Body Image, Unrealistic Expectations, And The Comparison Trap!
There are so many common beliefs that negatively affect women’s body image and sometimes paralyze them from taking steps toward reclaiming their health and vitality. Let’s explore these beliefs and consider how they might be holding you back from finding a successful path to your optimal health and wellness.
Women often feel their bodies must look a certain way to be worthy.
We are given an incredibly narrow definition of what a woman’s body is “supposed to look like”.
From a very early age, media sends women the message that they must be small, but only in certain places. Women must be lean, but not too lean because, “that’s gross.” Women must be curvy, but certainly not fat, because according to the media, that’s the worst thing that a woman could be. Women must be toned, but not too muscular, because then “you’ll look like a guy.”
This narrow definition of what a body should be not only affects a woman’s perception of how her body looks and her expectation of how it “should” look, but sets her up for feelings of disappointment every time she looks in the mirror if she believes she’ not achieving this “ideal”.
From an early age, women are taught that they and their bodies exist to serve and please others.
Are you familiar with the self-care analogy about the airplane oxygen masks? It goes something like this: “In the event of an emergency, you need to put on your own oxygen mask before you assist others.” You’ve probably also heard the well-intentioned idea that women should take care of themselves so they can take better care of others, right? It sounds good in theory, but... Here’s the problem with that: even when women are told to take care of themselves, it’s positioned so that they can be of service to others. Rarely is the message simply, “Take care of yourself because you deserve it. Take care of yourself because you are a human being who is worthy of care.” DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
Women often express guilt for taking time away from their families to go to the gym. Often their goals are centered around pleasing others.
“I want to look better for my husband”
“My partner really likes women with big butts”
“I’m single now, and I want to look good enough to get back into the dating scene.”
DO THESE SOUND LIKE YOU?
Women’s bodies are commonly up for scrutiny, commentary, and debate in the media and in real life!
Seemingly benign commentary about women like, “She’s so skinny, she should eat a sandwich!”.
In street harassment where women are leered at, whistled at, and catcalled.
In the bodies of pregnant and postpartum women where everyone has something to say about the size of a woman’s belly, the exercise she’s doing or not doing, what she’s eating, and whether or not she’s breastfeeding. Many women are even touched by strangers without their consent during pregnancy!
A woman might feel like they need to wear baggy or loose-fitting clothes to the gym because they feel self-conscious about being looked at.
Women often impose limits on when and where they work out. For example, they might avoid the free-weight area or change their schedule to avoid going at a time when other people might be there who might judge or make comments.
Some women believe they have to lose a certain amount of weight before they can even walk into a gym and feel welcome and feel like people aren’t going to judge or comment — or worse, record videos or take photos of them and post them online!
Women feel they don’t belong or shouldn’t “take up space.”
Starting at a very early age, women get the message that being small and quiet is what’s desirable and “ladylike.” In fact, many women have been conditioned to believe that:
They shouldn’t take up space in the boardroom, or in leadership positions. (For years it was thought that women couldn’t hold positions of power because we are “too hysterical,” particularly during certain times of our menstrual cycle.)
They shouldn’t speak up in public or in certain places of worship.
They shouldn’t be vocal about disagreeing with someone else.
They shouldn’t have political aspirations and act upon them, or they shouldn’t take up space in myriad other areas where they’ve been told they don’t belong.
They should routinely apologize if they’re inconveniencing others, regardless of the context.
They should be worried about lifting heavy weights because they don’t want to “get big or bulky.”
They may not want to take up physical space in the gym, particularly in places like the weight room, which has historically been considered the “guys’ area” of the gym.
They don’t think that they should be eating much, so they talk about “earning” calories, or apologize for the amount of food consumed.
They talk about being “bad” or “cheating” if they eat more than normal, and they may engage in obsessive calorie counting and subscribe to ideas about how little women should eat.
These are just a few of the cultural beliefs, experiences, and practices that can lead to a poor body image, unrealistic expectations, and the comparison trap.
Some staggering statistics out there tell us that over 75% of women report being dissatisfied with their body, and as many as 75% of those report engaging in disordered eating behaviors!
Although these are things women have been taught to believe, let’s not forget that women are whole people with ownership and autonomy over their own bodies! That is, they get to choose how to use their body, what decisions they make about their body, and what goals they have.
Middle-aged women are generally tired of health care and fitness professionals who ‘don’t get it.’ They’re looking for someone who understands them, knows how to support them, and are committed to making a REAL difference to their health and wellness.
My Reclaim Vitality Now program is built to help women with body image, unrealistic expectations, and the dreaded comparison trap by taking an individualized approach through specific lab testing to helping you discover EXACTLY what your body needs to find success in achieving your health and wellness goals!
TODAY is the day to start.
TODAY is the the day to take control of your health and wellness journey.
TODAY is the day to invest in yourself!
Reclaim Your Vitality Now!
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