What no one tells you about dramatic weight loss

[LiberalElite]

http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/11/what-no-one-tells-you-about-dramatic-weight-loss.html

Just after her wedding in 2009, when she weighed 338 pounds and became determined to lose much of it, photographer Julia Kozerski embarked on a new art project. She took photos of herself in department-store dressing rooms, documenting her body's transformation as she lost what would end up being 160 pounds.

[mythology]

1. I think the article is right when it talks about losing weight by itself

doesn't necessarily address other underlying issues. My stepsister is a depressive eater. When she's depressed, she eats more, which makes her more depressed, rinse and repeat.

But I think that losing weight can help because while it's a hell of a lot of work, it does show that you can make changes.

[Holly_Hobby]

2. What's shocking to me is how I'm treated AFTER weight loss

I was always the fat kid. I was a fat adult. People always talked about me, or pointed at me or called me names. I never got used to the hatred of fat people.

Then BOOM! I was diagnosed as diabetic. So I went low carb and lost over 150 lbs. Yes, I have lots of loose skin, but I really don't mind. My diabetes is under strict control. I love what I eat and I'm not starving. Do I miss mac & cheese? Hell yeah. But it's poison to me now, so I can deal with it.

I'm shocked at how I'm treated in public now that I'm a "normal" weight. Every stranger I deal with now in public is polite to me. I'm not sure how to react. Being a fat person most of my life and dealing with the emotional pain of other people being mean and rude to me damaged me permanently.

[Yo_Mama]

3. What a cool person!

Even the article accompanying this elides the unfortunate fact that many people who are always at the "right" weight all their life still don't have the fantasy bodies we see in the media. Of course those bodies, unairbrushed, don't look the way we seem them in the media either.

Our definition of what we "should" look like is so wildly unrealistic that it's appalling. I think it causes a lot of problems, especially for adolescents.

Our focus should be on health, not appearance.