On New Year Resolutions and Body Acceptance

By Irina Vanzhula, M.S. 

Its January, and my social media field is filled with articles about New Year resolutions to change our bodies (i.e., lose weight, gain muscle), ways to achieve such resolutions, and negative and judgmental comments about our bodies. What if instead of embarking on another journey that is likely to result in disappointment and self-hate, we consider a different approach this year: Learning to love our bodies. Consider these facts:
 

1. Despite the plethora of weight-loss treatments, the majority of them do not work or work only in the short term (Bacon & Aphramor, 2014). There is not a single weight-loss study that showed that weight-loss can be maintained long-term (if you find them, consider who is funding that study: it is probably linked to a diet industry).
2. Weight loss and gain is much more complicated than simply diet and exercise. Stress (Chao et al., 2017), sleep (Patel & Hu, 2008), genes (Meisel & Wardle, 2014), medications, and medical conditions, all play a role. Consider that emotional stress from worrying about how you look or physical stress from exercising too much can have the impact on your weight! Our bodies also have a set-point, which is like a thermostat (Lowe, 1987). If you start dieting, your body will perceive it as “starvation time” and will slow down your metabolism to conserve energy.
3. Weight has actually very little to do with your health (Barry et al., 2014). Our brains are designed to seek causal effects, and when we see two things go together, we assume that one causes the other. One of these assumptions is that weight causes health problems. In fact, a third reason, poor nutrition or unhealthy lifestyle can cause both. Studies found that normal weight, overweight and obese individuals who engaged in healthy lifestyle habits like not smoking and exercising had equally low mortality rates (Matheson, King & Everett, 2012).
4. Are self-criticism and body-shaming how you try to motivate yourself to adopt an active lifestyle? This is a terrible motivation strategy. Research shows that weight stigma is associated with worse health outcomes. Before you can make changes in your lifestyle, try to accept yourself where you are.
5. Finally, who says that we need to look a certain way? Body image ideals changed over the years, and voluptuous bodies you see on the paintings by 18th-century artists were considered examples of beauty because having a large body meant you were wealthy and could afford food. Different ideas also exist across cultures. What do you think would happen if tomorrow we all stopped caring about our shape and weight? We would be happier and the diet industry would go out of business.  But “normal” BMI is healthy you say? Not really. Have you ever thought about who created BMI cut-offs? You probably assume doctors, and you would be wrong. BMI criteria were set by the International Obesity Task Force that was funded by the weight-loss drug industry (Bacon & Aphramor, 2014).

 
If you are even slightly persuaded by body acceptance, read on. First, let’s define acceptance. Acceptance does not mean giving in, giving up, or learning to deal with, but rather to perceive something as adequate or suitable and embrace it without judgment. Here are some strategies to get started on the body acceptance path.
 

1. Write down 5 things you like about your body. Maybe you like your eyes, your hair, your teeth, your nails, your smile, etc. If this is too hard, you can instead write down what you are thankful to your body for. Maybe you are thankful that your legs let you work on your feet for long hours, or that your eyes let you look at the computer for most of the day, or that your body was resilient and didn’t get flu this year. I personally am thankful to my body for staying strong through all the hours of hard work I am putting it through during graduate school. You can also post the list next to your mirror, so you can see it every day. It’s only fair to remember the positives about your body when you are thinking about the negatives.
2. Make a list of your body parts (and make sure to include those you criticize a lot) and then write down what function they serve. Don’t like your arms? Think about all that they allow you to do, such as do your work, hug your family, and pet your dog. Dislike your stomach? Consider how it works tirelessly all day to digest the food and provide you with much needed nutrients.
3. Watch your language! We often use very judgmental language when we talk about ourselves and especially our bodies (i.e., “I am fat,” “I am ugly,” “I look terrible”). Before you speak to yourself in such a way, consider, would you say it to a friend or your child? Catch yourself and practice using more neutral language. When rephrasing, be as objective and descriptive as possible, and you can express how you feel. For example, instead of saying “my thighs are fat and ugly” try “I have thick thighs and today I feel upset about them.” Notice how the intensity of your emotion changes when you rephrase.
4. Stand in front of the mirror (you can start with 30 seconds) and describe your body in a neutral way avoiding judgments. Pretend that you are describing your body to someone who can’t see and is painting you.
5. Watch out for other thoughts you have about your body. We often believe that what we think is the absolute truth, but we can’t always trust our thoughts. Challenge yourself to consider alternate possibilities. For example, if in a fitting room you have a thought “I don’t fit in these jeans because I am too fat,” don’t stop there. What are the other explanations? Maybe you brought the wrong size, or this design does not fit you. Even if you don’t believe these explanations at first, continue practicing.
6. Speak out against body image ideal. The research found that thought the process called “cognitive dissonance” people tend to align their beliefs with their actions (Festinger, 1962). So repost those body-positive articles on social media and talk to your family and friends about the negative impact of judgmental body talk.

 
Body acceptance is a process and does not happen in one day. You are used to thinking about your body in a particular way, and it will take time to shift that perspective, but it is definitely possible. Just think of what you can do with the extra time and energy when you are not constantly worrying about how your body looks!
 
References
Bacon, L., & Aphramor, L. (2014). Body respect: What conventional health books get wrong, leave out, and just plain fail to understand about weight. Dallas, TX, US: BenBella Books.
Barry, V. W., Baruth, M., Beets, M. W., Durstine, J. L., Liu, J., & Blair, S. N. (2014). Fitness vs. Fatness on All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 56(4), 382–390.
Chao, A. M., Jastreboff, A. M., White, M. A., Grilo, C. M., & Sinha, R. (2017). Stress, cortisol, and other appetite-related hormones: Prospective prediction of 6-month changes in food cravings and weight. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 25(4), 713–720.
Lowe, M. (1987). Set point, restraint, and the limits of weight loss: A critical analysis. In Treating and preventing obesity. Johnson, William G., (Ed); pp. 1-37; US: Elsevier Science/JAI Press.
Matheson, E. M., King, D. E., & Everett, C. J. (2012). Healthy Lifestyle Habits and Mortality in Overweight and Obese Individuals. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 25(1), 9–15.
Meisel, S. F., & Wardle, J. (2014). “Battling my biology”: psychological effects of genetic testing for risk of weight gain. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 23(2), 179–186.
Patel, S. R., & Hu, F. B. (2008). Short Sleep Duration and Weight Gain: A Systematic Review. Obesity, 16(3), 643–653.