Building a Healthy Body Image: At War With Our Bodies

The definition of body image is: the inner perception of physical appearance, or size and shape. When you've built a healthy body image you feel good about yourself no matter how you look.
A more well-rounded definition of healthy body image is: how we perceive our bodies to fit (or not fit) the expectations of our culture and ourselves. It's all about what we "should" look like and how slim we "should" be. We learn to be at war with our bodies, fighting them to be thin, flawless, smooth, unblemished, and perfect. This is where unhealthy or bad body image comes in, and why it's important to build a healthy body image.

To build a healthy body image, you need to know how a bad body image is formed. A bad body image is built in part by our experiences with other people. Parents, teachers, siblings, spouses, children, family, and friends can influence bad body image with a look – not to mention comments about our weight or various body parts. Bad body image is influenced by the pictures we see in magazines and on tv. We constantly compare ourselves to flawless models, and we come up short every time. Building a healthy body image is crucial to a healthy, happy life. A bad body image can develop into body dysmorphic disorder, which is a psychological condition. This is another reason to build a healthy body image.