Disordered Eating & Body Image

Challenging society’s body standards for self-acceptance

Most of us can agree that our society does not support a healthy relationship to our bodies. While “heroin chic” is no longer en vogue, the more recently idealized “Kardashian body” is also an impossible standard to achieve that leaves so many people feeling insufficient. We all want to look and feel our best. Eating well and getting exercise are undeniably good for you! But when healthy habits tip over into obsessions or rules we create for ourselves that we need to maintain to feel good and worthy, there is a problem.

Do you notice that a lot of your energy is going toward thinking about and planning what you eat, how much, and when, or how much you exercise? Are you binging, purging, calorie counting, chronically dieting? Do you find that you can’t help but to stare at yourself in the mirror and assess the shape of your figure? Do you weigh yourself compulsively and fixate on the number?

Perhaps you hyper-focus on fine lines or wrinkles on your face, or think your nose is too big, your lips too small, or your abs are not defined enough. In a time when you can get Botox at the dentist and you can blink and see three yoga studios on a single street, it’s easy to feel dissatisfied with how you look and to want to “fix” yourself.