Body dissatisfaction is common, and people experience varying degrees of it. You can learn to feel better about your body, but it’s likely to require some attention to your current thought patterns and habits.

Body image can be improved by focusing on the aspects of your body that you genuinely appreciate, are grateful for, and the ways your body enables you to experience the world.

You can defend your body image by filtering out negative external influences, such as appearance-focused content on social media and television.

Your body image can benefit if you think about your health habits – especially your eating and physical activity patterns – in terms of self-care rather than self-punishment.