Body Checks or Body Checking are frequently used terms. Particularly with their online presence in ‘What I Eat In A Day’ and ‘Fit Check’ videos. In this blog post, I will be explaining what a body check is and how it can impact our day-to-day lives and mental wellbeing.
Body Check
A body check is something you do yourself. Usually you focus in on a particular part of your body. This can be due to weight, shape, size or any other noticeable characteristic. Common examples may be, “I feel like my stomach is not the shape I want it to be”, “I find the shape of my nose to be unpleasant”. However, other than an insecurity or a feeling of discomfort, we find ourselves focusing in on this body part. For instance, it can seem like when you’re looking in the mirror, all you really notice is this part, following our example, you may become overly focused on the shape and size of your stomach or nose and this may be the only thing you see when looking at the mirror.
This can be because you would like for this part to stay exactly the way it is, you’re worried it’s going to change or you would really like for it to be different. This creates, hyper focusing. Hyperfocusing on any part of our body can become damaging to our mental health because we stop our ability to see our body as a whole.
Impact
Hyperfocusing can create feelings of anxiety, stress and worry about ourselves and bodies. It can result in us forcing changes that may be unnecessary, some examples can be restricting our diets or food intake, overexercising and cosmetic surgery. This can put us as risk for other mental health conditions, like eating disorders.
Overall, frequent body check, also create resistance to change. This is particularly problematic, as the human body changes a lot. You might find that just after eating you may feel more bloated or fuller and the shape of your stomach changes temporarily. If we are resistant or feel anxious about this change, it can severely impact our day-to-day life and functioning.
It's important to note whether we are body checking and if so, how it may be impacting us and our daily functioning. In some cases, it can be useful to seek help. If you wish to do so, you can book a free initial consultation today.
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