Body image changing more slowly than the body — setting out what I have, and where I think it stops being reliable.
I was wrong about body image in a thread last spring and I would like to correct it publicly rather than quietly.
The error was in the units, which changed the conclusion by an order of magnitude. Setting out the corrected version, and the way I now check for that class of mistake.
Narrowing the opening post, because the general version has more than one answer.
Social and relationship impacts: weight change affects how others perceive and interact with a person. Those impacts are real and can be psychologically significant.
It cost nothing to check and would have cost something not to.
Body image is a good example of a question where the honest answer is boring and the interesting answers are unsupported. I would go with boring.
I have been on both sides of the body image argument in this category within eighteen months, which should tell you how strong the evidence for either side is.
I read post #3 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite.
Where a member is finding this hard, the useful reply is usually a question rather than an answer, and this subcategory does that well.
That is the practical version. The rigorous version is longer and says the same thing.
Body image and weight loss: large weight loss changes a person's relationship with their body in ways that can be psychologically complex. Some of that is positive; some might involve adjustment or processing.
Happy to be corrected if someone holds better data than mine.
Whatever the answer on body image turns out to be, the method for getting there is the same: state the assumption, do the arithmetic in public, invite the correction.
Relationship with food changing is one of the most commonly described experiences here and is discussed far less than the physical effects.
Adding a reference point for body image. Mine is a single case, collected without controls, and I am posting the method alongside it so it can be discounted appropriately.
Reporting rather than recommending, on body image. What happened is above. Whether it should have is a different question and not one I am qualified to answer.
Building on post #12 rather than restating it.
Substance use: if someone has a history of substance use, appetite suppression and weight loss can shift thinking about body and substance use. This is a risk factor worth acknowledging.
Post #10 put the caveat in the right place and I want to underline it.
On body image I would separate what is worth knowing from what is worth acting on. The first list is long and the second is short, and conflating them is how threads get heated.
Body image came up in a thread eighteen months ago and was answered well. I cannot find it, which is itself the problem, so here is the reconstruction.
Maintenance brings a different set of psychological questions from loss, and the discussion here is much thinner on that phase.
I would hold that lightly until someone with a larger sample weighs in.
Post #17 is right about the mechanism and I think understates the practical bit.
The arithmetic on body image is the easy part and it is where the errors are, which is an uncomfortable combination. Show your working and someone will catch it.
Coming back to post #20, because the follow-up matters more than the original answer.
Support and community: some people process weight change through community (online or in-person). Others prefer privacy. Knowing what you need and seeking it proactively helps.
Post #23 is right about the mechanism and I think understates the practical bit.
Body image sits at the boundary between what this community can usefully discuss and what it cannot, and I think it falls on the discussable side, narrowly.
If you are in crisis, contact a local emergency or crisis service rather than posting. A volunteer forum cannot help and waiting costs time.
Confirming post #27 from a second method, which matters more than confirming it from a second person.
Motivation and expectation: starting with clear motivation and realistic expectations about what will happen and when helps with psychological adjustment.
Taking post #27 at face value and following it one step further.
Small methodological point on body image: repeating a measurement is cheap and resolves most of what is being argued about here at no cost to anyone.