Coping with Body Image Triggers During the Summer

It’s no secret that the summer season is a huge trigger for those who have struggled with disordered eating in the past. The important thing is knowing how to navigate these triggers to ensure a path for healthy living and confidence in oneself. 

The start of the summer season invites beach days drenched in the sun that bleed into nights. However, with the temperature change comes the next clunky concept on our mind- the outfit change.

When I hear summer, I think of swimsuits exposing my stomach region, putting my body on display and the way denim shorts cling to my thighs. I picture the way I feel on a beach surrounded by women I perceive to be smaller than me- I fasten myself on comparing and comparing until suddenly I am engulfed in a cloud of insecurity.

Summer has always been my heart’s favorite season as a Jersey Shore native. I love the way the sun feeds my serotonin and the effortless fun that is indeed the shore. I crave that shower after the beach, and that good read with my feet pressed into the warmness of the sand. However, my head instructs me differently. I remember the girl in the fire engine red one piece- commanding attention by her size. I remember the way that young girl was ridiculed, tossed away, and judged by the protruding of her pre-tween belly. And although I am the adult here, my mind still lingers into the toxicity I once experimented with that was a slippery slope into disordered eating. When summer arrives, I feel body dysmorphia knocking on my door in a routine-like manner. 

At 23 years old, I still have body image issues and thoughts despite having recovered from anorexia over six years ago. Recovery is never linear and never looks the same on anyone. Summer is a trigger for many of us struggling from an eating disorder as well those whom have recovered. I’ve caught myself feeling the need to work out more or having thoughts of dieting all because of the change of the season -and the feeling of exposure when you’re wearing a bikini. I felt myself shrinking to meet a societal standard that I had built in my head. Toxic thoughts are known to flood my mind during these times. But, it’s important to keep these thoughts at bay and actively shut them down to avoid slipping into eating-disordered behavior.

To navigate these challenges that arise with the change of the season -and the change of the clothes- I contacted the recovery center that is responsible for my recovery- Begin Within Center in Red Bank, NJ. I sat down with Donna Gallagher, MS, RD, CEPC, and Co-Founder of the center. Read on …

Can you tell us about your connection to Begin Within and about the center?

My business partner, Marnie Fegan, and I co-founded Begin Within Center in 2006. We started with just the two of us- she is a psychologist I’m a dietitian. She would see people for therapy and I would see clients for nutrition therapy. Then there was just a greater need than just the two of us could provide, so we started bringing on associates. So Marnie had several therapists, social workers, and LPCs (licensed professional counselors) and I brought on several other dietitians. We all specialize in eating disorders- that is our primary focus here. We created the center and we’ve been doing that together since 2006, so however many years that is. 

What treatments do you offer?

We do individual psychotherapy, it’s one-on-one therapy for people with eating disorders and we do individual nutrition therapy same thing but in the nutrition realm. We do have a bi-monthly free support group- it was in person then after COVID we switched to virtual and it’s just been ongoing virtually since then. It is not just for people who are clients, it’s for anybody and it’s spread word of mouth. They log on twice a month for an hour, and it’s facilitated by one of our therapists. In the nutrition department, we do grocery store sessions, we have a dietitian who does culinary- she goes to homes and helps do meal prep to try and desensitize them to different foods. We will do restaurant therapy and lunch sessions. For the therapy part, they just do individual therapy. 

How do you work to present a warm welcoming atmosphere?

That is in our DNA. We don’t try to do that. One of the things that we do is we hire people who are lovely and love what they do. Mostly everybody here if not everyone has already had their own eating disorder or disordered eating, at the getgo that makes us a little more sensitive. Our environment is not clinical we did not want to have that cold vibe, so we made sure that it was warm and inviting. People can have coffee or tea, there’s water- there’s candles. We wanted that ‘ah’ feeling- that nice vibe. Between the people who work here and the environment that we created, we hope that that’s what people get. 

Do you tend to see an influx of patients in certain parts of the year?

There are a couple of times in the year when we are much busier. It starts when school ends in May and June there’s a huge influx of patients since people are home for the summer. I think there are a lot more triggers in the summer, body image triggers, that start in the spring then it becomes really bad this time of year. Also during the holidays as well. For example, let’s say a college student comes home for Thanksgiving and their family is like “What happened?” So, we tend to get a little busier around that time of year and January. In January people get triggered by dieting, “Oh my gosh January first I have to diet,” so then we see an influx. The slowest is when people go back to school and right in the holidays. 

Do you believe that certain pressures or expectations present themselves in the summer, in concern to body image?

Absolutely, and it is across the board no matter what age demographic. It’s worse in between middle school and through college years. It’s a lot of body pressure, it is exacerbated by TikTok, Instagram, and social media. One of the biggest reasons is because people compare. People are comparing themselves to a person they’ve seen on TikTok, an influencer, or even somebody just by the Jersey Shore. People are constantly taking selfies on the beach- which is fine- but there’s a lot of pressure to look good in a bathing suit, to look good on the beach. There is also the kind of clothing in the summer that’s very sparse, so people are very very triggered by if they want to wear shorts or a particular kind of an outfit I have to look like x. So, the pressures are significantly worse in the summer body image wise. 

How would you go about combatting those triggers this summer?

It is probably one of the hardest things. What we do across the board, which is not easy and is not always successful, is we help people try and understand how to be savvy on social media. To understand a lot of the things on TikTok are not normal or what you see is not what you get. You’re going to see somebody who is filtered or disingenuous, you’re comparing yourself to that false thing. We try to educate people to be more social media savvy or to temporarily stop following certain people. If somebody is following somebody and it is triggering them, you can’t follow them- it’s easier said than done. We try and have people par down their social media this time of year. It’s also triggering with these influencers that say they only eat “clean food” or they only eat x amount a day, vulnerable people are going to latch onto that and be like “Oh my god what am I doing wrong I need to do that.” 

We try to have people minimize their social media exposure. I am not going to tell someone not to go to the beach because that’s what they are going to do. They need to remind themselves that I am fine the way I am and we reinforce different body types. So if you are meant to look like x you’re not going to look like your friend that is- if you’re 5 foot 7 or you are not going to look like your friend who is 5 foot 2 and looks a certain way. It is about trying to own your genetics, it is hard especially in that age demographic because it’s all about social media it’s all about comparing. 

I believe there is a certain nature of comparing oneself to others. How would you go about stopping that voice in your head that compares your body to other people’s bodies?

Again, it is hard. When you compare the reason you compare is because you feel insecure about yourself. So, the job is not so much to stop comparing- the job is to start boosting yourself up and working on self acceptance. That there is nothing wrong with my body, there’s a variety of shapes and sizes- no bodies are the same. The brain also- when you don’t feel good about yourself our brains find people to compare to that look “better.” When people have body image issues or they are insecure they are not comparing themselves to somebody that is larger and saying “Oh okay I am smaller than that person” They compare themselves to people they think are smaller and the brain does that to reinforce feeling bad about themselves. So, it starts with trying to work on your own self-care and self-acceptance, appreciation, and that you don’t have to look like everyone else. You can’t stop living and being out in the world you have to try your best you can to not hyper fixate on every female you see if you are bigger or smaller than her- but it is a full-time job. 

How would you go about maintaining a healthy lifestyle without falling back into an eating disorder? If you’ve had one.

It’s knowing what your triggers and vulnerabilities are. An eating disorder comes about as a coping mechanism, a distraction, or a way to feel better. Hopefully, through recovery, you learned ways to make yourself feel better and you worked on body acceptance. You have to continually work on understanding your body is not the most important part of you. When people build up other areas of their life and they feel good about other areas of their life, they can coexist with their bodies better. But, you just have to be a little bit aware that you are a vulnerable person. For example, if you’re doing well in recovery and someone says “Hey I just started Ozempic” or “I started on this diet and I have felt great and I lost x amount of pounds”- you are a person who can never embark in a diet ever ever again because people that have eating disorders are vulnerable to that diet turning into an eating disorder. That’s one thing you have to be super duper careful about. If you are having some sort of trouble or anxiety you have to talk about it and address it right away before the eating disorder will be happy to come along and save you. 

I heard you mention the term body acceptance, can you tell us a little more about that?

Body acceptance has shifted over time in eating disorder treatment. We used to get people to try and work towards really loving their bodies, but we have kind of pulled back from that. It starts with body tolerance- to learn how to live in this body. Body acceptance is a kind of body neutrality, this is my body it’s neither good nor bad I have to live in it I am going to try not to manipulate it. It’s about understanding that nobody cares. Your body is not the most important thing about you- you have a lot of other things to focus on. And, you are going to be in that body forever- so to put so much emphasis on it will just take attention away from everything else. 

The one caveat to that I have to say is that is important in the work we do now is- that if somebody is identified as transgender you cannot work on body tolerance with that person or body acceptance because they truly feel like they are in the wrong body. It is hurtful if you’re working on body acceptance with someone who is going through transition. You are working with them on really trying to support them through the transition process and being as helpful as you can. 

What is your advice to those struggling with self-love and confidence? 

If somebody is struggling with body confidence, it’s usually a self-esteem and self-worth thing. So sometimes it’s really helpful to see yourself through other people’s eyes. So, let’s say you have a boyfriend/ girlfriend or some other significant other who says “You are beautiful”, see yourself through their eyes. It’s not a substitute for what you need to say to yourself but others can see you more clearly than you can see yourself. So if your friend compliments you, not even necessarily your body, try to take it in. Know that they are being genuine. When we can’t see ourselves positively we need a little bit of positivity. Don’t be like that’s not true because you’re not seeing yourself accurately. 

Is there anything else you want to tell BELLA?

One super important thing- now than it ever was before- is that you can’t tell when somebody has an eating disorder. People are suffering with bodies of all different shapes and sizes. It is important to never make an assumption- nobody’s business what anybody’s body looks like or what their food is. It’s a boundary issue. If somebody’s really thin the worst thing people can do is say ‘How did you get so thin.’ You don’t know that that person could have a raging eating disorder and is suffering immeasurably. And then also if somebody is in a larger body- this is more common in the medical profession than it is among friends, don’t say anything. It is not a negative thing if they are in a larger body, maybe they are totally fine. It should be off-limits unless it’s within your inner circle. You can’t see somebody and say they do or don’t have an eating disorder. Have compassion.

I live and breathe this. This is my passion. This is my life. 

For more information on the Begin Within Center please visit, BeginWithinCenterNj.com.

If you or a loved one is experiencing thoughts of disordered eating be sure to seek the necessary support.