Feeling Fat vs Being Fat

Funnily enough, the feeling is a more powerful motivator than just physically being 'f a t' .

Having spent close to 3/4 of your life both being and feeling fat will have undoubtedly shaped your opinion of yourself.

We know that our thoughts and feelings have a huge impact on our perceptions. We have associated and intertwined weight with unhappiness and as a byproduct have berated ourselves for being such. They say not to 'fat shame' but we have done it to ourselves.

Through the weight loss process (a process that has become one of the largest parts of your identity) that shame and unhappiness, more often than not transforms into fear. We, never,never,never want to be FAT again, and that can be a powerful motivator to stay the course.

BUT, this is where a tricky problem arises.

We don't change our perceptions of ourselves in the process.
After 70, 80,90....150 lbs down, even within normal weight ranges and measurements, we still perceive the fat person, and this can cause unhealthy relationships with numbers on the scale... or create physiologically unattainable goals.

Those darn scales are all the stand in the way of finding happiness in your new shell. Yes of course they can be used to monitor your weight ,BUT its what we think and do with the numbers afterwards that is important.

Will we dwell? Will we simply observe it as an objective measure? Will we start to take stock of how we feel? Will we start working on changing our perceptions?
Changing perceptions... what can you do?

1. Start taking photos with friends and family, and not just any friends and family, the ones who you have always perceived as healthy weight. You need to see how different you look now. No more sticking out like a sore 'fat' thumb.

2. Get the measurements of one of your old pairs of pants and cut a piece of string to match the waistband, do the same for your current size and stick them up on the wall, the difference will amaze you.

3. When you jump on those scales and they register a success, STOP, take stock of how you look and feel. That is the feeling you want everyday without a number dictating it.

4. Stop setting goals that MAY NOT BE PHYSIOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE for you! You are different in so many ways from others, you will not look and feel the same at the same weights, but picking a number out of the air and attaching "i will be happy when..." to it, means you probably won't.
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How do you feel? If you "will be happy when.." , you may not need to lose physical weight, but rather emotional weight that is skewing your perceptions.
Are we merely setting the bar to impossible levels to avoid the fear of what comes next after we no longer have the weight loss task to define us?


Keywords: Bariatric; Keto; Weight Loss Surgery; Balance; Nutrition for Weight Loss Surgery; Mental Health; Gastric Bypass; Gastric Sleeve; Diet; ​