Believe it or not, with weight loss comes some disadvantages. Obviously it has great health and mood benefits, but if you or someone you know has recently lost a lot of weight, bear in mind these six things…
(The aim of this is not to belittle weight-loss, but to give a voice to the other side of the story. After all, it’s not easy being female!)
1. Obsession
They may have become over-obsessive with diets or calorie counting. If this goes too far this can lead to eating disorders. This is an especially vicious cycle to break when you’re getting compliments on how great you look. Just learn to realise when enough is enough (whether you are the one losing weight or a friend.)
2. Psychological Lag
Speaking from experience, I will always see myself as the ‘fat one’. Despite losing over a third of my body weight, my mind is still yet to adjust. It’s going to take a long time for me to actually accept that I am now at a healthy weight. It is likely that anyone who loses weight will need time to adjust to their new mentality; them calling themselves ‘fat’ is not always just compliment fishing, for they may genuinely still believe that they are.
3. Identity Crisis
With a new found body image may come a lost sense of identity. Now that I am no longer the ‘bubbly’ or ‘chubby’ one, what am I? I, like many other people who have lost weight, need time for confidence and a sense of my newfound self to blossom.
4. Pressure
With the compliments and ego-boosts that come from down-sizing, comes a lot of pressure to keep the weight off. This, in tandem with obsessive diets, can cause a lot of stress. The trick is to get down to a healthy weight for your height and age, and continue to eat healthily and do regular exercise. Your body will naturally bounce back to it’s ‘happy’ weight, so don’t fight it if you plateau (some people’s body types mean they will naturally weigh more or less than what they deem to be the perfect weight.)
5. The Past is Never Far
Those who lose weight, although thankful for kind compliments, are at risk of second-guessing their lives before weight loss. They may equate success only to being slimmer or changing the way they look. This serves to belittle their life when they were bigger. One idea to conquer this sense of past inferiority is to think of weight loss as simply aiding you to be the best (healthiest) person you can be. Without the past you wouldn’t be the person you are today.
6. Blossoming
It must be remembered that it is not appearance alone that makes weight loss worthy; it is the commitment, the motivation and the transformation of mental attitude in general. The changed outlook on life and self-assurance through meeting goals reaps far more benefits than a change in appearance does.