Negative Body Image Can Create Overeating

Body image issues alone can create overeating and dieting cycles.

Some of us have more body image issues than others, and indeed there are many people for whom body image issues are not among the main causes of their stuff with food.

However, there are others for whom body image issues are the primary cause. And while we may think this is mostly a female issue, many men have the same issue and men are just as prone to this heartbreaking dynamic.

You might think that if you have a lot of pressure on yourself to look amazing and perfect all the time, it would result in you successfully having that "perfect" body and only restriction.

And while indeed, body image issues are often the cause of restriction and obsessive dieting, that is not the only potential outcome.

When we are so worried about what we look like, and feel that our worth is tied up with how we look, it automatically creates a clusterf*** of emotions around food.

We learn about calories, which foods are "fattening" and which aren't, we start putting "good" and "bad" allocations to food (these are usually weight-gain related allocations and not true health-based assessments).

We develop anxiety about food. But we then tend to want relief from the anxiety and restriction and fear, which can mean we go the other way into binge eating in order to get that relaxation and relief.

Ironically, the anxiety around eating too much can cause us to eat too much.

We also may have a rebellious feeling that kicks in after we've been in a period of restriction and self-punishment that goes, "Why should I care about this? Why do I always have to restrict? This is awful." And then we overeat.

So for many people, the way to heal both excessive and restrictive tendencies with food is to examine how you feel about your appearance and your worth and your lovability.

Where does it come from? What in your childhood created this fixation on how you look?

“It's never been true, not anywhere at any time, that the value of a soul, of a human spirit, is dependent on a number on a scale.“

-Geneen Roth

Photo by Aleksandra Boguslawska via Unsplash