What Are Body Avoidance and Body Checking?

Body avoidance and body checking are two habits that often develop alongside eating disorders. They can also be key behavioral signs that there is severe body dissatisfaction taking place. So what are they? 

Body avoidance is when an individual takes any measure to avoid seeing and/or feeling their body such as:

  1. Avoiding mirrors

  2. Wearing large clothes to not have to feel the fabric and/or see their shape reflected

  3. Avoiding hugging others or any other form of physical touch 

  4. Avoiding touch themselves 

  5. Wearing clothing that does not match the weather (ex. Long sleeves when it is hot outside)

  6. Not looking at photos of oneself

Body checking is when an individual creates rituals or habits to ‘check’ the size of their body such as:

  1. Measure certain body parts (ex. tape measure around the belly)

  2. Pinching or squeezing body parts

  3. Obsessively weighing oneself 

  4. Trying on the same piece of clothing to make sure it ‘fits’

  5. Looking for reassurance from others (ex. do I look fat?) 

If either of these apply to you, you may find that participating in the behavior brings you instant relief but brings you longer term suffering. That is because the habits fulfill a certain compulsion tied to body size and disordered behavior. You may feel fearful that if you stop you will lose control. The key to remember is what might feel scary at first will set you up to overcome your compulsions in the longterm. Here are some recommended approaches if you feel as though this applies to you:

  1. Seek the support of a professional - reach out to a trained professional who can help you better understand your relationship with your body and disorder thoughts around food and your body

  2. Get to know your body - create a practice that allows you to get in your body (yoga, walking, dance). When you are able to participate in a a form of joyful movement you begin to feel gratitude for your body not based on the way that it looks

  3. Create awareness - explore how and why the behaviors developed. By understanding the root you can explore your habits from a place of compassion rather than judgement

REACH OUT FOR SUPPORT WITH EATING DISORDER TREATMENT

If you are interested in learning more about how I work with individuals through eating disorder treatment, please feel free to read more here or reach out to set up a free 20 minute consultation. I look forward to hearing from you!

-Ellie

Anxiety, College Students, Eating Disorder Therapy, Eating Disorders, EMDR, Online Therapy, Therapy for AthletesEllie KrausEllie Kraus Psychotherapyeating disorders