Body Checking. What is it and how can you stop it?
Body checking is the habit of seeking information about your body’s weight, shape, size, or appearance. Like many behaviours, body checking exists on a continuum. It can range from completely avoiding looking at your body, to occasionally checking as part of your daily routine to compulsive and anxious checking behaviour.
Types of body checking behaviours include:
+ Regularly weighing yourself
+ Looking in mirrors
+ Pinching body parts
+ Trying to feel bones
+ Measuring body parts with hands
+ Comparing yourself to past self
+ Zooming in on pictures
+ Comparing your body to others
+ Looking at reflections in windows
Everyone will do some of these behaviours at some point.. its normal to check a mirror before you head out, or glance at your reflection in a car window..but when these are doing regularly and consistently they can can cause an over evaluation of self worth and perpetuate unhelpful behaviours & beliefs about oneself.
Body checking becomes problematic if it:
Interferes with your ability to focus or concentrate
Takes up too much of your time
Triggers you to engage in disordered eating behaviours
Interferes with your social life
Causes you to isolate yourself
Becomes a way to control your body shape
The driver behind most body checking behaviours is to reduce difficult emotions such as anxiety, shame & guilt about weight gain or overcoming feelings of losing control.
At the very best body checking provides short term relief, but often has long term repercussions
HOW TO REDUCE BODY CHECKING BEHAVIOURS
Awareness - body checking behaviours are usually done in ‘autopilot’ mode, which makes it harder to make choices and behave in ways like the version of ourselves we want to be.
Notice - what thoughts, feelings and emotions come up before you engage in the behaviour?
Delay - can you pause 30 seconds and engage in a mindful or grounding practice before engaging in the body checking behaviour. Some of my favorite are dropping anchor, defusion and breathing
Consider the pros and cons of the behaviour- How does it make you feel before and after? How does this behaviour help you? What are the costs?
Reflect- what might this behaviour be telling you? What are you seeking? What is the story you are telling yourself? How do you want to think about yourself and your body? What might you say to a friend?
LOOKING FOR MORE SUPPORT?
If you struggle with body checking behaviours and want to learn the skills to let go then get in touch about my 1:1 coaching and take the first steps to cultivate a kinder relationship with yourself.
Love Harriett