Body image self-assessment quiz

onyxgirl17

You have scored 13 points.

SCORE 10-20

You live comfortably in your body - most of the time. However, your body image and, therefore, your self-confidence can from time to time be a little shaky and there is a risk that certain situations could make you anxious on account of the way you feel about your body, size, shape or appearance. There are several aspects to this that you may need to work on in order to reduce this anxiety and make your life more comfortable.

First of all ask yourself how much do your feelings about your body actually stop you from doing the things which could give you pleasure, such as buying new clothes, being close to someone you love, or even enjoying your holidays. If the truth is that your body image is getting in the way, you may need to take stock.

Perhaps you should ask yourself whether it is your body which is 'wrong' or your feelings about your body which need to be adjusted. Is there perhaps one part of your body you are at war with, (like your tummy or your legs) which is colouring the way you feel about your entire self? How much have you taken on board the completely unrealistic pressures on us all to look like supermodels? No-one can be perfect and it isn’t likely that people will see you as you see yourself.

You may need to do a little work on your self-confidence and self-esteem to help you overcome the minor body image problems that you have and live your life to the full. Life is not a rehearsal and if we 'wait until' our body shape is the way we really want it, we may not do some of the things we would really like to do.

It isn’t advisable to solve a body image problem by rushing into a diet or throwing yourself into an exercise programme. If you would like to learn a few useful exercises which will help you feel better about your body (and they really work) see them below, and enjoy a better quality of life.

cluelessang

My score is 56. Though I knew I suffered from this even before I took this test.

esoproni

Wow. I scored 60... Nothing have changed since my high-school years. My sisters were skinny, my mother was tiny, I was a giant in a family with my 65 kilo. And also "Ugly Betty" because of my orthodontic and glasses.
In the last 20 years I've been tried many type of diets and exercises, my weight went up and down, from 58 to 72.

I'm 36 now, I have a beautiful daughter and I want a well-balanced body-image.

donnaroo17

18 - not bad at all - am happy with this

tami101

I'm a 17! Would have been much higher a year ago.

fitnessbuilding

I got 10. I'm happy, because I'm healthy.

HealthyBodySickMind

I scored 1 point.

I only scored a 1 because I do occasionally feel uncomfortable about my appearance when looking at photos.

Lyby

I pose this question as i got a 58. What is WRONG with BDD? What is WRONG with not accepting anything but perfection? What's wrong with not liking the way I look?

No, seriously.... i'm waiting.

ETA: There's nothing wrong with you. Not a *&^%&$* thing. Unless you are staring at that one dimple above your @ss and blaming it for every bad thing that's ever happened to you (hyperbole, but you get the gist).

This quiz is crap for diagnosing BDD. It might be used as a screening tool, but it's crap for diagnostics. Pure crap. BDD is not "body hatred", nor is it dissatisfaction with your actual appearance.


THIS is BDD as defined by the DSM-IV-TR (2004; pp1006):

Diagnostic criteria:
-preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance
-preoccupation causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
-preoccupation is not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g. dissatisfaction with body shape and size in anorexia nervosa)

"The essential feature...is preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance or...excessive concern with a minor anomaly..."
"By definition, (BDD) is not diagnosed if symptoms are limited to preoccupation with body weight..."

Thank you for bringing the voice of reason to this discussion!
They have seriously suckered nearly 18 pages of us into taking their silly quiz so they can collect our electronic data and further filter their "ad choices" for us --- when I go to the website I keep getting ads for Chili's (lots of healthy food for sale there, not).
I scanned their website and saw a whole long list of "quizzes" including a depression quiz, a apple vs. pear shaped quiz, and a compatibility quiz to see if "you should stay with your mate".
This website quiz is the online equivalent of supermarket tabloid trash --- I refused to buy one of my favorite magazines this week because it had Dr. Oz on the cover (a quack who takes advantages of women's body image and self esteem issues). Why on earth would I want to subject myself to this garbage when I have MFP to help me check in with REAL PEOPLE to see if my insight into my own issues is legitimate or bogus.
If the results of taking this test made you feel better about yourself --- great, use that to continue to do the things you need to do for your health and happiness.
If the results of taking this test made you feel bad about yourself -- raise a giant middle finger at the quiz and get back to the MFP friends who will tell you that we care about you regardless of how you think you look and we want you to be happy and healthy.
If you are skinny and freaking out over whether or not you are gaining a pound --- see a shrink.
If you are fat and desperate to try to change your life --- check with your doctor and hang out in here with us so we can support and encourage each other on this journey.

My "body image self-assessment quiz":
1) Are you happy with the way you look and feel at your current health-level?

Lyby

My "body image self-assessment quiz":
1) Are you happy with your current health level?
Yes --- keep up the good work and share what you've learned with others
No -- you've come to the right website and we'll gladly share what we've learned so that you can find/work your way
to a healthier level.

MayMaydoesntrun

18

deviantcupcake

54!

Wow. I knew I was unhappy with my body, but that's quite a shock. Hmm.

mrs_mab

32.....got some work to do!

wwk10

6
And I need to loose 20 lbs.
I bet 90% of men regardless of weight score 10 or less.
We all think we look great

GingerBiscuit_19

Im actually quite suprised! I disagree with the statement that says I want to look like a supermodel because thats what I perceive to be normal ( or along those lines). I just feel that my body physically looks OLDER than I am. For example, my boobs have NEVER been remotely perky. Im 22! No children! I dread to think what they will be like when im older! Ive got worse stretchmarks than most women I know WITH CHILDREN! Do you see where I'm coming from?!
I don't think I should look like Kate Moss or anything. Just 22!

How good is your body image?


You have scored 26 points.

SCORE 20-30
A score at this level indicates that you lack confidence in your appearance and your self-confidence is shaky. You may not be aware of just how much your feelings about your body are stopping you from being spontaneous in life and doing many of the everyday things that people with a sound body image take for granted. This is bound to be affecting your contentment with life. But this probably has nothing to do with the way you actually look. There is an internal standard within you that you feel you fall short of and this is affecting the quality of your life more than you may realise. Yours is a life beset by limitations.
How have you created this standard for yourself? Have you fallen short of a 'magic weight' which you feel you should be? Perhaps it was a weight that you were at one time when you were younger or happier, or is it a weight that you have been told by someone 'smarter' than you that you should be?
You may be too sensitive to the messages around you, in the magazines you read or in the images of celebrities you see on film or on TV. These images of the ideal body sets an impossible ideal - most normal people cannot look like that. But perhaps you have taken this too literally on board, and have come to believe that if you aren’t a perfect shape, then you are unloveable, unattractive or a bad person.
Are you uncomfortable about getting older; do you feel that you have nothing to offer the world unless you are young and attractive? Have you told yourself that who you are is much less important than how you look?
You are likely to be spending quite a lot of time either trying to change your shape and weight, or trying to avoid doing quite a lot of things, or beating yourself up in some way. This behaviour will make life feel like a battleground and reinforce the bad feelings you already have about yourself.
Overcoming poor body image is not a simple task. You are likely to have practised feeling bad about your body (and thus yourself) for quite a long time - perhaps even as long ago as childhood. To continue living this way is unfair to yourself and to see how much it affects the permissions you give yourself to lead a spontaneous adventurous life. In the end, you may need to consider seeing a counsellor to build up your self-esteem and to separate the way you feel about your body, from what is realistic and appropriate.
Useful exercises
Relaxation or meditation will help keep your mind from leaping into familiar self-critical thoughts and will help you to put all things into a proper perspective.
Masssage helps you to rediscover a sense of connectedness and healing.
Exercise one of your senses each day. One day concentrate on smell. Smell flowers, a baby's hair, wear your best perfume. Next day really listen. Listen to the birds, to the sound of silence, to music. Then touch… touch silk, your skin, a crystal. Rediscover the ways in which your body is a source of pleasure.
Repeat positive assertions. 'I approve of myself' 'I look good enough for me' especially if you are feeling body-bad.
Exercise, gently, stretch and breathe, learn to take pleasure in movement. Dance. Get in touch with the spirit inside the body - it is who you really are.
Learn to be assertive. Assertion and a sense of self-control go together.
Move through fear into freedom. Think of all the things you would do if you looked the way you dream of. Start slowly, with professional help if necessary, to do these things now, living is not just for perfect people.

serendipity0924

I scored 40. Didn't surprise me, though... I have had image issues since I was a young girl...

How do you overcome this?? Or at least get better?

Ayirela

Thinking I shouldn't have taken that test. I scored a 52. It's telling me I need professional help and that I have some disorder....hmph.

bcattoes

I pose this question as i got a 58. What is WRONG with BDD? What is WRONG with not accepting anything but perfection? What's wrong with not liking the way I look?

No, seriously.... i'm waiting.

Do you honestly think you will ever be perfect? Now, I would agree that there is not necessarily something wrong with not accepting obesity, being unhealthy and unfit. But expecting perfection in ourselves is often problematic.

JayFred71

How good is your body image?

You have scored 4 points.

SCORE 0-10

Congratulations! You have a good body image and an excellent self-esteem. As a result of this, you are at peace with yourself.

The way you feel about your body has little impact on how you go about your daily life. This is how it should be. Perhaps you are aware of the pressures on people to be a certain shape or size. You see it all around you. Pressures to go on diets, or pressures to go to the gym and achieve a toned-up body. Pressures to look younger than you really are.

You probably feel, correctly, that other things are important in determining how you are to feel about yourself. Be aware however, that people around you may not share similar feelings of self-acceptance. If anything, you will need to guard against being insensitive about how other people feel about the way they think they look, because a healthy body concept has very little to do with the reality of personal appearance, it is more a reflection of how they feel about themselves inside.

In today’s image-conscious society, many people, no matter how successful or attractive they are, have distorted feelings about their size, shape, and appearance which affect their ability to lead a normal life. Take care, therefore, not to tease or make unguarded comments that might hurt the people you care for. And continue to enjoy your life without letting body feelings get in the way.

Lol

same!

DaniH826

What is WRONG with not accepting anything but perfection?

Because perfection on a human level is not achievable in a strictly objective sense.

Therefore, any "perfection" you're aiming for will usually be purely subjective as defined by "XZY group of people" or just one person (yourself or your parents or whothecrapever).

Besides, when it comes to body image/composition, what people usually strive for is an ideal, rather than actual perfection.

And as ideals go, those change based on society norms at any given time in history. Years ago the Twiggy look was in, nowadays many women aim for something more muscular/fit looking. Back in the days some centuries back when "skinny" meant "poor", the ideal was "plump" because having more meat on your bones meant you could actually afford to eat expensive food (i.e. meat instead of just vegetable soup).

I used to strive after achieving my personal ideals.

And ended up on a hamster wheel for no reason whatsoever. Now I just aim for "mostly healthy" and "non-weak/injury prone", and trust that my body will eventually fall in line.

But hey, whatever keeps you motivated, I suppose. :flowerforyou:

phoximom

I scored 15 so thats good I think.