3 Words That Will Instantly Improve Your Body Image

In the course of doing research for my book on how a woman’s body image affects her sex life, I was struck by a profound conclusion arrived at after reviewing 20 years of academic studies: Being thinner won’t make you happier.

If it were true that losing weight improved body image, studies would show that thinner women are more satisfied with the way their body looks than normal weight women. But they aren’t. Studies consistently show that underweight women are nearly as dissatisfied with their bodily appearance as normal or overweight women.1

Nobody is immune to distorted body perceptions–not ordinary women who force themselves to eat dust for dinner, nor supermodels that treat cocaine as a food group. This is how bad the situation is: Slender women consistently overestimate their body size more than heavier women! There are talent agencies that don’t even bother putting their models on a plane; they just fax them to the photo shoot. Yet these walking sheets of paper have something in common with the truly overweight–they think their butts are too big.

This is because most women cannot accurately perceive their weight or shape. Normal-weight women consistently rate themselves as overweight and underweight women consistently rate themselves as normal-weight. 2

Researchers call it “actual/perceived disparities,” or the inability to correctly perceive objective traits about your own body. This inability to see yourself as you really are is the main reason you think your partner lies when he says he loves your body. You think he sees what you do. He doesn’t.3

One well-regarded study that first documented women’s inability to judge themselves objectively found that normal weight women who overestimated their true weight had a worse body image than normal weight women who perceived their weight accurately.4 Think about this for a moment: If you could perceive your body size accurately, your body image would improve.

Which brings me to the three words that will instantly improve your body image: Perceive Yourself Accurately. This is harder to do than one would think, but here’s a great way to train yourself how to do it. Research shows that most women consistently overestimate the size and shape of their body by up to 25% or more.5

Twenty five percent is a huge margin of error. The average 142 lbs., woman would have to gain 36 pounds to actually be 25% bigger. A woman wearing a size 12 would have to go up three dress sizes to be 25% heavier. A woman wearing a size 34 belt would have to wear a size 42 if she were 25% heavier.

How To Use The 25% Margin Of Error
Ladies, the woman walking in your mind is 25% heavier than the woman walking in your home. Those thighs? You may be right that they’re jiggling, but you’re wrong about how much. That stomach that’s pooching out? You may be right, but your math is wrong. Back fat? Not even close.

You can use this “25% discount” to get a truer picture of how you look. Remember, women who can accurately assess the shape and size of their body have a better body image than women who don’t, even keeping weight constant. So if you want to instantly improve your body image, Perceive Yourself Accurately.