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Writer's picturelindecatherine

Dealing with bad days + bad body image

Everyone has bad days. Sometimes it may seem like you are the only person who is struggling, it may be with adjusting to a new environment, completing a task, or simply living. There isn’t a single person in this world who is always happy. However, some might experience hard times more often than others or some might only show it more often than others. It’s tricky to know how some people are feeling because they prefer not to expose their emotions.


This is a very commonplace quote, but it has a lot of truth to it.


People shouldn’t feel bad or worthless for experiencing sadness; it is a common human emotion. It won't be always possible to completely change your mood, but it is important to learn to control it. Here are some tips to how to make your mood at least a little bit better.


  • Treat yourself to something nice

Try replacing negativize emotions with positive ones. Everyone deserves praise and kindness. Spoil yourself, you need it.

  • Talk to someone you love

Sharing your emotions can help to let go of some of them. When you let them out, you no longer need to keep them inside of yourself and worry about them so much. Detaching from negative thoughts helps to reduce sadness. Upon hearing your concerns your companion might even have some positive advice that could help you.

If you feel like you don’t have someone to share your thoughts with, try different online anonymous platforms.

  • Journal

Write down the events or moments that brought you down so you can assess how little or large these issues really are in the scheme of things. It might not be as bad as originally thought.

  • Distract yourself

Watch a movie, try coloring, visit a museum

Distraction allows you to disconnect from you bad thoughts and immerse into another world rather than dwelling on your bad day. Watching a movie is especially helpful because it is an easy way to get your mind off worries and engross in a fictional story thus allowing to forget some of the bad thoughts.

  • Go on a walk

It has been proven that exposure to nature has several benefits, including reduced stress level, better mood, improved concentration and feeling of relaxation. Nature goes at a completely different pace compared to our hectic lifestyles. It slows us down, lets us pay attention to different things and let go of others.

  • Take a shower or a bath

Taking a shower or a bath can make you feel better. People have trouble distinguishing physical warmth from emotional warmth, thus warm water can make you feel less lonely

  • Let all of your emotions out

It’s okay to cry. You are not weak for expressing your emotions. Letting them out can help you afterwards, it takes away some of the burden.


Bad body image


With eating disorders, a lot of bad days are caused by bad body image. It can be tricky to overcome negative thoughts concerning appearance, but there are practices that might help.


Changing your body isn’t going to change your body image issues because body image has nothing to do with your body. Body image is an external representation of an internal struggle. You have to heal the inside.

  • Wear comfy clothes

What I realized was that there were some clothing pieces that made me uncomfortable. I did not like the way I looked in them, they worsened my body image. My solution was to get rid of them. Don’t keep stuff that ruins your mood or body image, it is not worth it. What is the point of having certain clothing if it makes you unhappy?

  • Avoid the triggers

Sometimes bad body image is prompted by certain circumstances or events. Many triggers are unavoidable, but you can look for patterns and try to reduce your exposure to them. If weighing yourself or looking the mirror makes you disappointed, then stop doing it. At first it might be extremely hard, but it is critical to realize that if you constantly feel unhappy by a certain activity, then it will be much better for your mental health to stop doing it. Breaking a habit is tough at first, but it gets easier with time.

  • Get support/therapy

Working on your issues with a professional can be very helpful. Therapy is extremely useful in some cases. It helps you to understand yourself better and untangle some of your inner conflicts that impact the way you feel about yourself.

  • Reconsider your reasons for self-worth

What do you value your friends for? Do you talk to them because of their appearance of their personality? Why do you think then that your worth depends on your body?

We talk to people and love them because of their characters, the way they make us feel.

My friends don’t see me for my body, they see me for my personality.
  • Focus on positives

Instead of thinking about things you don’t like about your body, switch on things your body enables you to do. Think about the activates you are able to participate in and the memories they bring.

  • Understand the causes

Think what exactly made you feel a certain way. ‘Fat’ or ‘skinny’ isn’t a feeling. During the hard times what emotion exactly are you experiencing: guilt, shame, fear? Accurately identifying and solving these emotional problems is an important step in resolving feelings concerning body image.



It takes time to stabilize your mood and emotions. Even people without eating disorders have bad days, there is no way to get completely rid of them, but it is important to learn how to not let them impact your life and your journey to recovery.

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