Body Image Dissatisfaction and Competitive Athletes

Just read a great article by Penny Lomas about Body Image Dissatisfaction and the effect it has on competitive athletes.

One example of this is stage competition.  Since stage competition is based on the judging of your physique, this is becoming very common in the industry.  Here’s the low down:

Body Image Dissatisfaction (“BID”) – The negative opinion of your weight and shape.  Presents itself through:

Thoughts

Images

Feelings

Sensations

Urges

Memories

Eating Disorders

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (“ACT”) is one solution to BID.  Act was created in 1986 by Steve Hayes with the intent to overturn or effectively manage the negativities. 

The goals and process are two-fold:

Accept the negative experience

Commit to a plan/solution

It basically steers people away from avoidance and more towards forgiveness, compassion, acceptance and living in the present.

Here’s a good example of how it works:

Thought:  I am fat

Understand, that I am fat is your thought and not the literal truth.  It’s a story you’re creating. 

Revised thought:  I am thinking that I am fat.  (COGNITIVE DIFFUSION)

Accept the thought. (ACCEPTANCE)

Connect with the present.  Where are you?  What are you doing?  What triggered that thought?

Detached thought:  I am observing that I am thinking that I’m fat. (third person) (The Observing Self)

Revert to your values.  (VALUES)

Commit to actions that will continue to erode the negativity until its gone.  (COMMITED ACTION)

YOUR TAKE AWAY:

You’re going to have crappy thoughts.  You’re going to create stories.  All ACT is suggesting is that you take away the impact and emphasis of those thoughts, living in gratitude and use your values and the great things in your life to manage and overcome those thoughts instead of jumping into a pail of ice cream!

The entire article can be found here: