six surprising ways to improve your body image
Body image worries and eating disorders tend to go hand in hand. Not only do body image concerns put you at greater risk of developing a diagnosed eating disorder, but they can also be a significant barrier to recovery. This is why improving body image is one of the key focuses in eating disorder recovery at The Eating Clinic. By addressing body image concerns, individuals can improve their relationship with food and their bodies.
what is a helpful body image?
Firstly, it's important to clarify the definition of a ‘helpful’ body image. In eating disorder recovery, the extremes often presented on social media can be detrimental. For instance, the push to align your body with the ‘ideal’ standard or, conversely, the expectation to fully embrace ‘body positivity’ can feel equally unachievable. For those in recovery from an eating disorder, the idea of loving or celebrating their body at every moment may feel impossible, leaving them feeling inadequate and hopeless.
The truth is that having a ‘helpful’ body image in eating disorder recovery doesn’t mean you must always love or feel positive about your body. Instead, it’s about how your perception of your body doesn’t prevent you from living a full life in line with your values. This is a much more achievable and meaningful goal during recovery.
Here are six surprising things that may help improve your body image in eating disorder recovery:
1. avoid body-checking behaviours
Perhaps an obvious one, but nevertheless important. As part of eating disorder recovery, we encourage reducing and eventually stopping body-checking behaviours. Behaviours like frequently weighing yourself, scrutinising your appearance in the mirror, measuring yourself, and trying on old clothes can feel tempting, but they are, in reality, very unhelpful. While you may wish to ‘check’ that your body hasn’t changed ‘too much’ or that you haven’t gained ‘too much’ weight, these behaviours seldom, if ever, make you feel better.
Instead of helping you monitor your body, body-checking behaviours are often reactions to underlying emotional triggers like anxiety or discomfort. They can feed the cycle of distress rather than provide reassurance.
top tip from The Eating Clinic: Monitor how often you engage in these behaviours and what triggers them (e.g., a thought, a feeling). Once you have insight into the patterns, use a delay (e.g., 1 minute at first) before engaging in them and increase this over time. This can help to break the habit and offer relief over time.
2. challenge negative body image thoughts, including comparison and mind-reading
Negative thoughts about our bodies can lead to intense emotions (like embarrassment, guilt, or shame) followed by a change in behaviour. For example, the thought, “Everyone is looking at me because I’m so fat,” might lead to feelings of shame (emotions) and cause you to cover up in baggy clothes (behaviour).
In eating disorder recovery, we help clients separate themselves from these automatic thoughts. This technique, called ‘defusion’, creates distance between you and your thoughts, helping to disrupt the unhelpful thoughts–feelings–behaviour pattern.
top tip from The Eating Clinic: Instead of telling yourself, “Everyone is looking at me because I’m so fat,” change it to “I have the thought that everyone is looking at me because I’m so fat.” This subtle shift can start to feel very different and offer relief from negative body image cycles by distancing yourself from your intrusive or unwanted thoughts.
3. appreciate what your body can do – focus on function rather than appearance
In eating disorder recovery, focusing on what your body can do, rather than its appearance, can be a powerful shift. At The Eating Clinic, we encourage clients to practice gratitude for their body’s functionality—whether it’s the ability to walk, hug loved ones, or experience the world through your senses.
top tip from The Eating Clinic: List three things you are grateful your body can do for you today. (e.g., “I’m grateful that my arms help me to cuddle my son.”) This can slowly shift your focus from appearance to appreciation.
4. reflect on how you speak to yourself
It’s easy to be hard on yourself, especially during the ups and downs of eating disorder recovery. Many clients believe that being critical of themselves will motivate them to change, but in reality, it often leads to feelings of helplessness and a lack of motivation.
Recovery involves ‘learning events’—moments that may feel like setbacks but are, in fact, essential to growth. We encourage clients to respond to these ‘learnings’ with compassion rather than self-criticism.
Top tip from The Eating Clinic: Life is full of ups and downs. The next time something feels like it’s ‘going wrong,’ speak to yourself like you would to a dear friend—with kindness and understanding.
5. treat your body with kindness
When recovering from an eating disorder, it’s essential to cultivate a compassionate relationship with your body. This means nourishing it, respecting its boundaries, and listening to its needs. In recovery, kindness towards your body can be a radical and healing shift.
Top tip from The Eating Clinic: Do something nice for your body today—whether it’s taking a long shower, giving your feet a massage, or engaging in a gentle yoga session.
6. get to know yourself aside from how you look
An often surprising aspect of body image work in eating disorder recovery is that it isn’t always about your body. Much of it focuses on building self-esteem and self-worth outside of how you look. By getting to know yourself in deeper ways—your values, passions, and qualities—you can reduce the impact of external pressures and body changes.
top tip from The Eating Clinic: Reflect on one thing that matters to you—whether it’s friendship, creativity, or helping your community. How can you take action today to engage in the things that truly matter to you?
bonus – seek professional help
Struggling with body image and recovering from an eating disorder is incredibly challenging. Although it may feel tempting to try and manage it alone, we know that professional support can make recovery faster and more sustainable. At The Eating Clinic, we offer a multidisciplinary approach to body image and eating disorder recovery. Find out more about our one-to-one recovery services.