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.

It’s understandable to care about your appearance and invest some time, energy, and money into looking your best given the appearance-focused culture we live in. Don’t feel bad for caring about how you look.

Before trying to alter your appearance – especially in any permanent way – you should question why you want to invest in your appearance, for who, and what you expect to result from this investment.

It’s important to appreciate that your physical appearance is only one part of who you are and altering your appearance will not necessarily improve your life in meaningful ways.