Teen Chat: 4 Steps To Have A Great Body Image
1. Have a positive body image
2. Join a group
3. Track your progress with photos
4. Find a mentor or role model to help you
When you come across people who constantly tear themselves down, it can be hard not to reflect those feelings back on yourself and think you're never going to be good enough as you are to look at yourself in the mirror again. But having a positive body image isn't just about improving your confidence at the moment; it's about feeling good in your own skin as you move through life. Having a positive body image can help you feel more confident and self-assured, which will help you reach your goals—whether that means losing weight so you can run faster or becoming more physically fit to meet the demands of your job.
If you want to learn how to change how you feel about yourself and start having a good body image, have a look at these four steps:
Have a positive body image: Body image is much more than what an object (like a mirror) reflects back to us. Our own internal responses and feelings are important as well. If you have a negative body image, then your standards for what you look like can be way too high or low. For example, if you have an unrealistic body image in relation to your achievements, then that can make it hard to accept yourself as you are because it's hard to understand why you don't look the way you expect yourself to look. On the other hand, if you have a very positive self-image, then even when people are critical of your body type or weight, your levels of self-esteem will stay high and make it easier for you to learn how to build up your body confidence so that you're able to take on more exercising and learning new healthy habits.
Join a group: It's a lot easier to maintain the positive aspects of your body image when you're part of a group of people who have similar body types and are learning how to build their health and physical fitness. Being in such an environment allows you to compare yourself with other people, which can help make you more aware that maybe it isn't your fault that you don't look like some supermodel. You also get to meet others who are going through the same things, which can help make it easier for all of you to find the time and motivation to keep up the good habits you've been working hard at all this time. Many groups meet online, so you can easily find one that meets your location. Or you can email or search the Internet for one near where you live, so that it's easy for you to find some support when you need it.
Track your progress with photos: It's important to take photos of yourself every now and then and hang them up in a place where they'll be visible every day. This is a great way to showcase your progress and remind yourself of how far you've come. If you have trouble maintaining the same level of commitment to your goals each time, try using photos as a way to keep yourself attentive towards other aspects of your health besides just exercise and diet. You can have photos of yourself alongside those who support you, or that show your progress over time.
Find a mentor or role model: This will allow you to learn from someone who has been there before and has already walked the path that you're walking now. It's also a great way for you to maintain a highly positive body image—someone who is just as imperfect as you are is an unlikely role model for anyone. A mentor or role model is someone who you look up to and find inspiration from, someone who has achieved the goals that you're working towards. Having a positive body image is a lot easier when you're aspiring to something else and not just trying to achieve your current goal of losing weight, for example.
Source: 'People with the best body image say ...' by Amy Morin on May 14, 2012 @ 02:56 PM
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/body-image-and-good-body-image/201212/4-steps-have-great
Body Image, Positive Body Image, Positive Self Image
Amy Morin Body image and good body image. The term "positive body image" can be defined as a positive feeling about one's appearance. By this definition, people with negative body image are not considered to have positive body images. This is due to the fact that people with low self esteem experience disharmony and tension between their appearance and their self concept of who they are (e.g., "I'm not pretty enough; on a par with other girls").
Positive self image, by contrast, refers to a positive feeling about one's self. Self concept is correlated with body image and the way the body is perceived by the self.
The term "positive self image" can be defined as a positive feeling about oneself. By this definition people with positive body image are not considered to have positive self images. This is due to the fact that people with high self esteem experience harmony and balance between their appearance and their sense of who they are (e.g., "I am pretty enough; on a par with other girls").
The difference between these two definitions is due to how they relate to how people perceive their bodies in terms of their appearance vs. how they identify their external appearance with who they believe themselves to be.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/body-image-and-good-body-image/201404/want-better-body-image
Want Better Body Image? You've Got To Start Where You Are Today!
Amy Morin Want to have a good body image? Before you can do that, you need to realize the ways in which your body image may differ from what society says it should be.
For example, she says that, due to our culture's negative image of fat people, there are some who believe their bodies are actually inferior and therefore should not be viewed by others. However those same individuals tend to believe that they have good self-images even if they have low body image. Therefore the behaviors according to social norms don't necessarily follow guidelines or rules.
https://www.psychologytoday.
Conclusion: Body image refers to the mental picture of our body and its appearance. People have a variety of ways in which they form their body image.
If you have a negative body image, you are more likely to be unhappy, less confident and more critical towards yourself. If you have a positive body image it is easier for you to accept your appearance and will be more confident about yourself. Positive self-image is different from positive body image as it refers to the way one feels about his or her self not his or her appearance.