Overweight or not? What the mind thinks.
ThomasNMn
Posts: 37
I'd like to open up a question for debate and see what others think, or if it's just me and I"m completely nuts. 
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Anyhow, at my current weight, which I can pretty comfortable maintain where I currently live(Minnesota), I always think of myself as overweight/fat. I have about 35 lbs to lose to my ideal weight, which is my ultimate goal and what I have been able to maintain comfortably in warmer climates(California/Tennessee),when I was younger/more active.
At the same token however, I just recently lost 50 lbs, gained over the past 2 years due to some stressful and personal situations, and yet, at that weight, I didn't really consider myself fat/overweight?
What is it about the mind and/or society influences that causes these types of feelings? And has anyone else ever thought like that?
~.Anyhow, at my current weight, which I can pretty comfortable maintain where I currently live(Minnesota), I always think of myself as overweight/fat. I have about 35 lbs to lose to my ideal weight, which is my ultimate goal and what I have been able to maintain comfortably in warmer climates(California/Tennessee),when I was younger/more active.
At the same token however, I just recently lost 50 lbs, gained over the past 2 years due to some stressful and personal situations, and yet, at that weight, I didn't really consider myself fat/overweight?
What is it about the mind and/or society influences that causes these types of feelings? And has anyone else ever thought like that?
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I read some research last week suggesting that gay/bi men have a lower perceived ideal weight than heterosexual men, but aren't more likely to believe they're overweight if you control for that difference. Of course, like most research done with MSM, these were well-off, urban white guys (sigh).
My point is that what whether you perceive yourself as overweight has a lot more to do with your cultural environment and psychological state than the numbers on the scale. Funny thing, isn't it?0 -
I'm not following your question, Thomas. Are you saying that when you were 50 lbs heavier, you didn't consider yourself overweight but at your present weight you do?
If you didn't consider yourself overweight, what was your motivation for losing the 50 lbs? Or have I misunderstood you completely?0 -
hummm, even pushing 300 I really didn't have any self perception of being over weight - I had health problems that pushed me over the edge to do something. but I didn't really think about it seriously. 25 years ago I was 170, was up to somewhere north of 295 a couple years ago. Now I'm 51 and was 202 this morning. I look back at pictures now and think OMG ! WTF happened !!!
ok - where I am I going.... self perception is a funny thing - people with eating disorders can think they are fat when they are emaciated also.0
