Something ALL women struggle with is body image, myself included. The pressure to look a certain way can be completely overwhelming & is often the root cause for so many mental health issues, disordered eating habits & overall higher stress levels in women of all ages.
If you google the words “fit women”. What comes up?
Most likely a lot of…
- Lean bodies
- White bodies
- Sexy poses
- Young bodies
- Trendy workout clothing
- Bodies with no visible disabilities
- Rippling Abs
- Toned but not to much muscle
Even try “healthy bodies”. The same style of images will pop up mixed with lots of women laughing and eating salad.
Images that show us how women “should look” are everywhere: on instagram, on facebook, in magazines, in celebrity culture, on TV, in movies and probably on the advertising for your local gym.
But it is not just the images that impact us it is also what we say, hear and think about the female body.
We are all guilty of judging other women’s bodies at some point in our lives, I have heard things like;
“She’s to skinny, she needs to eat some cake”
“Can you believe she’s wearing that at her size”
“No way I would wear a bikini at her age”
These comments just further cement that women’s bodies are frequently being discussed, evaluated and scrutinised. Whether these conversations are about celebrities, strangers, family members, colleges or friends it continues to send a message that women “should” look a certain way, and if they don’t they will be judged and criticised
What can we do to help reframe this idea of how we “should” look. Try starting with these 6 strategies.
6 Strategies to Help Reframe Your Body Images Worries
- Understand how training works when it comes to changing your body composition. There are so many myths flying around the fitness realm that scare women when it comes to training. Being well educated on these will help you emotionally detach from some things you might be holding onto, & may be stopping you from training the right way.
Myths I would like to debunk …
“I don’t want to lift heavy weights I will get to bulky”
“I only want to train my abs because that’s where I want to lose weight.”
“How will I get rid of my body fat if I don’t do hours of cardio”
“I don’t want to gain any muscle. I just want to tone the muscles I already have.”
- There is NEVER a one size fits all when it comes to our fitness and health. Therefore following a celebrity’s plan might actually be hindering your results rather than helping them. Scrolling instagram for a booty workout each week isn’t going to give you long term strength & muscle gains or help with reducing body fat, that is what a personalised program is for. So many factors contribute to your success like, sleep, stress, hormones, lifestyle. Age, activity levels, overall health.
- Stop flicking on the gram. The dreaded late night scrolling on socials can make us feel pretty down in the dumps, saving workouts, or screen shotting our “ideal” body shots. Never forget that these people you are drooling over this is there full time job, YES they are getting paid to look a certain way, promote a certain product. They are spending 30+ hours a week on their bodies as it is how they make money. Most normal people don’t have that time to put into training & nutrition weekly therefore saving them as inspiration can be pretty disheartening. If you feel crappy after seeing or watching it STOP SEEING & WATCHING IT! Unfollow, unlike, mute, block etc and just focus on people who makes you feel good.
- Change your goals. We all have some aesthetic goals and that is great, but when your entire reason for eating and training is based around transforming your body you can feel pretty down in the dumps when the scales don’t move every week or you have a day of feeling extra bloated. I see most women with aesthetic only goals FAIL after a few weeks. But flipping your goals to things like improving strength, getting fitter, moving better, eating more protein, eating more variety of vegetables alongside some aesthetic goals means you have more to focus on and less hyper focused on how your body is changing everyday. This is where the magic happens ladies.
When you’re 80 you’re not going to be reminiscing the memories when “LOOKED THIN”, you’re going to be wishing you hadn’t skipped a social event with your family because you were self conscious about how you looked. Life is way too short ladies.
Want to learn how to get strong, healthy and improve your relationship with your body? BOOK your Free 30 minute call today.
