There probably wasn’t a particular day when it happened. More likely, it was gradual. A dress you once loved moved to the back of the closet. You started choosing clothes based more on what they concealed than on how they made you feel. Maybe you became less comfortable in photographs, more self-conscious getting undressed, or simply less inclined to put yourself in situations where your body was going to be noticed.
If none of that sounds familiar, fine. But for plenty of people who have gained weight they haven’t been able to lose, the change isn’t confined to the scale. It can slowly affect how they see themselves and how comfortable they feel being seen by someone else.
“Finding your space back in the social world and feeling comfortable in your new body… can be really unsettling for some.”
David Sarwer, PhD, Director, Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, quoted by WebMD
Sometimes weight changes more than your body
Most conversations about weight focus on health. Blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, joint health and cardiovascular risk all matter, but that’s not how you experience your body every day.
You experience it when you’re getting dressed for dinner, walking onto a beach, catching your reflection unexpectedly or being intimate with someone. You experience it when somebody pulls out a camera and your first instinct is to position yourself differently, stand at the back or volunteer to take the picture instead.
Sometimes the simplest description is: I don’t feel like myself anymore.
That feeling isn’t reserved for someone who needs to lose 100 pounds. You might be 20 or 30 pounds above the weight at which you historically felt most comfortable. Perhaps it happened after pregnancy, during a difficult period, as you got older, after an injury or simply through several years of gradual weight gain. The amount is different for everyone. What matters is whether it has started changing the way you feel in your own body.
Can losing weight improve confidence and body image?
It can for some people, but there isn’t a number on a scale that manufactures confidence. Research on body image after substantial weight loss shows that physical change and self-perception do not always move at the same speed. Some people report greater confidence, while others need time and support to adjust to a changed body. That is one reason responsible medical weight management should treat weight as part of a person’s health and life, not as a verdict on their worth.
When unwanted weight has been one of the things making you uncomfortable in your body, changing it may change some of the experiences surrounding it. Maybe you enjoy choosing clothes again. Maybe you stop hiding when someone takes a photograph. Maybe you’re more comfortable on the beach or more confident with your partner. Maybe you catch your reflection and recognize more of the person you remember.
Sometimes the thing someone wants back isn’t simply a smaller body. It’s a part of themselves that has become quieter over time.
What if you’ve already tried to lose weight?
That’s where frustration can become resignation. You’ve dieted before. You’ve exercised. Perhaps you lost weight and regained it. Maybe you worked incredibly hard and saw so little progress that eventually the effort stopped feeling worthwhile. Starting again can become exhausting before you’ve even started.
The difference today is that another attempt does not necessarily have to use exactly the same tools as the last one. Modern medical weight-loss treatment can give appropriate patients access to medications that affect appetite and metabolic pathways involved in weight regulation. For some people, treatment can help create meaningful progress where previous attempts repeatedly stalled.
And progress matters. When you can see and feel that something is changing, continuing can feel very different from working hard while wondering whether anything is happening at all.
What happens at a medical weight-loss assessment?
You don’t need to know which medication you want before seeing a physician. You don’t need to understand every new weight-loss treatment, and you certainly don’t need to arrive having already solved the problem yourself.
At The Weight Clinic in Jamaica, the starting point is a medical assessment with Dr. Lorenzo Gordon, MD, MPhil, PhD. He will review your health, weight history, previous attempts, current medications and goals. The purpose is to understand what has been happening, assess whether medical treatment is appropriate and discuss the options that make sense for you.
That assessment creates a bridge between wanting something to change and having an actual plan for changing it. You can also read how The Weight Clinic works before deciding whether to book.
Physician consultation: J$10,000
If unwanted weight has taken something from the way you experience your own life, perhaps the goal isn’t simply to lose pounds. Perhaps it’s to start feeling like yourself again.
Source: David B. Sarwer, PhD, quoted in WebMD’s medically reviewed coverage of body image after weight loss. Additional background: qualitative research on psychosocial changes after substantial weight loss.