Thank you so much for sharing. These perspectives on weight loss and weight loss surgery/drugs are so important to share. It’s not straightforward. So thank you for your openness and dissecting the NYT piece!
I remember the pain of losing weight and suddenly being accepted wholly by society. The relief but also the anger- why am I only acceptable now? After putting myself through so much shit? Although diet culture teaches us that shrinking ourselves will “fix everything”- it actually causes so much physical and mental turmoil.
I'm at my year's anniversary of bariatric surgery and have so many thoughts about the mental health aspects. The first three months in particular were extremely rough psychologically. A big aspect for me was this expectation that everything was going to be great and then I did it and it was much tougher than I realized it would be. Nothing can prepare you for life post op. Many people blame it on "food addiction" and there's definitely a component of mourning food, but it's more than that as you mention. Thanks for the great piece.
“Nothing can prepare you for life post-op…” —I wonder if you had any preparation for the mental health effects of the surgery? Or were your docs focused on the physical aspect?
I was warned about it somewhat, but I was not at all ready. But they position it as being worth it since you are losing weight, the generic "choose your hard" advice you see on memes.
Thank you for this, I’m a healthcare professional working in diabetes so I see the benefit of Mounjaro / GLP-1 for people’s blood glucose levels, but it’s really important to understand the other less positive impacts.
I’ve been every size from 2-22, and it’s crazy the difference in how people treat you. I was at my thinnest after my pregnancies(thanks, hyperemesis!) My doctor was considering a feeding tube, and people just kept telling me how great I looked, how lucky I was not to gain weight with pregnancy. It was awful, but hey, I was thin, so that’s the important thing I guess.
Because I lose weight when I’m sick or very stressed, and his first wife died of cancer(and obviously got very thin) my husband struggles when I’m at a lower weight. Because of the way I was treated growing up, I struggle when I’m at a higher weight. We try to have the mentality of “all bodies are good” but it’s hard.
My husband is on mounjaro now for diabetes, so he’s been losing weight. I want him to do what he needs to do for his health, but I’m not loving the effect on his mood(and sex drive) I don’t care what he looks like, I just want him healthy and happy.
I love that you're writing these articles. It's a most important conversation. I'm in a 12-Step recovery program for disordered eating. And I've been thinking about the GLP-1s but I'm really on the fence about them. I was on the fence about bariatric surgery too, and opted out, because it didn't address the deeper concerns of my behaviors with food. I'm not in a place of total acceptance of me as a fat woman, but that's my primary goal, not weight loss. Self-love. I've ridden the up/down rollercoaster my whole life and I want off! I've been anorexically tiny and right now I'm at my largest. When I was skeleton-thin people gave me positive attention for it, and I wanted to scream. I write about all of it here on Substack. I'm so glad you're here, too, Amanda. Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing. These perspectives on weight loss and weight loss surgery/drugs are so important to share. It’s not straightforward. So thank you for your openness and dissecting the NYT piece!
I remember the pain of losing weight and suddenly being accepted wholly by society. The relief but also the anger- why am I only acceptable now? After putting myself through so much shit? Although diet culture teaches us that shrinking ourselves will “fix everything”- it actually causes so much physical and mental turmoil.
There is so much mental and physical turmoil! Thanks for sharing part of your story.
I'm at my year's anniversary of bariatric surgery and have so many thoughts about the mental health aspects. The first three months in particular were extremely rough psychologically. A big aspect for me was this expectation that everything was going to be great and then I did it and it was much tougher than I realized it would be. Nothing can prepare you for life post op. Many people blame it on "food addiction" and there's definitely a component of mourning food, but it's more than that as you mention. Thanks for the great piece.
“Nothing can prepare you for life post-op…” —I wonder if you had any preparation for the mental health effects of the surgery? Or were your docs focused on the physical aspect?
I was warned about it somewhat, but I was not at all ready. But they position it as being worth it since you are losing weight, the generic "choose your hard" advice you see on memes.
Ah. I’m sorry you were adequately prepared. Thanks for sharing some of your journey with me!
Thank you for this, I’m a healthcare professional working in diabetes so I see the benefit of Mounjaro / GLP-1 for people’s blood glucose levels, but it’s really important to understand the other less positive impacts.
So important. Thank you for the work you do!
I’ve been every size from 2-22, and it’s crazy the difference in how people treat you. I was at my thinnest after my pregnancies(thanks, hyperemesis!) My doctor was considering a feeding tube, and people just kept telling me how great I looked, how lucky I was not to gain weight with pregnancy. It was awful, but hey, I was thin, so that’s the important thing I guess.
Because I lose weight when I’m sick or very stressed, and his first wife died of cancer(and obviously got very thin) my husband struggles when I’m at a lower weight. Because of the way I was treated growing up, I struggle when I’m at a higher weight. We try to have the mentality of “all bodies are good” but it’s hard.
My husband is on mounjaro now for diabetes, so he’s been losing weight. I want him to do what he needs to do for his health, but I’m not loving the effect on his mood(and sex drive) I don’t care what he looks like, I just want him healthy and happy.
Thanks so much for sharing part of your journey with me. I hope you both find peace together in your today bodies. ❤️
Ah—the complexity of fatness and weight loss, body identity and body acceptance. I feel it so deeply and personally. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for reading!
I love that you're writing these articles. It's a most important conversation. I'm in a 12-Step recovery program for disordered eating. And I've been thinking about the GLP-1s but I'm really on the fence about them. I was on the fence about bariatric surgery too, and opted out, because it didn't address the deeper concerns of my behaviors with food. I'm not in a place of total acceptance of me as a fat woman, but that's my primary goal, not weight loss. Self-love. I've ridden the up/down rollercoaster my whole life and I want off! I've been anorexically tiny and right now I'm at my largest. When I was skeleton-thin people gave me positive attention for it, and I wanted to scream. I write about all of it here on Substack. I'm so glad you're here, too, Amanda. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Nan. Glad to have found each other.