Body checking is a safety-seeking behavior driven by anxiety and worry about one’s appearance. Body checking manifests in many different ways: lifting up your shirt to see your stomach in the mirror; pinching, poking or measuring your body; tugging your shirt away from your belly; obsessing about how you look as you walk past every store window. The intention of body checking is driven by a hope that if we “check” the body and feel content with it, our anxiety will decrease and we will feel “safe” in terms of our body image.
Even though the urge behind body checking is driven by a hope to reduce anxiety, it often does the opposite by acting as a trigger for body-oriented or disordered eating thoughts. When we body check, we are giving our brain a signal to think more about how we look, and unfortunately those thoughts are typically not positive. Body checking becomes particularly problematic when it becomes compulsive and consuming of our brain space and time.
How to reduce your body checking:
Bring awareness to your body checking behaviors. Start to notice when you are body checking, how you are body checking, and what triggers your urge to body check.
Work on actively resisting the urge to body check - this might mean:
challenging yourself not to look at your reflection in store windows
covering your mirror until the urges feel more manageable
writing a self-affirmation on your mirror that reminds you that your body is worthy and good
wearing a fidget ring or bracelet and directing your anxious energy towards them when feeling the urge to body check
The less we give in to the urge to body check, the less we will eventually want to body check.
Notice when your urges to body check reduce and acknowledge your success. Allow yourself to appreciate what it feels like to have less of your brain space taken up by body image thoughts.