Why So Many Utah Women Feel Guilty About Their Body Image

There is a very specific type of body image struggle that comes up in my work almost every day, especially in body image therapy in Salt Lake City, and it is not something I hear talked about very often.

It is not just that you do not like your body. It is that you feel guilty for not liking your body.

You can be getting ready in the morning, catch your reflection in the mirror, and immediately feel that familiar wave of discomfort or criticism. It’s what follows right after that that tends to feel even worse. It is the thought that you should not feel this way in the first place. It is the belief that something about your reaction is wrong.

That is the part that tends to stay hidden, and it is often the part that hurts the most.

Why Body Image Issues Are So Common for Women in Utah

Many of the women I work with have grown up with strong messages about their worth, their bodies, and how they are supposed to see themselves. Those messages are often meaningful and important, but they can also create unintended pressure when it comes to body image.

I regularly hear women say things like, “I know my body is a temple,” or “I know I am a daughter of God,” or “I know I should love myself.” Those statements are not the problem. The problem is what happens when your experience does not match what you believe it should be.

When that gap shows up, it is very easy to turn inward and assume that the issue is you. It can start to feel like your struggle with body image says something about your character, your effort, or even your faith.

Of course, that creates guilt. It would be hard not to feel that way.

Body Image Struggles Are Not a Lack of Faith

I want to be very clear about something because I see how much this belief adds to the pain women are already carrying.

Struggling with your body image is not a sign that you are doing something wrong. It is not evidence that you are lacking faith or not trying hard enough.

I have worked with women who are deeply committed, thoughtful, and intentional in their beliefs, including women who developed eating disorders or significant body image distress while they were serving missions. These are women who were doing everything they believed they were supposed to be doing.

If body image struggles can show up there, in that kind of environment, then it cannot be reduced to a personal failure or a lack of belief.

Why Faith Alone Does Not Resolve Body Image Issues

For many women, faith plays an important and meaningful role in their lives. It can provide direction, comfort, and a sense of purpose. At the same time, body image does not operate on belief alone.

What often happens instead is that faith-based messages become something you measure yourself against. You might find yourself thinking that if you were more faithful, more righteous, or more spiritually in’t be struggling like this.

That belief adds pressure to something that is already difficult. Instead of helping you feel more at peace, it can make you feel like you are constantly falling short in a way that feels personal.

At that point, you are not only dealing with the mental load of thinking about your body, comparing yourself, or feeling uncomfortable in your body. You are also carrying the weight of believing that you should not be struggling at all.

That is an exhausting place to be.

The Guilt Around Body Image Is What Keeps You Stuck

Not liking your body is already a painful experience. What tends to keep women stuck is not just the body image itself, but the layer of guilt that sits on top of it.

When you believe that you should not feel the way you feel, it becomes much harder to actually process your experience. Instead of being able to acknowledge that this is difficult, you move quickly into judgment. You try to correct it, fix it, or push it away.

That pattern does not resolve the struggle. It usually makes it worse. The guilt makes everything worse.

Why It Makes Sense That Women Feel This Way

When I work with women in Utah, I am not surprised by how common this pattern is. Many women have grown up in environments where appearance is noticed, commented on, and tied to worth, even if it is not stated that way.

At the same time, many women have also learned to be responsible, self-aware, and know what is expected of them. That combination can lead to being more worried about their bodies.

When your experience does not match what you think it should be, it makes sense that you would try to change yourself.

You Do Not Need More Pressure Around Your Body

What I am not going to tell you is that you need to love your body. For many women, that feels unrealistic.

What matters more is how much space this struggle is taking up in your life. It matters that you are not spending your entire day thinking about your body, or lying in bed at night replaying everything you ate, or feeling like your mood depends on how you look.

It also matters that you are not carrying guilt for something that is already difficult.

You are already dealing with enough. Adding more pressure on top of that does not help you move forward.

A More Realistic Way to Approach Body Image

The shift is not from disliking your body to suddenly loving it. That is not how this works for most women.

Instead of turning your body image struggles into a personal failure, it can start to look like acknowledging that this is hard without making it mean something about who you are.

That does not instantly change how you feel about your body, but it does begin to change how you feel about yourself in the process. This is usually where the first steps of change begin.

Frequently Asked Questions About Body Image in Utah Women

Why do I feel guilty about my body image?

A lot of women don’t just struggle with their body but they feel like they shouldn’t be struggling in the first place. If you’ve been taught that you’re supposed to feel a certain way about your body, it can cause more guilt. It makes sense that you would feel this way. The problem isn’t just body image, t’s the pressure you’re putting on yourself for having those thoughts at all.

Is it normal to struggle with body image as an adult?

Yes, it’s very common, especially for women who have spent years being aware of how they look, how they’re perceived, and whether they’re “doing it right.” Even if you feel like you should be past this by now, body image issues don’t just disappear with age. If anything, they often become more intense and harder to talk about, which can make them feel even worse.

Can religion or faith affect body image?

For many women, faith shapes how they think about their body, their worth, and how they should feel. That can be helpful, but it can also create pressure. Struggling with body image is not a sign that you’re lacking faith, and it’s not something that gets resolved just by believing differently. It’s more complex than that, and it deserves to be understood, not judged.

Why can’t I stop thinking about my body?

When your brain has learned that your body is something to monitor, evaluate, or “get right,” it makes sense that those thoughts would feel constant. It’s not because you’re doing something wrong but it’s because this pattern has been reinforced over time. The goal isn’t to force those thoughts to disappear overnight, but to change how much power they have over you.

Can therapy actually help with body image issues?

Therapy can help you understand where these patterns came from and why they’ve stuck around for so long. Instead of trying to fix your body or force yourself to think positively, the focus is on reducing the shame, pressure, and constant thinking about your body.

What does body image therapy look like in Utah?

Body image therapy is not about being told to love your body or “just be more confident.” It’s about understanding the emotional, cultural, and personal factors that impact how you see yourself. I work with women across Utah who feel stuck in this cycle by helping them focus more on being body neutral.

Body Image Therapy for Women in Utah

If you feel stuck in this pattern, where it is not just your body that feels hard but also the guilt you carry about struggling in the first place, I get it.

I work with women across Utah through body image therapy who are navigating this exact experience, including women in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas who are looking for therapy that actually understands how big a deal this is to you, not just the behaviors on the outside. Many of the women I work with are thoughtful, capable, and self-aware, and still feel like their relationship with their body is the one place they cannot figure out.

This work is not about forcing yourself to feel differently or trying to “fix” your body image as quickly as possible. It is about understanding why this is happening and creating a different way to relate to it so it does not continue to take over your day.

About the Author

Ashlee Hunt, LCSW, is a licensed therapist in Utah and the founder of Maple Canyon Therapy, an online practice serving women in Salt Lake City and across the state. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a bachelor’s degree in family life and human development from Southern Utah University, as well as a Master of Social Work from Utah State University.

Ashlee has over 12 years of clinical experience and has worked with eating disorders at every level of care, including outpatient, residential, and inpatient treatment. Her work focuses on body image, emotional eating, and the internal pressure many women carry to have everything together while struggling privately.

She is currently pursuing her Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) certification through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP), further deepening her specialization in this area.

Ashlee’s approach is relational, trauma-informed, and grounded in helping women understand the why behind their patterns rather than just trying to fix behaviors. She works primarily with high-functioning women who feel anxious, self-critical, and overwhelmed by their relationship with food and their body, and want a way to feel more at ease in their own lives.

She provides online therapy to women throughout Utah.