Are you bikini body ready?
How to feel confident and comfortable in a bikini without losing weight.
This article discusses:
7 sneaky ways dieting for a bikini body could be causing you to binge
how you can feel bikini body ready without changing your body.
What do you think of when I say bikini body?
Slender, tanned, perfectly happy woman with just the right amount of fat on her in all the right places.
The concept of a ‘bikini body’ originated in the 1940s and later in the 1960s became a popular term to describe a woman with a big bust, slim waist and slender legs. A very unrealistic body type for many woman and especially the modern day women. Over the years, the bikini body has become something highly sought after. An effortlessly and unattainable figure sculpted to perfection.
But is what you see on the front cover really perfection?
Not at all. The wrinkle free, cellulite free, perfectly sculpted physiques are most of the time not real. They are highly edited with makeup, special effects and well styled and posed postures.
“So if you are asking yourself why you don’t look like the models remember even the models don’t look like the models in real life.”
What these magazines, diet programs and 12 week bikini body ready programs don't tell you is how harmful dieting for a bikini body can be for your mental health AND how it can increase your chances of a binge episode.
They don’t tell you lengths to which models are made to go to as a means to attain and maintain these figures. How it impacts their lives or how many of these models develop disordered eating.
How does the ‘bikini body’ perpetuate harmful diet culture messages?
Firstly, it discriminates based on body size.
The idea of the bikini body says there is only one type of body that is acceptable to be bikini ready. That you must diet, lose weight and change your body if you wish to wear a bikini. When did diet culture get to decide who does and doesn’t deserve to wear a bikini?
“It’s you body and it’s your choice.”
Secondly, it perpetuates restrict-binge cycle.
We know restriction can trigger binge eating. Why - because when you eat based on a diet plan or external cues you ignore your hunger signals and this can put you in an underfed state. Being in an underfed state puts you at risk of developing excessive hunger which can often trigger out of control and binge eating episodes.
Thirdly, it reduces body image.
The concept of a 'bikini body' tells you that your body isn't good enough as it is. That there is something wrong with you and you must change your body to 'deserve' to wear a bikini. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Your worth or whether you deserve to do something is not derived from how your body looks and is not up to diet culture. It’s up to you.
Poor body image is a common trigger for a binge eating episode.
Fourth, body fixations and obsession.
Dieting increases body fixations(focusing on how your body looks). Focusing on how your body looks and deriving your self-worth from it can trigger binge eating.
Why? Well, on days where you feel good, you are less likely to binge and more likely to take care of yourself. But on days where you don't feel so good, you are more likely to binge to avoid feeling insecure or dealing with feelings of unease about your body.
Fixating on your body usually leads to more not so good days than good days.
Fifth, social isolation.
Leading up to summer is often a time for parties, celebrations and social gatherings. Especially in Australia leading up to Christmas time. If you are stuck on a rigid and strict diet it often means you will miss out on eating your favourite foods, being around friends and family and enjoying life for fear of binging, gaining weight or eating 'forbidden foods.'
Loneliness and feeling like your missing out are often triggers of binge eating.
Sixth, diet rules are unsustainable.
Eating before 6pm, cutting out carbs/ sugar/ protein/ dairy, only eating if you've burned off the calories or only drinking juice are all diet rules. Sound familiar?
A common trigger for binge eating is breaking one of these unrealistic diet rules. This quite often can cause a feeding frenzy so you can soothe the feelings of failure or guilt that accompany breaking a diet rule. Diet culture sells the idea that you need diet rules to be kept in check. The reality is it’s actually these diet rules that cause you to lose control and eat everything in sight.
Seventh, false promises of a bikini body.
Diet programs and bikini body challenges make you believe that, 'when you........' you will be happy.
In this case when you achieve a bikini body you:
will be happy
feel confident in a bikini
love yourself
stop binge eating
However these promises are misguided and untrue. To overcome binge eating you must do the work. Quick fixes and diets only prolong your suffering.
A few things to consider……
What happens after the diet?
So let's say you've achieved this bikini body. You've finished your 12 week program. Then what?
The most likely outcome is you spend the next few weeks, months eating all the foods you missed out on. Regaining weight and suffering from more frequent binge episodes.
And for what? A few Instagram pictures or weeks looking good in a bikini? What about the long term impacts?
What if your diet fails?
What happens if you don't achieve the 'bikini body,' you set out to achieve?
Does that mean you:
Won't go to the beach?
Will beat yourself up?
Will diet harder?
Give up all together and spend the next few weeks eating everything in sight to make up for foods missed out on?
Feeling like a failure, shameful and guilty are all common triggers of binge eating.
What can I do to improve my body image and how I feel in a bikini?
Every body is a bikini body.
You DO NOT need to diet for summer
You DO NOT need to join a 12 week program
You DO NOT need to wear a bikini if you don't want to wear a bikini
Want to overcome binge eating and feel bikini ready all year round?
Start treating the CAUSE of your binge eating rather than using band aid solutions such as weight loss or fitness programs.
Are you ready to treat the cause of your binge eating?
Free Break The Binge E-book
Go from feeling out of control around food to feeling confident and capable of eating all the foods you love guilt free!
