Scared to loose weight.

Cat_mg
Cat_mg Posts: 2 Member
edited November 24 in Introduce Yourself
hi! I'm Cathy, I recently decided to changed my eating habits; I'm very over weight, and one day I just said stop, and so I did with the help of God, I've been doing pretty good at counting my calories, and drinking enough water, I've been feeling amazing. Already lost a couple pounds nothing major, but more progress then ever before, But why am I scared to lose weight? I feel like a sense of fear is loosing weight, not sure why.

Replies

  • maggleberrypie
    maggleberrypie Posts: 29 Member
    Have you always been overweight? Maybe it's about what food gives you? Comfort? Being healthy is a lifestyle change. Yeah you can cut your calories but 1000 calories a day of pizza is still a bad diet! Changing your diet takes some getting used to. If it's comfort, you need to be creative and find other ways to get this or maybe it's about your goals? If you are losing weight for others than that can be an emotional roller coaster. It has to be for you :-)
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    I think you might want to talk this through with the psychologist. I can't imagine why you could possibly feel scared. Certainly there is one theory that may or may not apply that if you were sexually abused when you were slim (and mostly likely young), you may be using extra weight as a defence against further sexual abuse. You'll know whether that's pertinent or not.

    If there is a reason, it is probably right there niggling you in the back of the mind and if you haven't acknowledged it yet, maybe you need to do a scout around for it because these things are usually not far below the surface.
  • anikayuzak
    anikayuzak Posts: 1 Member
    edited September 2015
    There is a book called "fat is a feminist issue" that I read ages ago. It's a really old book but she talks about some of the societal influences and psychological issues to do with being fat. She talks about how sometimes people are more friendly towards women that are over weight, so we're afraid of loosing weight because we will be perceived as threatening. Or the idea that we are afraid of being being thin because we think that we will have to have everything together. I also agree with maggle berry that sexual abuse can be a factor. On some subconscious level the weight protects us from more sexual abuse/advances etc etc. I think she talks about that in the book too.

    http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Feminist-Issue-Susie-Orbach/dp/0883659875
  • mhmatzke
    mhmatzke Posts: 8 Member
    I'm glad you posted this...I feel the same way. I think I'm afraid I won't be able to loose the weight I need to, so I'm my own saboteur. Thinking about it now, I might be afraid other will know I'm on a diet and afraid to fail in from of them - I have to think about this one... It's definitely harder to achieve now that I'm 40 because most of our social interactions revolve around food & drink.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    Some of it can come from a worry and fear of dealing with a self image that no longer matches self. That can make changing oneself a scary proposition, even if it is change viewed as positive change.
  • MarkofSuccess
    MarkofSuccess Posts: 120 Member
    I don't know anything about feminist issues for female body image as it associates with societal norms.
    However, as a man, losing weight makes me afraid because I will be less threatening. I was abused as a child.
    I became very muscular in order to protect myself. Now after years of counseling and life experience, I realized that I need to lose weight. I will do it slowly and hope that the fear that I have Will prove itself to be false.
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
    I hope my story might help you find out your reason:
    My fear in the beginning of weight loss was that I wouldn't be able to lose to a healthy weight. All my life, people have made a point of specifically reassuring me that because of my body type (pear) I would never be able to have a healthy sized waist and that I should accept myself as I am. It's odd, but everybody always reassured me that I was "fat in all the right places"(ugh) and immediately assumed that my trying to be healthy meant I had low self-esteem. In other words, I was constantly reassured that fate decided that I would always be "the fat one," and that I was perfectly okay. This one time, at 16/17 years old, I told my friends (mind you, they ALL were at healthy weights) that I wanted to work towards a 28 inch waist, and I was lectured pretty intensely that my pear shape would never allow it (????). It's ridiculous, I know, but words like that affected me on a subconscious level that I didn't realize existed until I started to lose weight for real. Thus, when I started, that fear hung around hard. It wasn't until I lost 10 lbs after one month that the fear gradually began to subside. Today, I am only an inch away from 28 inches and three inches from my goal waist (take that nay-sayers! :P ). If this sounds familiar to you, my best advice is to stay strong and believe in science. I happily have been able to learn that nobody is a special snowflake; we can all lose weight at a deficit (conditions aside).
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