Body Image Distortion will usually leads to unsafe weight loss behaviors

Scientists have a name for what is going on the minds of these non-overweight girls who view themselves as fat:  Body image distortion.

So, who are considered suffering from this body image distortion? Check out the symptoms:

• Non-overweight girls who long to be skinnier

• Girls of normal weight and even those who are underweight often have difficulty seeing themselves the way they really are.

“A distorted view of one’s weight status makes one more vulnerable to using unsafe weight loss behaviors. The key is to cultivate a positive, realistic, and appreciative relationship with your body regardless of your weight, then get support to develop eating and activity habits that balance input and output, and that you can live with for long time.”

Body image dissatisfaction is different from body image distortion. Body image dissatisfaction is where a girl sees her body the way it really is and finds it unattractive, but a girl suffering from body image distortion falsely interprets what she sees  in the mirror.

Have I met such girls before?

As a personal weight management coach, of course I have met such girls before. It is just a few and surprised to me is I met one guy too. Some that I can’t meet face to face and I do a quick analysis on their weight based on their height, their weight is perfectly falls in the range of ideal weight. But these people keeps telling me that they still very fat and need to lose more weight. As an experienced personal weight management coach, by the look at the number from the calculation and also from the body shape, we can tell whether the person needs to lose weight or just to eat healthily and maintain the current weight and body shape.

Will I still coach and guide people who are suffering from body image distortion?

No, because they don’t need a weight loss coach to teach them how to lose weight as they don’t need one. But what they need is support of 3 A’s for their mindset.

The 3 A’s:

Attention: Refers to listening for and responding to internal cues (i.e., hunger, satiety, fatigue). People suffering from body image distortion will usually starve themselves and this will leads to an unsafe weight loss behavior. Instead of starving, they should eat right.

Appreciation: Refers to appreciating the pleasures your body can provide. There is no “perfect” body. Different culture, different race, different ethnic will make us looks different individually. Learn to appreciate what you’ve got.

Acceptance: Refers to accepting what is — instead of longing for what is not. Learn to accept the truth.

Healthy body weight is the size a person naturally returns to after a long period of both non-compulsive eating* and consistent exercise commensurate with the person’ s physical health and condition. People who are suffering body image distortion must learn to advocate for themselves  to aspire to a naturally determined size, even though that will often mean confronting misinformed family, friends, and media advertising again and again.

*Simply stated, non-compulsive eating means eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are satisfied. This involves being able to distinguish emotional hunger from physical hunger, and satiation from over fullness