There are five indicators that your habit of checking your body can be problematic.

1. You often weigh yourself and take measurements of various body areas.

To make sure they are on track and not gaining weight, many people weigh themselves frequently. However, someone who has body checking will weigh and even measure various regions of their body repeatedly throughout the day. They must constantly check to see whether the proportions of their physique have changed in the slightest.

2. You squeeze your stomach and reach for your bones.

When you become fixated on particular body parts is another indication that body checking is a problem. For instance, someone can be preoccupied with their stomach and constantly touch it to see if their belly fat has expanded. In an additional effort to gauge their muscle or fat, they will also try to feel the bones on their bodies.

3. You contrast your physique with that of others.

You may constantly feel the urge to compare your physique to other people's bodies because of social media. Your physique seems to have flaws, and you look to your loved ones for approval. You enquire of them whether they notice any physical flaws in you or whether your weight and form have altered recently.

4. It could get obsessive.

The above-mentioned symptoms indicate obsessive body checking when they occur much too frequently throughout the day. It's consuming too much of your time and impairing your ability to think clearly, so you'll know this. Additionally, you can restrict your diet, cease being as social as you once were, and experience issues in both your personal and professional lives. In the end, this conduct decreases your mood overall and makes you feel even worse about your physique.

5. Body checking contributes to eating problems.

In a study, it was discovered that body checking often causes the affected individual to limit their meal intake. The individual believes their physique is far from ideal and that they are losing control of it. So, in an effort to reduce the likelihood of gaining weight, they limit their food consumption. This is how many people wind up having numerous eating disorders, each of which has detrimental implications on its own. 

What causes body checking?

A 2019 study discovered that those with anxiety, body dysmorphic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder were more likely to body-check themselves. Before they began body checking, the study's participants claimed they had extremely unfavorable sentiments about their bodies. But after they examined themselves to make sure everything was okay, their attitude improved. But according to other research, body checking actually makes these unfavorable sensations worse rather than lessens them.

How to treat and minimize it

- Record the frequency of your self-checking episodes as well as how you feel both before and after each incident.

- Make an effort: Ask yourself challenging questions. Is body-checking truly useful, and if so, why? Since the last time you did it, has anything actually changed? Answering these questions logically could be challenging, but it will help you feel more grounded in reality.

- However, don't ignore self-reflection: While frequent self-checking is bad, you shouldn't turn completely around and stop gazing in the mirror. Even so, checking your attire before leaving the house is acceptable.