples of positive body image are:
- Filtering out unrealistic beauty standards that social media place on women.
- Taking care of your body by nourishing it with healthy foods and exercising.
- Appreciating your body’s uniqueness and accepting unchangeable things about your body.
Negative Body Image
Negative Body Image is a poor perception and attitude toward your body. It is feeling ashamed, insecure, or self-conscious about your appearance. Unhealthy body image can affect your self-worth, confidence, and how you treat your body. Some examples of negative body image are:
- Constantly calling yourself names like “fat”, “ugly”, or “gross”.
- Wearing oversized clothing to hide your figure because you’re self-conscious.
- Putting yourself on strict diets and exercise regimens because you fail to accept your body.
10 Life-Changing Ways to Increase Positive Body Image and Gain Confidence
1. Reflect on the Reason/s You’re Insecure About Your Body
To learn how to feel confident in your body you must first figure out what cause you to be insecure in the first place. Why do you have that insecurity? From social media beauty standards to being body shamed, these can be causes of your insecurity.
Take a moment to reflect on your insecurities. Ask yourself: “When did I start having this insecurity?” “Who/What made me feel this way?” “What can I do to unlearn these beliefs about myself?”
Knowing the reasons why you’re insecure can help you take your power back and unlearn those insecurities.
2. Dress in Clothing that Make You Feel Confident
Instead of wearing trendy clothing, wear clothes that make you feel confident and comfortable in your body. Wearing clothing that makes you feel confident can change the way you view yourself.
Therefore, take time to figure out your style and clothing that best flatters your body. Remove clothing out of your wardrobe that does not make you feel good about yourself and keep the ones that make you feel powerful, elegant, or soft. Also, wear clothing that best describes you and your personality. After all, fashion is a form of self-expression.
3. Focus on Your Body’s Abilities
To get rid of your negative body image, shift your focus from what your body looks like to your body’s abilities. Study shows (L. Tylka. T and Wood-Barcalow. N, 2015) that College women in the U.S. who focus on their body’s ability rather than their looks helped to improve their body image.
You have legs that allow you to take long walks in the park. You have arms that you can console your loved ones with. Your body is so amazing that it heals itself when you get a cut or cold these abilities are worth honoring.
Furthermore, when you’re grateful for your body’s abilities you tend to take care of it better by eating healthy and going to the gym.
Also, your body’s abilities tell a story. For instance, if you’ve had a baby and have stretch marks, your body tells the story that it grew and nourished your baby for 9 months.
To focus on your body’s abilities and increase positive body image, make a list of all the times your body helped you achieve something. For example, running a marathon or something as little as being able to do a cartwheel. Every time you feel insecure about your body, read that list of things until you feel grateful and shift your focus back to your body’s abilities.
4. Practice Mindful Eating and Movement
You can learn how to feel confident in your body by ditching the gruesome diets and start eating food that makes your body feel good and energized. Also, try movements that connect you to your body. For instance, swimming, dancing, or pilates.
Eating mindfully and participating in movements that bring you joy can make you feel more confident in your body. Moreover, it changes your perspective of how you view your body. Instead of obsessing over your body’s appearance, you’ll shift your focus to see taking care of your body as a means of self-care.
5. Use Beauty Maintenance as an Outlet of Taking Care of Your Body Not to Change It
In the study conducted by Tracy L. Tylka and Nichole L. Wood-Barcalow women who had a positive body image took care of their appearance. They would get their nails done, eat healthy, exercise, etc.
However, a negative body image is using your beauty regimen to alter your appearance. The purpose of a beauty routine is to enhance your natural beauty. Hence, shaving your legs, getting your eyebrows plucked, and getting your nails done shouldn’t be a means to, “fix” yourself, it should be viewed as taking care of your body.
Let your beauty maintenance be for pouring into yourself and tending to your body’s needs.
A simple beauty maintenance routine is exfoliating 2-3 times a week, get your nails and eye brows done once or twice a month, get a facial or do an at-home facial once a month, and get a new hairstyle once or twice a month.
6. Celebrate Your Assets
Rather than focusing on your insecurities, focus on what you like about your appearance. Furthermore, in the study (L. Tylka. T and Wood-Barcalow. N, 2015) U.S. College Women stated that they honored their assets and chose to not focus on their flaws to diminish negative body image.
Maybe you have nice, healthy hair, a beautiful skin tone, or stunning almond-shaped eyes. Celebrating your assets helps increase your positive body image.
Hence, pick one of your body features that you admire and show it off. For instance, you might admire the way your eyes shape or its color, use eye shadows, mascara, or other things to enhance and bring attention to your eyes. Also, compliment yourself when you look in the mirror and wear clothing that accentuates your curves.
7. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
Comparison is the thief of both joy and confidence. Tracy L. Tylka and Nichole L. Wood-Barcalow (2015) reported that U.S. college women who had a positive body image knew that beauty can’t be compared because there’s no one size fit approach, everyone is beautiful in their own way. They knew that beauty is broad and that there is more than one way to be beautiful. Hence, appreciate the body you’re in.
God has created us all differently and beautifully. Therefore, another woman’s beauty doesn’t diminish yours.
The next time you find yourself comparing yourself to someone else, ask yourself “What about her do I admire?” “Can I use it as inspiration to improve myself, instead of self-criticism?” Then, remember the things that make you uniquely beautiful. After, say this to yourself: “Her beauty doesn’t take away from mine. I am enough just as I am.”
8. Challenge Unrealistic Beauty Standards
Girl, the truth is Social media’s beauty standards are fake. Almost everyone uses Photoshop or filters to make their bodies and features more desirable to fit the beauty standard of social media.
Also, a lot of these beauty standards are short-lived. What was desired yesterday is seen as imperfection today, so why waste your time trying to fit the narrative? Wasn’t being slim a thing, and now being curvy is in?
Besides, many of these beauty standards are profit-driven, telling women they aren’t perfect just as they are and that if they get this or that procedure done, they’ll be perfect.
Instead of shrinking yourself to fit in, ask yourself: What does my version of beauty look like and feel like? What makes me feel beautiful? Do I really want this for myself, or am I trying to fit in with everyone else?
Like the women in the case study(L. Tylka. T and Wood-Barcalow. N, 2015), you can reject and challenge the unrealistic standards placed on women and embrace and accept body positivity messages.
You can also follow accounts on social media that celebrate women and their bodies. This’ll help you to develop a positive body image.
9. Define Your Meaning of Confidence
What does confidence look like to you? Taking care of your body by eating healthy or wearing clothes that highlight your body? Define what you consider as confidence, not social media, your friends, or your partner’s definition of confidence.
When you have defined confidence for yourself, put it into practice and you’ll start to embody it.
10. Be the Change
As you’re on your positive body image journey, be the woman who influences other women to do the same. Be the friend that inspires their friends to love their bodies. Be the woman who compliments other women without focusing on their appearance.
Speak up and challenge comments that were meant to destroy the image of women.
Most importantly, influence the next generation of young women whether your daughter, sister, niece, etc., to love their bodies and stand up against the unrealistic standards that society has put on women’s appearance.
To Wrap Things Up
As we bring this post to a close, reflect and write down three things you love about your body. When we show ourselves appreciation, it creates room for healing, growth, and confidence to grow. So, from today on see the positivity in your body. This is how to feel confident in your body by loving and accepting it.
References
- Tylka. T, Wood-Barcalow. N(2015, April 1). What is and What is not Positive Body Image? Conceptual Foundations and Construct Definition. Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus and Marion Campuses. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144515000388
