Body Image & Eating Disorders
Body Image & Eating Disorders
We are in the midst of a health crisis with eating disorders and body image
In the United States and increasingly globally, most people are dissatisfied with their physical appearance. In addition, a large percentage of our population is obese or overweight. And our eating norms and habits are increasingly unhealthy. And although the cause of these eating and weight realities is complex, what we learn about beauty from a young age dramatically affects our eating, health, and body image over time.
I can teach you:
Common sociocultural messages about physical appearance and value
How culture affects the lies we tell ourselves
The costs of lying to ourselves about our eating, weight, and body image
Specific steps to change our thinking to promote our health
Specific steps to change our health-related behavior
Why authentic choice and responsibility is critical to changing unhealthy behaviors
How to overcome body image and eating issues
How do these values and beauty ideals affect us?
Over time, we consciously and unconsciously internalize these cultural norms, evaluating ourselves and others in comparison to them. Usually, without conscious awareness, we grow up trying to emulate whatever culture deems to be most valuable because we all want to be desired, loved, and wanted.
The worse we feel about our looks and value as a person, the more preoccupied we become with our appearance. And, the more we strive to meet the ideal by using botox, hair removal treatments, makeup, plastic surgery, and extreme diets. Many of us even start to eat in very unhealthy ways, like overeating, binge eating, and severely restricting our eating. In this way, our bodies become the enemy to be worked on instead of a key part of our wellbeing.