What is body image? There are so many different ways we could describe body image but I think of it as the mental picture you have of your body, which includes thoughts, feelings, attitudes and beliefs toward the body.Body image is influenced by so many factors including systemic oppression (the culture telling you thin is best and fat is bad), your biology, your history, your values, and so on.It’s so complex in fact that it’s processed in 8 different parts of the brain! No wonder there’s not a lot of research on body image – even researchers struggle to understand it.

Body image is perceptual in nature, meaning your physical body may stay the same but your perception of your body can change dramatically over the course of a day or an hour, depending on the circumstances.For example, if you wake up and put on a pair of sweatpants and you sit down next to someone who is larger than you, you might feel your body is smaller and have a positive to neutral affect toward your body.Later on, maybe you change into a pair of tight jeans and sit down next to someone who is smaller than you, you might feel your body is bigger and have negative feelings about your body.

Your body didn’t change over the course of the day but the perception of your body did! Body image is dynamic, not static.It’s constantly changing depending on your mood, who you’re with, what you’re wearing, where you are in your cycle (if you menstruate), etc.What are your body image goals? H

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