What Body Image Traps Do You Hold?
I don’t know about you, but the topic of food and body image comes up a lot in my sessions, especially as we get closer to the holiday season.
I think this happens for a lot of people, as they gear up for unsolicited comments from others at family gatherings, and looking ahead to that dreaded New Year’s diet.
But what are unhelpful ways people think about their bodies?
Here are 8 common thinking traps:
Beauty-or-Beast - Occurs when you think about your appearance in extremes. Many people think about their weight this way, “Either I am at a perfect weight or I am fat.”
Unfair to Compare - Involves measuring your appearance against some unrealistic or extreme standard. There are three common types of comparisons: Comparisons with your own personal physical ideals; comparisons with media images; and comparisons with real people.
Magnifying Glass - Occurs when you focus on an aspect of your appearance that you dislike and then you exaggerate it. All you see is one big flaw. It can also involve minimization, in that you disregard or underemphasize your positive qualities.
The Blame Game - Takes place when you incorrectly conclude that some disliked physical attribute is directly responsible for certain disappointments and difficulties you experience (scapegoating). You need to blame something for your troubles, and because you already see your appearance as offensive to you, it’s the convenient target.
Mind Misreading - Leads people with a negative body image to reason that, “If I think I look bad, others must think so, too.”
Misfortune Telling - This relates to your predictions about how your appearance will affect your future. You predict that your physical shortcomings will have dreadful effects on your life. NEVER and ALWAYS are words that are characteristic of this kind of thinking.
Beauty Bound - Body image says you cannot do certain things. It limits your activities and aspirations because of your negative body image.
Mood Mirror - You start with a strong emotion that you need to justify, and you end up with a conclusion that justifies and even strengthens the emotion.
Do you resonate with any of these ways of thinking? Do you want to learn more about the thinking traps you hold AND what to do about it?
If so, click here and try my Body Image Quiz! By answering the 8 questions, you will get a better of idea of your own thinking traps AND ideas for what to try this holiday season.
