Body Checking: What Is It and How Can You Avoid It?
Body image issues can manifest into an obsessive behavior known as body checking.
What does body checking look like?
Body checking can mean many different things, but it is all about constantly keeping tabs on your body’s shape and size. You are engaging in body checking if you are:
Analyzing your body from every angle and position
Weighing yourself
Trying on clothes to see how they fit over time
Checking your body in mirrors/windows
Pinching/poking yourself, etc.
Many of the “negative” features you might worry about while body checking are completely normal. For people who have uteruses, it’s common to have an abdomen that doesn’t appear flat because of the way the uterus protrudes. Everyone has “belly rolls” when sitting down. Our skin folds in places when we put our arms at our sides or bend our legs.
Your body will look (and measure) differently depending on the time of day there are a number of reasons behind those changes:
Sodium and carbohydrates cause your body to retain water. This is known as water weight. Both sodium and carbs are vital to your health.
Your body might appear different during your menstrual period or when you are on medications.
Your level of bathroom use will also change your weight.
No one’s body looks the same all of the time.
Body checking takes up so much time and mental space, and it can seem impossible to stop. Here are some ways you can start working on your body checking behaviors:
Cover your mirrors or put body-positive and positive affirmation stickers on them
Smash the scale. You don’t have to attend a Southern Smash event to get rid of your scale, but smashing it can be an empowering exercise and a way of “breaking up” with your scale.
Try sizeless clothing. The Garment Project works to give people in eating disorder recovery sizeless options for their wardrobe so that they don’t have to stress over numbers. Talk to your therapist about getting nominated to receive a curated selection of sizeless clothing.
Find activities that distract you from your body.
Put on comfortable clothes. If you find yourself body checking more often in certain outfits, it’s time to give those clothes away.
Give your Instagram feed a makeover. Follow accounts with body-positive or body-neutral messages instead of #fitspo.
Go to body image therapy. Our team of therapists works through body checking behaviors with clients using a variety of therapeutic modalities.
Kindful Body therapist Meghan Montgomery suggests writing thank you notes to your body. “Emphasize what it does for you and what it can do rather than what it looks like.”
She also suggested these two therapy exercises:
Check the Facts: Is your body doing what it is designed to do? Is changing or fixating on appearance going to improve other life struggles? Would you tell anyone you love that their worth is defined by their body shape or size?
Opposite Action: When you feel the urge to body check, do an opposing task or action that improves your mood or requires your focus-- give yourself non-appearance-based compliment, meditate, write down an affirmation, or go outside instead of going to the mirror.
Another clinician on our team who specializes in body image issues, Ashley Ellis, says “Body checking is an urge just like other eating disorder behaviors. I support my clients in connecting the emotional experience to the urge and then support them in looking for alternative behaviors and solutions.”
Body image issues don’t have a quick fix. Making peace with your body takes time, and a lot of unlearning, and therapy can help.
If you are ready to accept what you see in the mirror or are looking for eating disorder treatment in the San Francisco Bay Area or California, book a consultation with us.