The Hard Truth About Body Image

Oh, how I hate looking in the mirror. I hate being around skinny girls. I hate going clothes shopping. And I hate stepping on the scale.

Why?

Because I don’t like my body. Honestly, I haven’t for a very long time. Nothing is wrong with it—it works perfectly fine and is completely healthy. Yet it’s still so hard to accept the body I have.

But isn’t that just part of womanhood?

Chasing Shadows

For years, I coveted the bodies of other girls in my life. I had a picture in my mind of the “ideal” body, and I worked incredibly hard to attain it. I was jealous, competitive, and insecure in how I viewed myself and others.

Pound after pound slipped away, and it wasn’t long before I became anorexic. I shared my story in my book, but to summarize, I gradually recovered from anorexia and started to understand that accepting my body wasn’t going to be an overnight process. I never attained the “ideal” body that I had idolized for so long. Instead, I had to learn to be okay with myself…which is a lesson that I’m still learning.

The hard truth about body image—a truth that you’ll rarely hear—is that 99% of women don’t have a positive body image. Most of us want to be thinner (or taller, shorter, tanner, paler, etc.). Even women who are okay with their bodies probably wouldn’t say they love every body part.

Obviously, I hope that you like your body; but more than that, I hope that you make healthy choices in spite of how you feel about your body.

Quickly Fading

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. (Proverbs 31:30 NKJV)

Not only is charm deceitful because it changes, but charm is also deceitful because we can never grasp it. Our perception of ourselves is often skewed. We can’t see ourselves clearly because we have a completely subjective view of ourselves.

So no matter what you think about your body when you look in the mirror, remember that it’s okay if you don’t love what you see. Know that, ultimately, your health is so much more important than your size—and your heart is the most important.

If you chase the “ideal” body, you’ll never be content. Trust me—I tried. I read the diet books, became a runner, and ate the grossest salads. And I still wasn’t happy with my body.

But you don’t need to have a great body image in order to know and live out the truth that you are beautiful. Don’t pressure yourself to feel a certain way about your body because your feelings about your body will change. You just need to fight Satan’s lies and believe God’s Truth—and so do I.

If your need a resource that helps you fight Satan’s lies and reminds you of God’s Truth, you can download a *free* devotional on my Freebies page – The Road to Real Recovery: A 10-Day Guide to Experience Eating Disorder Recovery.

This post was originally published as Why You Don’t Have to Feel Beautiful.