How long does it take for body image to catch up with body?

The body image is a mental idea we carry of our whole body. Link. It’s not the image that we expect to see when we look in the mirror – rather, it’s the system of perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs one holds about one’s own body as an object. So basically, its how we feel our body – the outline of ourselves that we simply know we have, pre-reflectively.

We can glimpse the state of our own body images in moments of unthinking motion. For instance, I ran across the room topless this evening, completely forgetting that I have breasts until I felt the sudden jolting, mild pain that comes with running around without a bra on. It got me wondering how long it would be until I knew that they were there without having to consciously think to myself “Whoops, bouncy pain. Remember you have breasts, stupid!” Will I always start down the steps without first crossing an arm under my chest? Or will I eventually be “trained” to include my chest as a part of my pre-reflective body image? I am 24, and have had the experience of being/having a body with breasts for about a decade now.

Beyond thinking of the bodily changes that we all experience in puberty, I think this might be an interesting question for people who have gained or lost a good deal of weight, people who have gotten mastectomies, orchiectomies, amputations, plastic surgery, major dental work… really, anyone who has experienced any major change in body. Has your body image caught up to your body as it actually is? Do you think it ever will?