A Guide to Body Checking: What It Is and How to Ditch It
It’s normal to glance in a mirror and evaluate the reflection staring back at you—in fact, most of us do this type of body checking daily. But at what point can a quick, automatic appraisal turn into a harmful and compulsive habit?
If the rise of “body checking” content on social media platforms is any indication, this behavior isn’t as innocuous as it might initially seem. It's more than just body image dissatisfaction (which is incredibly difficult to deal with, in and of itself)—and it's incredibly prevalent in our culture today.
A recent study in the Evolution and Human Behavior Journal surveyed more than 93,000 adults across 93 countries to determine how much time they spend scrutinizing or trying to enhance their appearance. On average, women spent almost 4 hours each day on body-checking rituals, while men clocked in at 3.6 hours each day.
That amounts to one-sixth of the average person’s lifetime, obsessing over how to correct their perceived flaws. The researchers also found a correlation between body checking and an increase in depression, anxiety, body dissatisfaction, or eating disorder symptoms.
This body checking behavior feels debilitating if you’re struggling with it. I know I felt like I would never be able to get off the hamster wheel of obsessing over how my body looked. What I’ve learned, however, is that we can heal from this habit and let go of that hyper-fixation on our bodies. Here’s what you need to know and some steps you can take to start healing.
What Is Body Checking?
Body checking can be defined as a frequent and repetitive behavior in which someone monitors their physical appearance, including size, weight, shape, or other features of certain body parts. This can take many different forms, including:
Pinching or measuring specific areas like your stomach, arms, and thighs.
Examining your face or body close-up in the mirror for long periods of time.
Obsessing over your body shape every time you get dressed or walk by a mirror.
Feeling around for prominent bones or looking to see if they’re visible.
Manipulating the fit of your clothes to hide features you’re uncomfortable with.
Standing on a scale to weigh yourself several times throughout the day.
I don’t know about you, but I know I’m all too familiar with many of these habits. But that’s the thing: it’s more than just a little habit. Body checking can escalate into a serious issue if it becomes an uncontrollable urge that leads to other harmful actions, wreaks havoc on your mental health or self-esteem, and interferes with daily activities.
Here are some signs that your body checking might be more serious than just checking yourself out in mirror when you’re getting dressed:
Lack of focus on anything else besides how you look.
Excessive amounts of time working to alter your appearance.
Mood fluctuates based on what you perceive in the mirror.
Controlling exercise levels or food intake to feel better about yourself.
Avoid wearing clothes that accentuate certain body parts.
Isolating from relationships or social events due to body insecurities.
Career or personal life is negatively affected.
It’s important to note that anyone of any gender, race, body size, or body weight can suffer from the impacts of compulsive body checking, including:
Men: Those who identify as male are just as susceptible as those who identify as female.
Marginalized populations: People in marginalized bodies can be particularly vulnerable to this issue since they also face cultural stigmas around size, weight, or skin color. In fact, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found a close link between internalized weight bias and excessive body checking, comparison, or dissatisfaction.
People without an eating disorder: You don’t have to associate with having an “eating disorder” or have a diagnosed eating disorder for body checking to be a problem.
The Dangers of Body Checking
Body checking isn’t just an inconvenience—the more compulsive this habit becomes, the worse of a toll it can take on both mental and physical well-being. Here’s what you need to know about the dangerous (or even life-threatening) consequences of body checking.
Despite the influx of body positivity on social media, research shows us these platforms are still driving these disordered behaviors. New research from the Journal of Social Media in Society examined the effects of TikTok and Instagram’s recent body-checking trend on women who view this content.
Some participants were shown videos of thin white women, and other participants were shown videos of women with various body sizes, compositions, and skin colors.
Those in the first group were more likely to report body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, and poor mental health outcomes, which can increase the overall risk of eating disorders. Another study in the Eating Behaviors Journal found that frequent body checking often coincides with self-inflicted weight loss habits like caloric restriction and intense exercise.
What’s more, 44 percent of those with anorexia also meet the criteria for obsessive-compulsive behaviors, reports the Review of Philosophy and Psychology. This can cause body checking to escalate even further, leading to deeper anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation, critical beliefs, and persistent weight-related fears.
In severe cases, body checking and other comorbidities that cause high levels of emotional distress can result in suicidal thoughts or self-harm tendencies. This goes to show that body checking is not some TikTok trend to just shrug your shoulders at—it can have seriously detrimental repercussions.
How to Ditch Body Checking
As alarming as this data is, you can recover from chronic body checking. Let me be clear that if you think this is part of a diagnosed or undiagnosed eating disorder, or are also struggling with disordered eating, please seek help. You don’t need to be “sick enough” to get support.
Project HEAL may have a program that can support you. A good first step might be to join a free eating disorder support group to connect with others who are struggling.
In addition to professional mental health support, here are a few strategies you can use to minimize that compulsive urge to body check and begin to cultivate a healthier relationship with yourself.
Notice which factors influence you to start body checking.
Pay attention to the environments, circumstances, interactions, or platforms that trigger this behavior. For example, does scrolling on social media incite the urge to body check?
If so, consider creating boundaries for your screen time or curating your feed to get rid of anything that might be difficult for you to consume. (Have you ever considered deleting social media altogether?)
Ask yourself some questions to help redirect the behavior.
Tune into the thoughts, emotions, or self-talk narratives that arise when you’re body-checking. Here are some questions you can start with:
What am I looking for in my appearance?
Have I changed at all since the last body check?
What thoughts come up with this behavior?
Are these thoughts helpful or self-critical?
Are these thoughts accurate or deceptive?
Does the urge to body check shift based on my answers?
The more conscious you are of these false beliefs, the easier it will be to reframe them. Most importantly, this can help you choose a different, more compassionate, or neutral course of action instead.
Practice a “substitute behavior.”
One of the most effective ways to change a harmful behavior is to replace it with an alternative that isn’t rooted in the same fear, trauma or shame. This new “substitute behavior” should be easy, accessible, practical, and function as a positive distraction from the habit you want to quit.
For instance, the next time you feel tempted to body check, take three slow, deep, intentional breaths to decide if you want to take that action or not.
This takes practice and awareness that may be difficult to build—but it’s not impossible! Meaning that if this is hard to do at first, give yourself grace, it will come in time.
Consider talking to a licensed mental health professional.
If you need more help or accountability to overcome this behavior, please ask for help. Eating disorder- or body image-informed 1:1 therapists can be a good first step toward exploring what’s driving this behavior and likely others that you’re engaging in as well. You can search on PsychologyToday for an eating disorder therapist in your area.
Body Checking Doesn’t Have to Control You
The urge to body check can be powerful—and painfully normal. While it can feel like you’ll never escape it, know that it is possible to heal from body checking and find a greater sense of compassion for yourself.
Please do seek the help of a mental health professional if it feels unmanageable for you. You may be surprised by how accessible many online therapy options now are—and how good you feel when you finally ask for help.
