December 16, 2020 • 22 mins
How we see ourselves is a reflection of a whole constellation of emotion and perceptions. While it may seem like a personal issue, our body image influences how we interact with others, both in our own self-esteem and attitudes and in the biases we exhibit in assessing the people around us. The pandemic has presented new difficulties in maintaining healthy habits and views of ourselves, so today we talk a little about why this is important and some things we can do to have a healthier perception of ourselves, inside and out.
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Unknown (00:05):
In the race to success, we're not all starting from the
same place. Level the Pursuitseeks to fill in the gaps and
provide accessible bite sizedleadership lessons for anyone
looking to improve their skillsand prepare for the next step.
whatever that might be. Hello,peeps, welcome back. I hope you
had a safe and happyThanksgiving and you're gearing
up for a reasonably distanceholiday season, I celebrate
(00:28):
Christmas, so my cheesyapartment is decorated with
lights and a tinsel Christmastree on the wall. But whatever
holiday is near and dear to you,I hope you're prepared to make
the most of it and to go outwith a bang as we celebrate the
end of the dumpster fire thathas been 2020. Thanks for
joining me, as I kick off thesecond season, I have some great
(00:50):
new topics. And I'll also bejoined by some fabulous new
guests. So I know that you'regoing to love what we have to
share, and we're all going tolearn something. Today we're
going to talk about body image.
And you might be thinking, Whatdoes body image have to do with
leadership? Well, I think it hasa lot. How we see ourselves
affects our interactions and oursuccess, but it also colors the
biases that we exhibit when weassess others. Having a positive
(01:13):
image of our own bodies can helpus be more positive in general.
But it also helps us tocultivate healthy habits to
model for those we lead.
Over the next week, spend sometime looking in the mirror. Do
you like what you see? If you dothat's great. Give yourself some
gratitude. If not, take a momentto think about what you'd like
(01:36):
to change, and why. So what isbody image? body image is what
we see when we look at ourphysical form. And it may be
accurate, or it may beinaccurate, we may see what the
mirror actually shows or it maybe distorted by the ideas that
(01:57):
we have the way that we've grownup, or just things that we see
day to day. So why is thatimportant to us. As a person,
it's important because how wesee ourselves in every way,
affects the image that we putout to the world. It affects how
we interact with others, itaffects really the behaviors
that we tolerate, and thebehaviors that we accept from
(02:20):
others in how they treat us.
But as a leader, it's morecomplicated than that, because
it affects how we lead and whatwe project on others. But it
also affects what we see in oursubordinates, the behavior that
we tolerate, among and betweenthem, and how we manage a work
center. So because all of it hasto do with so much more than
(02:43):
just how we look. As a leader, alot goes into our assessment of
our subordinates and how we runa workplace. When we look at the
people around us, we look attheir height, their weight,
their habitus, their eye color,their skin, color, their hair,
their clothes, their voice,their accent, all of that stuff
(03:04):
goes in together. And we may ormay not exhibit biases from
that. But we can especially ifthey're colored by our own
internal biases, or how we seeourselves. It has been shown
that people who are taller getpaid more; people who are good
looking are more likely to gethired. And you can see this in
(03:24):
some of our work behaviors.
People who are thin or athleticlooking, and have tailored
clothes are more likely to lookcompetent and professional. If
people are overweight, they maybe thought to be messier or
undisciplined. And they may beexpected to have a jolly
attitude, like they're Santa orsomething just because they
(03:46):
carry extra weight. None ofthose things are fair, and they
may be completely inaccurate.
But there are absolutely peoplethat glance at someone and they
make those assessments. So as aleader, we have to be cognizant
of that not only in our ownbehavior, but in how we allow
our subordinates to interactwith one another, we have to be
aware of the projection of thosenegative images, we have to
(04:08):
track where they're coming from,and be aware of which direction
they're pointed. And when we seethem in ourselves, they can
affect how we interact withpeople who look like us, and how
we interact with people whodon't. And one of the worst
things that can happen is thatwe can internalize a negative
body image and then we canproject that on others.
(04:28):
So how do you know if you have anegative body image. Some of the
things people will do if theyhave a negative body image is
really focusing their attentionon a flaw that they perceive.
And it may be minor to otherpeople, but it's not minor to
the person that's experiencingit. It could be a bump on their
nose, it could be the shape oftheir hips, it could be that
(04:51):
their hair won't quitestraighten whatever it is.
People can be very fixated onthese things. And they might
seem like no big deal toeveryone else, but it's a big
deal to that person. People canview themselves as unattractive
or even ugly. And that's a hardone. Because obviously, we're
not all equally good looking,some of us really are better
looking than others. I mean, Ilook at people all the time. And
(05:11):
I think, Wow, it'd be nice to bethat pretty. But it's, it's more
than that, it's not being ableto accept a compliment, not
being able to recognize when youdo look your best. Some of these
people will fear others will seetheir deformity, or or whatever
they perceive as theirdeformity, so they will try to
cover it up, either with makeupor clothing or the way they act,
(05:32):
or the way they positionthemselves or maybe turn their
head and photos, things likethat. But it can even go
further. And they can refuse tointeract want to stay home not
want to interact with people.
Often that people that have thistype of image of themselves,
will come across as actuallybeing self centered or vain,
because they're constantlychecking to see how they look
(05:52):
maybe looking in the mirror alot. But a lot of times it's not
to admire, it's actually to seethat their flaw is covered or
that they're trying to hide itfrom the people around them.
These people may comparethemselves with others. And I
think we all do that, to someextent, right, we all look at
someone and think I'm taller,thinner, or shorter or fatter,
whatever that is. But it's morethan that. It's it's to their
(06:16):
detriment, and it's comparingyourself with ideals that we can
every I mean, if you're lookingat Instagram models, and, and
people in magazines, thosepeople are airbrushed and, you
know, shifted, and they use allsorts of camera angles, and
lighting and all those things.
And that's just not real life,we can't, we don't look like
(06:37):
that in real life. So if you'recomparing yourself to those
things, and expecting yourselfto meet that ideal, that's not
healthy for you. And thenfinally, people might pursue
cosmetic surgery. And there'snothing wrong with having
cosmetic surgery, havingcosmetic surgery does not mean
that you have either a negativebody image or that you have a
(06:59):
psychiatric disorder, lots ofpeople that are totally normal
and healthy, have cosmeticsurgery, but it can be taken to
an extent where it is unhealthyfor you. And that's one of the
things that plastic surgeonsgenerally try to evaluate. And
there are certain types ofsurgery that there's a quite a
bit of psychiatric evaluationthat goes forward to make sure
that you are healthy to undergothat type of procedure. But in
(07:22):
general, trying to continue tochange things to fill that void
can be unhealthy, especially ifyou've gotten to a place where
nothing is going to fill thatvoid.
So what is the impact to us?
What happens? Well, well, one ofthe things that we've seen in
the pandemic is a massive risein alcoholism, and disordered
(07:42):
eating and self destructivebehavior. And what does that
mean? Well, a lot of people arehome teleworking, or they've
been laid off from their jobs,or their jobs are just on hold.
So a lot of people in doing theright thing and staying home,
they're sitting on their coucheswith nothing to do. One of the
things that people do when thishappens is they eat, both for
(08:04):
comfort and out of boredom. Andwhen you do that, over time, you
can gain weight. Especiallybecause the foods that give most
of us comfort in the foods thatwe eat or bored or when we want
to be entertained are notexactly the healthiest food. No
one says Wow, I feel so reallydown I think I'm going to have
an apple. No, it's you know, apint of Ben and Jerry's. So that
(08:25):
is not ideal. And we're seeingthat through the pandemic, calls
to the National Eating Disordershotline are up 70 to 80%. This
is hitting people really hard,disordered eating can absolutely
lead to negative body image andvice versa. And so what and when
I talk about disordered eating,the main things I'm talking
(08:48):
about are anorexia, which iswhen you don't eat, or bulimia,
which is when you do eat, andoften will eat a lot will binge
and eat, you know, severalhundred to several thousand
calories at a time and then uselaxatives or vomiting or
excessive exercise to balanceout those calories. And so
neither one of those things ishealthy. And there can be
(09:09):
really, really dangerous to yourbody and taken to the extremes
there significant healthconsequences. Eating disorders
have the second highestmortality of any psychiatric
diagnosis. They are so hard onyour body. So the reason I
wanted to talk about body imageis not only because I think it's
important, but also since thepandemic we've seen. There's
been a rise in unhealthybehaviors across the country.
(09:32):
And so these types of behaviors,they affect your professionalism
and your leadership but they canactually affect your life.
So what are some ways to improvehow you think about your body if
this is something you're dealingwith? Well, the first is
gratitude. And you guys know Ireally like gratitude. I'm
grateful for where I am and thegifts I've been given. And so
(09:54):
I'm you know, I encourage thatin everybody but every day we
wake up on the right side of thegrass is a blessing. If you can
chew your food, if your brain isworking inside your head, if you
can get up and put on your shoesand walk around all of those
things, if you can do any or allof those things, that's
something to be grateful for. Soyou can start there. But also, I
(10:17):
bet you there's more, do youhave good hair? Do you look
great, and that certain pair ofjeans, do you feel super good in
the color blue? Find thosethings and be grateful for them.
If someone in your life tellsyou, you look good. Be grateful
for that. When they when theysay it, say thank you, and
(10:37):
internalize it. Don't argue,don't tell them why that you
don't look good. Just say thankyou. The next step is starting
to increase the positive habitsthat you have in your life. And
that can be across the board.
You don't have to be on a supervegan diet, you don't have to
run five miles a day. Buttreating your body as though
it's important to you, becauseit's the only one you got. And
(10:59):
feeding it good nutrition. Andmoving it around every single
day are things you shouldabsolutely do. With or without a
pandemic, you can do thosethings, choosing to put good
fuel in your body is important.
Now, if the pandemic has justrocked you, and everything about
(11:20):
your body is a mess, right now,maybe you pick one thing. Now if
you're a cold turkey person, andyou're gonna do it all, that's
awesome. But maybe, maybe that'snot you pick one thing that you
want to change, get a little bitmore movement, get a little bit
more water, drink a little bitless alcohol, or eat a little
(11:40):
bit less processed food,whatever, whatever works for
you. Maybe try one thing at atime. But start to incorporate
those positive habits into yourlife. You can also do
meditation, stress management,read, expand your mind all of
those things. Because all ofthose things go in together.
We're talking about body image,but how you think about yourself
(12:01):
in general is going to colorthat if you wake up in a good
mood, it's hard not to be atleast a little bit happy with
what you see in the mirror. Sostart there, whatever it is for
you. If you need baby steps,take baby steps, but get it
started.
The next thing is to avoidfocusing on negative images and
negative thoughts. And socialmedia is a huge thing for this.
(12:23):
So if you spent a lot of time onsocial media, and it makes you
feel bad about yourself stop,I'll tell you, I think I've told
you before, I have the parentaltimers on my phone so that my
apps greyed out becauseotherwise I'll spend far too
much time on social media, whichjust is not good for your brain,
it's not good politics is wasmaking me crazy as well. So if
you're spending time on that,and it's making you feel bad,
(12:44):
and you're feel like you have tolive up to this imaginary ideal,
stop, stop doing it. If you hangout with friends that are always
encouraging you to do bad thingsor, you know, incorporate in
your bad habits, maybe spend alittle less time with them. I'm
not saying cutting these peopleout of your life if they're your
friends. But if you want tochange your behavior, you have
(13:05):
to start somewhere. And the flipside of that is if you have
positive things in your life orpositive influences, spend some
more time with them. When anegative thought comes into your
head, acknowledge it, and thenlet it go by-- don't ruminate on
it. Don't sit there thinkingabout it, when a positive
thought comes in your head,spent some time appreciating
this positive thought. And thenagain, let it go by dwelling on
(13:29):
either one of them isn't reallyparticularly helpful. So spend
some time with the positiveones, but then let them go as
well. And as I mentioned, yourenvironment and the people
around you absolutely affect. Wetalked about how they affect
your success. But when you'retalking about health behaviors,
oh my goodness, if your friendsall want to sit on the couch,
eating Doritos and playing gamesall day, that's what you're
(13:50):
going to do. If your friendswant to go for a bike ride on
Saturday afternoon, you know,that's cool, do that. Get out
and get moving, get some vitaminD if you can, the sunshine is
good for you. So again, you'renot supposed to cut everybody
out of your life just becausethey don't have the habits you
want to have. But you have to ifit's hard for you to change
(14:10):
them, you have to give yourselfa little grace, understand that
you're not going to necessarilygo against the tide all the
time. And so try to surroundyourself by people that are
going to support the good thingsin your life.
Okay, so let's talk for a secondabout weight. Now we've been
talking about this to someextent with with respect to
weight, but you need tounderstand there's currently a
(14:36):
movement in our country, which Ithink is wonderful, that's
basically around loving the skinyou're in. Not feeling self
conscious about having a coupleextra pounds, having stretch
marks or having cellulite andthings like that and that is
wonderful. You should feel goodabout your skin that you're in.
(14:56):
All of the things that life hasis giving your body the gifts
and scars It's giving your bodyYou should be proud of what
you've been through and whatyou've accomplished. There's no
question about that. However, ifyou are carrying more weight
than your body is meant tocarry, and we're all a little
(15:17):
different, there are healthconsequences to that, and you
can't deny that. So what I meanby that is, whatever size you
are, say you're meant to weigh170 pounds. And that is your
healthy spot. And you maybe youhave a couple extra pounds and
but you're getting exercise,you're eating pretty good, and
overall, you feel great, thenthat's a good weight for you. If
(15:39):
you carry 50 extra pounds on topof that, even if you're still
moving around a little bit,you're still eating pretty
healthy, the health consequencesare not the same. carrying extra
weight puts you at risk forthings like metabolic syndrome,
which can lead to diabetes, itincreases your risk of
(16:00):
cardiovascular healthconsequences. And as an
orthopaedic surgeon, where I seeit is it crushes people's knees
and feet. And you really seeimplications to that.
Additionally, if you have tohave a surgery or procedure, if
you are overweight or obese,your risk of complications is
higher. This isn't a judgement,it's science, it's facts. When
(16:23):
we look at the numbers, the riskof something bad happening, if
you are overweight or obese ishigher. That is not to say that
we all have to be a size two,we're not meant to be a size
two. And I'm not saying that inany way. I'm saying being the
healthiest you that you can be,but recognize if you are not the
weight that your body was meantto be. Biologically, I'm not
(16:47):
talking socially, I'm nottalking about whatever that
looks like I'm talkingbiologically, if you're carrying
extra weight, then you are atrisk for certain health
complications. The same thinggoes if you are significantly
underweight. If you aremalnourished if you carry too
little muscle, if your body isnot working efficiently, you are
(17:08):
at risk for certain healthconsequences. So this is not a
commentary on what we'resupposed to look like. or the
fact that you should beshouldn't be proud of however
you look, however, be thehealthiest you can be be active,
put good fuel in your body move,because all of those things are
positive for you.
And when we talk about bodyimage, especially in the
(17:29):
military, one of the things Iused to tell my people is, I
don't expect you to be a sizetwo, I don't expect you to have
a 28 inch waist, I expect you tobe healthy and meet your fitness
requirements and be able to passyour fitness test any day of the
week. But when it comes toprofessionalism and image, that
(17:51):
is part of how we judge andexcel in the military is looking
professional in the uniform. Soif you bought your uniform 20
pounds ago, then I'm not sayingyou need to lose 20 pounds, you
have to decide that if you'rehealthy and happy and you're
able to meet your meet yourfitness requirements, then I got
nothing to say about that. Butyou should wear a uniform that
fits. You need to wear somethingthat flatters whatever you are
(18:14):
carrying right now. Because notonly does making sure that
you're proper in squared away,meet the intent, but you also
feel better about yourself. Wedon't have to be a size two to
look good in our clothes. Butwearing clothes that fit us
properly makes almost everybodylook like a million bucks. So
(18:35):
it's just something to consider.
If you're not where you want tobe, then you can still look, act
and feel like a professional. Soit takes some time to do that.
If you are where you want to bewhere you want to be, then
that's great. Again, make surethat whatever you have your
clothes, as a professional, as aleader, make sure your clothes
fit you properly. If you've losta bunch of weight, if you gained
a bunch of weight, go out andmake sure that you have your
(18:57):
stuff tailored and fit youproperly so that you look like
the professional that you feellike on the inside. Because that
will make you feel better. Andthat will absolutely affect the
image that you project toothers.
So all of these things puttogether this is about body
image. It's about health, butreally, it's about how we see
(19:19):
ourselves in the image that wewant to put forward. We're not
all the same, which is awesome.
That's what makes our country soamazing. And we're not all meant
to be the same. We're not allmeant to be the size, same size,
same shape. But we can optimizeour health, our movement, our
nutrition, and how we projectourselves in order to make sure
that all of the good things thatare happening inside us are what
(19:42):
we project out to others. Andwhen we do that, they will not
only be more likely to treat usthat way. But we'll be modeling
good behaviors for the peoplethat we're trying to lead. And
that's really important.
So this week spent I'm lookingin the mirror. If you're happy
with what you see, that isawesome, you still might look at
(20:05):
your habits and make sure you'rehappy with all of those and
maybe look at your wardrobe andmake sure everything fits
properly in the way that who youare right now. If you're not
happy with what you see, that'sokay, too. But think a little
bit about why you're not happy.
Is it something that you need tochange because you're concerned
about others? Or is thissomething you want to change
(20:29):
because of your health or yourgoals. If it's for you, then
it's probably worth looking at.
If it's not, then it still mightbe, but spend some time thinking
about whether or not that'sworth it to you. And then look
at your habits. Maybe it's oneat a time, just making baby
steps and working your waytowards your goal. Or maybe
(20:52):
you're a cold turkey person thatwants to just change your whole
lifestyle. The pandemic is agreat opportunity to to try.
Remember, it takes 21 days tochange a habit. So if you fall
off a couple times, that's okay,get back on the horse. But
whatever you decide, know thatyou have to put good things in
your body, because it deservesit. And you have to move every
(21:15):
day. Because you deserve it. Andyou have to think of yourself as
a strong, vital, intelligentprofessional. Because you are.
That's been our discussion ofbody image on level the pursuit.
Thanks for joining, and I lookforward to your comments. If you
like the discussion, please giveit a like or subscribe. If you
didn't, please comment with whatI can do better. Next time,
(21:37):
we're going to talk to Dr. EricSpeight, who's a fantastic
individual and has a great storyto tell. I won't give away too
much today, but we'll talk tohim and we'll hear what he has
to say next week. Don't forgetto spend some time looking in
the mirror and seeing if there'sanything that you want to
change. If there is then makesure it's for the right reasons
and then make a plan then headover to www dot level the
(22:00):
pursuit.com to share yourinsights and your successes. I
can't wait to learn from yourthoughts. Thanks again for
joining level the pursuit. Well,we can't choose where we start.
We can choose our dreams and howwe pursue them. Remember,
success is a team sport andthere's room for all of us to
achieve our goals. So be a goodleader. Be a good follower and
do something great
In the race to success, we're not all starting from the
same place. Level the Pursuitseeks to fill in the gaps and
provide accessible bite sizedleadership lessons for anyone
looking to improve their skillsand prepare for the next step.
whatever that might be. Hello,peeps, welcome back. I hope you
had a safe and happyThanksgiving and you're gearing
up for a reasonably distanceholiday season, I celebrate
(00:28):
Christmas, so my cheesyapartment is decorated with
lights and a tinsel Christmastree on the wall. But whatever
holiday is near and dear to you,I hope you're prepared to make
the most of it and to go outwith a bang as we celebrate the
end of the dumpster fire thathas been 2020. Thanks for
joining me, as I kick off thesecond season, I have some great
(00:50):
new topics. And I'll also bejoined by some fabulous new
guests. So I know that you'regoing to love what we have to
share, and we're all going tolearn something. Today we're
going to talk about body image.
And you might be thinking, Whatdoes body image have to do with
leadership? Well, I think it hasa lot. How we see ourselves
affects our interactions and oursuccess, but it also colors the
biases that we exhibit when weassess others. Having a positive
(01:13):
image of our own bodies can helpus be more positive in general.
But it also helps us tocultivate healthy habits to
model for those we lead.
Over the next week, spend sometime looking in the mirror. Do
you like what you see? If you dothat's great. Give yourself some
gratitude. If not, take a momentto think about what you'd like
(01:36):
to change, and why. So what isbody image? body image is what
we see when we look at ourphysical form. And it may be
accurate, or it may beinaccurate, we may see what the
mirror actually shows or it maybe distorted by the ideas that
(01:57):
we have the way that we've grownup, or just things that we see
day to day. So why is thatimportant to us. As a person,
it's important because how wesee ourselves in every way,
affects the image that we putout to the world. It affects how
we interact with others, itaffects really the behaviors
that we tolerate, and thebehaviors that we accept from
(02:20):
others in how they treat us.
But as a leader, it's morecomplicated than that, because
it affects how we lead and whatwe project on others. But it
also affects what we see in oursubordinates, the behavior that
we tolerate, among and betweenthem, and how we manage a work
center. So because all of it hasto do with so much more than
(02:43):
just how we look. As a leader, alot goes into our assessment of
our subordinates and how we runa workplace. When we look at the
people around us, we look attheir height, their weight,
their habitus, their eye color,their skin, color, their hair,
their clothes, their voice,their accent, all of that stuff
(03:04):
goes in together. And we may ormay not exhibit biases from
that. But we can especially ifthey're colored by our own
internal biases, or how we seeourselves. It has been shown
that people who are taller getpaid more; people who are good
looking are more likely to gethired. And you can see this in
(03:24):
some of our work behaviors.
People who are thin or athleticlooking, and have tailored
clothes are more likely to lookcompetent and professional. If
people are overweight, they maybe thought to be messier or
undisciplined. And they may beexpected to have a jolly
attitude, like they're Santa orsomething just because they
(03:46):
carry extra weight. None ofthose things are fair, and they
may be completely inaccurate.
But there are absolutely peoplethat glance at someone and they
make those assessments. So as aleader, we have to be cognizant
of that not only in our ownbehavior, but in how we allow
our subordinates to interactwith one another, we have to be
aware of the projection of thosenegative images, we have to
(04:08):
track where they're coming from,and be aware of which direction
they're pointed. And when we seethem in ourselves, they can
affect how we interact withpeople who look like us, and how
we interact with people whodon't. And one of the worst
things that can happen is thatwe can internalize a negative
body image and then we canproject that on others.
(04:28):
So how do you know if you have anegative body image. Some of the
things people will do if theyhave a negative body image is
really focusing their attentionon a flaw that they perceive.
And it may be minor to otherpeople, but it's not minor to
the person that's experiencingit. It could be a bump on their
nose, it could be the shape oftheir hips, it could be that
(04:51):
their hair won't quitestraighten whatever it is.
People can be very fixated onthese things. And they might
seem like no big deal toeveryone else, but it's a big
deal to that person. People canview themselves as unattractive
or even ugly. And that's a hardone. Because obviously, we're
not all equally good looking,some of us really are better
looking than others. I mean, Ilook at people all the time. And
(05:11):
I think, Wow, it'd be nice to bethat pretty. But it's, it's more
than that, it's not being ableto accept a compliment, not
being able to recognize when youdo look your best. Some of these
people will fear others will seetheir deformity, or or whatever
they perceive as theirdeformity, so they will try to
cover it up, either with makeupor clothing or the way they act,
(05:32):
or the way they positionthemselves or maybe turn their
head and photos, things likethat. But it can even go
further. And they can refuse tointeract want to stay home not
want to interact with people.
Often that people that have thistype of image of themselves,
will come across as actuallybeing self centered or vain,
because they're constantlychecking to see how they look
(05:52):
maybe looking in the mirror alot. But a lot of times it's not
to admire, it's actually to seethat their flaw is covered or
that they're trying to hide itfrom the people around them.
These people may comparethemselves with others. And I
think we all do that, to someextent, right, we all look at
someone and think I'm taller,thinner, or shorter or fatter,
whatever that is. But it's morethan that. It's it's to their
(06:16):
detriment, and it's comparingyourself with ideals that we can
every I mean, if you're lookingat Instagram models, and, and
people in magazines, thosepeople are airbrushed and, you
know, shifted, and they use allsorts of camera angles, and
lighting and all those things.
And that's just not real life,we can't, we don't look like
(06:37):
that in real life. So if you'recomparing yourself to those
things, and expecting yourselfto meet that ideal, that's not
healthy for you. And thenfinally, people might pursue
cosmetic surgery. And there'snothing wrong with having
cosmetic surgery, havingcosmetic surgery does not mean
that you have either a negativebody image or that you have a
(06:59):
psychiatric disorder, lots ofpeople that are totally normal
and healthy, have cosmeticsurgery, but it can be taken to
an extent where it is unhealthyfor you. And that's one of the
things that plastic surgeonsgenerally try to evaluate. And
there are certain types ofsurgery that there's a quite a
bit of psychiatric evaluationthat goes forward to make sure
that you are healthy to undergothat type of procedure. But in
(07:22):
general, trying to continue tochange things to fill that void
can be unhealthy, especially ifyou've gotten to a place where
nothing is going to fill thatvoid.
So what is the impact to us?
What happens? Well, well, one ofthe things that we've seen in
the pandemic is a massive risein alcoholism, and disordered
(07:42):
eating and self destructivebehavior. And what does that
mean? Well, a lot of people arehome teleworking, or they've
been laid off from their jobs,or their jobs are just on hold.
So a lot of people in doing theright thing and staying home,
they're sitting on their coucheswith nothing to do. One of the
things that people do when thishappens is they eat, both for
(08:04):
comfort and out of boredom. Andwhen you do that, over time, you
can gain weight. Especiallybecause the foods that give most
of us comfort in the foods thatwe eat or bored or when we want
to be entertained are notexactly the healthiest food. No
one says Wow, I feel so reallydown I think I'm going to have
an apple. No, it's you know, apint of Ben and Jerry's. So that
(08:25):
is not ideal. And we're seeingthat through the pandemic, calls
to the National Eating Disordershotline are up 70 to 80%. This
is hitting people really hard,disordered eating can absolutely
lead to negative body image andvice versa. And so what and when
I talk about disordered eating,the main things I'm talking
(08:48):
about are anorexia, which iswhen you don't eat, or bulimia,
which is when you do eat, andoften will eat a lot will binge
and eat, you know, severalhundred to several thousand
calories at a time and then uselaxatives or vomiting or
excessive exercise to balanceout those calories. And so
neither one of those things ishealthy. And there can be
(09:09):
really, really dangerous to yourbody and taken to the extremes
there significant healthconsequences. Eating disorders
have the second highestmortality of any psychiatric
diagnosis. They are so hard onyour body. So the reason I
wanted to talk about body imageis not only because I think it's
important, but also since thepandemic we've seen. There's
been a rise in unhealthybehaviors across the country.
(09:32):
And so these types of behaviors,they affect your professionalism
and your leadership but they canactually affect your life.
So what are some ways to improvehow you think about your body if
this is something you're dealingwith? Well, the first is
gratitude. And you guys know Ireally like gratitude. I'm
grateful for where I am and thegifts I've been given. And so
(09:54):
I'm you know, I encourage thatin everybody but every day we
wake up on the right side of thegrass is a blessing. If you can
chew your food, if your brain isworking inside your head, if you
can get up and put on your shoesand walk around all of those
things, if you can do any or allof those things, that's
something to be grateful for. Soyou can start there. But also, I
(10:17):
bet you there's more, do youhave good hair? Do you look
great, and that certain pair ofjeans, do you feel super good in
the color blue? Find thosethings and be grateful for them.
If someone in your life tellsyou, you look good. Be grateful
for that. When they when theysay it, say thank you, and
(10:37):
internalize it. Don't argue,don't tell them why that you
don't look good. Just say thankyou. The next step is starting
to increase the positive habitsthat you have in your life. And
that can be across the board.
You don't have to be on a supervegan diet, you don't have to
run five miles a day. Buttreating your body as though
it's important to you, becauseit's the only one you got. And
(10:59):
feeding it good nutrition. Andmoving it around every single
day are things you shouldabsolutely do. With or without a
pandemic, you can do thosethings, choosing to put good
fuel in your body is important.
Now, if the pandemic has justrocked you, and everything about
(11:20):
your body is a mess, right now,maybe you pick one thing. Now if
you're a cold turkey person, andyou're gonna do it all, that's
awesome. But maybe, maybe that'snot you pick one thing that you
want to change, get a little bitmore movement, get a little bit
more water, drink a little bitless alcohol, or eat a little
(11:40):
bit less processed food,whatever, whatever works for
you. Maybe try one thing at atime. But start to incorporate
those positive habits into yourlife. You can also do
meditation, stress management,read, expand your mind all of
those things. Because all ofthose things go in together.
We're talking about body image,but how you think about yourself
(12:01):
in general is going to colorthat if you wake up in a good
mood, it's hard not to be atleast a little bit happy with
what you see in the mirror. Sostart there, whatever it is for
you. If you need baby steps,take baby steps, but get it
started.
The next thing is to avoidfocusing on negative images and
negative thoughts. And socialmedia is a huge thing for this.
(12:23):
So if you spent a lot of time onsocial media, and it makes you
feel bad about yourself stop,I'll tell you, I think I've told
you before, I have the parentaltimers on my phone so that my
apps greyed out becauseotherwise I'll spend far too
much time on social media, whichjust is not good for your brain,
it's not good politics is wasmaking me crazy as well. So if
you're spending time on that,and it's making you feel bad,
(12:44):
and you're feel like you have tolive up to this imaginary ideal,
stop, stop doing it. If you hangout with friends that are always
encouraging you to do bad thingsor, you know, incorporate in
your bad habits, maybe spend alittle less time with them. I'm
not saying cutting these peopleout of your life if they're your
friends. But if you want tochange your behavior, you have
(13:05):
to start somewhere. And the flipside of that is if you have
positive things in your life orpositive influences, spend some
more time with them. When anegative thought comes into your
head, acknowledge it, and thenlet it go by-- don't ruminate on
it. Don't sit there thinkingabout it, when a positive
thought comes in your head,spent some time appreciating
this positive thought. And thenagain, let it go by dwelling on
(13:29):
either one of them isn't reallyparticularly helpful. So spend
some time with the positiveones, but then let them go as
well. And as I mentioned, yourenvironment and the people
around you absolutely affect. Wetalked about how they affect
your success. But when you'retalking about health behaviors,
oh my goodness, if your friendsall want to sit on the couch,
eating Doritos and playing gamesall day, that's what you're
(13:50):
going to do. If your friendswant to go for a bike ride on
Saturday afternoon, you know,that's cool, do that. Get out
and get moving, get some vitaminD if you can, the sunshine is
good for you. So again, you'renot supposed to cut everybody
out of your life just becausethey don't have the habits you
want to have. But you have to ifit's hard for you to change
(14:10):
them, you have to give yourselfa little grace, understand that
you're not going to necessarilygo against the tide all the
time. And so try to surroundyourself by people that are
going to support the good thingsin your life.
Okay, so let's talk for a secondabout weight. Now we've been
talking about this to someextent with with respect to
weight, but you need tounderstand there's currently a
(14:36):
movement in our country, which Ithink is wonderful, that's
basically around loving the skinyou're in. Not feeling self
conscious about having a coupleextra pounds, having stretch
marks or having cellulite andthings like that and that is
wonderful. You should feel goodabout your skin that you're in.
(14:56):
All of the things that life hasis giving your body the gifts
and scars It's giving your bodyYou should be proud of what
you've been through and whatyou've accomplished. There's no
question about that. However, ifyou are carrying more weight
than your body is meant tocarry, and we're all a little
(15:17):
different, there are healthconsequences to that, and you
can't deny that. So what I meanby that is, whatever size you
are, say you're meant to weigh170 pounds. And that is your
healthy spot. And you maybe youhave a couple extra pounds and
but you're getting exercise,you're eating pretty good, and
overall, you feel great, thenthat's a good weight for you. If
(15:39):
you carry 50 extra pounds on topof that, even if you're still
moving around a little bit,you're still eating pretty
healthy, the health consequencesare not the same. carrying extra
weight puts you at risk forthings like metabolic syndrome,
which can lead to diabetes, itincreases your risk of
(16:00):
cardiovascular healthconsequences. And as an
orthopaedic surgeon, where I seeit is it crushes people's knees
and feet. And you really seeimplications to that.
Additionally, if you have tohave a surgery or procedure, if
you are overweight or obese,your risk of complications is
higher. This isn't a judgement,it's science, it's facts. When
(16:23):
we look at the numbers, the riskof something bad happening, if
you are overweight or obese ishigher. That is not to say that
we all have to be a size two,we're not meant to be a size
two. And I'm not saying that inany way. I'm saying being the
healthiest you that you can be,but recognize if you are not the
weight that your body was meantto be. Biologically, I'm not
(16:47):
talking socially, I'm nottalking about whatever that
looks like I'm talkingbiologically, if you're carrying
extra weight, then you are atrisk for certain health
complications. The same thinggoes if you are significantly
underweight. If you aremalnourished if you carry too
little muscle, if your body isnot working efficiently, you are
(17:08):
at risk for certain healthconsequences. So this is not a
commentary on what we'resupposed to look like. or the
fact that you should beshouldn't be proud of however
you look, however, be thehealthiest you can be be active,
put good fuel in your body move,because all of those things are
positive for you.
And when we talk about bodyimage, especially in the
(17:29):
military, one of the things Iused to tell my people is, I
don't expect you to be a sizetwo, I don't expect you to have
a 28 inch waist, I expect you tobe healthy and meet your fitness
requirements and be able to passyour fitness test any day of the
week. But when it comes toprofessionalism and image, that
(17:51):
is part of how we judge andexcel in the military is looking
professional in the uniform. Soif you bought your uniform 20
pounds ago, then I'm not sayingyou need to lose 20 pounds, you
have to decide that if you'rehealthy and happy and you're
able to meet your meet yourfitness requirements, then I got
nothing to say about that. Butyou should wear a uniform that
fits. You need to wear somethingthat flatters whatever you are
(18:14):
carrying right now. Because notonly does making sure that
you're proper in squared away,meet the intent, but you also
feel better about yourself. Wedon't have to be a size two to
look good in our clothes. Butwearing clothes that fit us
properly makes almost everybodylook like a million bucks. So
(18:35):
it's just something to consider.
If you're not where you want tobe, then you can still look, act
and feel like a professional. Soit takes some time to do that.
If you are where you want to bewhere you want to be, then
that's great. Again, make surethat whatever you have your
clothes, as a professional, as aleader, make sure your clothes
fit you properly. If you've losta bunch of weight, if you gained
a bunch of weight, go out andmake sure that you have your
(18:57):
stuff tailored and fit youproperly so that you look like
the professional that you feellike on the inside. Because that
will make you feel better. Andthat will absolutely affect the
image that you project toothers.
So all of these things puttogether this is about body
image. It's about health, butreally, it's about how we see
(19:19):
ourselves in the image that wewant to put forward. We're not
all the same, which is awesome.
That's what makes our country soamazing. And we're not all meant
to be the same. We're not allmeant to be the size, same size,
same shape. But we can optimizeour health, our movement, our
nutrition, and how we projectourselves in order to make sure
that all of the good things thatare happening inside us are what
(19:42):
we project out to others. Andwhen we do that, they will not
only be more likely to treat usthat way. But we'll be modeling
good behaviors for the peoplethat we're trying to lead. And
that's really important.
So this week spent I'm lookingin the mirror. If you're happy
with what you see, that isawesome, you still might look at
(20:05):
your habits and make sure you'rehappy with all of those and
maybe look at your wardrobe andmake sure everything fits
properly in the way that who youare right now. If you're not
happy with what you see, that'sokay, too. But think a little
bit about why you're not happy.
Is it something that you need tochange because you're concerned
about others? Or is thissomething you want to change
(20:29):
because of your health or yourgoals. If it's for you, then
it's probably worth looking at.
If it's not, then it still mightbe, but spend some time thinking
about whether or not that'sworth it to you. And then look
at your habits. Maybe it's oneat a time, just making baby
steps and working your waytowards your goal. Or maybe
(20:52):
you're a cold turkey person thatwants to just change your whole
lifestyle. The pandemic is agreat opportunity to to try.
Remember, it takes 21 days tochange a habit. So if you fall
off a couple times, that's okay,get back on the horse. But
whatever you decide, know thatyou have to put good things in
your body, because it deservesit. And you have to move every
(21:15):
day. Because you deserve it. Andyou have to think of yourself as
a strong, vital, intelligentprofessional. Because you are.
That's been our discussion ofbody image on level the pursuit.
Thanks for joining, and I lookforward to your comments. If you
like the discussion, please giveit a like or subscribe. If you
didn't, please comment with whatI can do better. Next time,
(21:37):
we're going to talk to Dr. EricSpeight, who's a fantastic
individual and has a great storyto tell. I won't give away too
much today, but we'll talk tohim and we'll hear what he has
to say next week. Don't forgetto spend some time looking in
the mirror and seeing if there'sanything that you want to
change. If there is then makesure it's for the right reasons
and then make a plan then headover to www dot level the
(22:00):
pursuit.com to share yourinsights and your successes. I
can't wait to learn from yourthoughts. Thanks again for
joining level the pursuit. Well,we can't choose where we start.
We can choose our dreams and howwe pursue them. Remember,
success is a team sport andthere's room for all of us to
achieve our goals. So be a goodleader. Be a good follower and
do something great
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