Welcome to Fitness Blender’s 5-Day Body Image Challenge!
Developed by Haley, a Licensed Psychologist, this challenge is designed to help you actively start working on your relationship with and perspective on your body. We all have different relationships with our bodies and at no point is that necessarily “good” or “bad.” Rather, your relationship with your body may or may not be helpful in optimizing your overall well-being and desired lifestyle. Therefore, the goal here is for anyone — no matter where you are in your body image journey — to continue exploring and nurturing your relationship with your body.
What to expect
For this challenge, I’ve curated a set of articles, guided meditations/practices, and even a workout to help you work on your relationship with your body. This should be a fun combination of introspective work as well as practical tools that can help you on your personal body image journey. Each day should take you about 30 minutes.
The overall goal for this challenge is that you make some progress in your relationship with your body. This progress could range from increasing awareness of your current body image all the way to a major shift in your perspective and mindset. You are able and free to define this progress for yourself; remember that progress will look different for every person. To be honest, just participating in the challenge is a great first step!
How to get the most out of this program
- Habit stacking: Because this is intended to be a daily task for five days, it might be a good idea to pair this with an activity or habit that you already do on a daily basis. Ideally, you would pair it with a task that you do that may be related to your body — maybe some form of movement, a meal, or changing your clothes. Ultimately, pairing one habit with another means that you will be more likely to remember to do it and actually get it done. Who knows — maybe you’ll even stick with this type of work after the challenge, too!
- Make a commitment: At the start of this challenge, commit to finishing all five days. I know it sounds silly, but when life gets in the way, it can be easy to allow a program of this nature to drop off. While it was designed to take place over five consecutive days, nobody says it can’t take you two weeks to get it done. A commitment at the beginning means you will make the time to get it done at some point while giving yourself grace if you need to delay a day or two.
- Self-Compassion: For some folks, thinking about our bodies so much can be difficult. It could bring up uncomfortable memories and/or emotions. If this is the case for you (and honestly, even if it isn’t), engaging in self-compassion is a great way to balance this type of thought-based work.
Disclaimers
While this challenge has little to do with me, I want to start by recognizing the immense privilege that I (Haley) have in this arena. My body and appearance are rarely questioned by the outside world and I move throughout the world without having to think about my size or ability status. I recognize that this means I might miss some aspects of body image that apply to folks whose experience is different from mine. I would love to open this up as a topic of conversation in the comments or on the Community page as it arises for you.
I also want to recognize that body image can be impacted by other aspects of one’s appearance other than body size and shape. These might include ability level, skin tone, attractiveness level, hair type and texture, among many other factors. For the purposes of this particular challenge, we made the decision to focus on body shape and size as the primary focus.
This challenge is great for anyone but is particularly helpful for people who regularly experience fluctuations in their body image. One day, you feel great about your body, and the next you’re questioning whether you like how you look or feel. However, if you are currently experiencing struggles with eating disorders, exercise addiction, or serious body image concerns, it may be a good idea to start by engaging with a mental health provider before moving through this program. If this applies to you, more individualized and tailored care is going to be most impactful on your recovery journey.
As always, be sure to share any thoughts, progress, or questions you have with the community as you engage in this program!
Best,
Haley