When people encourage others to be critical of their bodies, they learn to eat in a disconnected manner in an attempt to regulate their appearance instead of listening to their bodies. Additionally, pressure to lose weight from family members, friends, healthcare providers, and culture (in lieu of body acceptance) contributes to focusing on appearance-related eating. Many people are surprised to learn that body compliments can be a form of judging a person by their appearance, such as “You look great—how much weight did you lose?” or “I wish I had a body like yours.”
