Hey there. When I ask clients what they see in the mirror they usually describe a flaw before they describe a feature. I used to do the same thing. Years of comments about how I could look better if I tweaked this or shrank that taught me to scan for problems. Add the brutal body standards of the early two thousands and I became an expert at tearing myself down. Sound familiar? If so I want to invite you into a practice that feels strange at first yet becomes a daily anchor for calm confidence.

Hey there. I want to remind you of something that can completely shift how you view your weight loss journey. You are your own body standard. Not the version of you from five years ago. Not someone you follow online. Not the expectations coming from the fitness industry. Just you.

Hey there. When you hear the term “body dysmorphia,” what comes to mind? For a lot of people, especially those going through a weight loss journey, it gets tossed around quickly. But body dysmorphic disorder is a real mental health condition, and it needs to be taken seriously. I’m not a therapist or a doctor, and most people you hear using this term online aren’t either. Still, I want to talk about the emotional side of this because how you feel about yourself matters.

Hey there. For years, I never felt like enough. No matter how lean I was, how defined my muscles looked, or how much my body changed, it was never enough. I remember being obsessed with body fat percentages. I carried one of those handheld testers around in the early 2000s when I worked at a gym, and I would check my readings constantly. Even when the numbers looked good, even when I knew I was walking around at a pretty lean ten to fifteen percent body fat, it still wasn’t enough. There was always someone leaner, someone more muscular, someone I thought looked better than me.

Hey there. Body image should be personal. You should be your own body standard, not an idea created by someone else. Yet, throughout life, most of us have tried to conform to different beauty or fitness ideals without even realizing it. Where do these standards come from?

Hey there. Body dysmorphia is like a ghost that lingers, no matter how much you try to move forward. It’s something I’ve seen over and over in the fitness space. People lose weight, transform their bodies, and yet, when they look in the mirror, they still see their old selves staring back. It’s not just a passing thought. It’s a deep-seated perception that refuses to let go.