Body Image Stress: Changing some Habits

by Jacqueline Figueroa

I don’t mean to check my phone right when my eyes open, it has just become a habit. I check my messages, emails, and social media. From doing this so long I realized that every morning when I opened a particular app I would instantly see beautiful girls sitting on the beach having what appeared to be the best time of their lives. Within minutes of waking up, I had become jealous, not only because they were at the beach, but because of what their bodies looked like.

It’s tough to wake up like this every morning. My day would already start off on a bad note within 10 minutes of waking up. After doing this every day for so long, I knew something had to change. So, the only solution I saw was to quit following those people. I went through each account and decided whether or not their content would impact me negatively or positively. Yes, this took forever but it was worth the time. Now, when I wake up and check my phone, I see pictures of food, animals, and people of all sizes and beauty enjoying their lives.

There is a book by a Registered Dietician Nutritionist named Rebecca Scritchfield called Body Kindness. This book is one of my favorite books, not only because it talks about body image, it also provides plenty of tips and tricks to change your thought process on body image. Also, as an extra at the end of each chapter there is a prompt for a short journal entry.

One my personal favorites tips that I try and do at least twice a week is known as the “Three Good Things”. This simple technique can be used to help with body image or any stressor in life. You take a moment for yourself and write down three good things in your life. The idea is to help a person avoid letting negative thoughts or actions ruin their day. That for every challenging experience in life there will always be something good to look for.

So, I’ll leave you today with my Three Good Things

1)My body is strong enough to carry my heavy backpack all day.

2) My body is able to take my Labrador on walks.

3)My body gives me the ability to work 10-12 hour work shifts.