greif and loss issues associated with weight loss
I have noticed a little bit of this sentiment on the forums, so I wanted to get some perspectives from you guys. My self-esteem has always fluctuated, but I eventually elarned to accept myself for who I am and even see myself as attractive, regardless of weight. When I started going to weight watcher's in february, I was 216 and was pretty happy with the way I looked, but not happy about my pants size or my health risks. At about 195, I looked more or less like "me" only with less face fat, and I really liked that. When I started going below 195, I started looking in the mirror going "who the **** is that?" I didn't know what to think of what I saw in the reflection and I definitely noticed that less weight meant looking very different when I moved (i have danced for 25 years now, so I'm used to looking at myself in the mirror while moving). This was also the point where I was losing clothes faster than I could replace them. I don't know about you, but I love my clothes, and i was having a difficult time giving them up. I am glad that I gave away my clothes as soon as I "undergrew" them because there are several times where I probably would have quit the diet if I knew I'd have big clothes to fit me. I still struggle with this regularly.
To summarize: I know what I'm doing is healthy for me physicially, but emtionally i feel like i've lost alot of positive things and gained only compliments from other people (although that's getting better).
I get the inkling from some of the posts on the forums that I am not the only person who feels this way.
I am a social worker, and after learning what I did about weight loss, I wanted to share it with my co-workers because we often help our clients with weight loss issues as the medecines they are on cause weight gain. I talked to my boss about doing a training on weight loss issues and she said that she would like to see an outline before making any decisions.
I haven't turned the outline in yet and the reason is that I am trying to make sure I have as much info as I can and that I do a good training. If I am going to tell my co-workers about issues with weight loss and how to help our clients handle them, I think that I should make sure that I am not just getting up there and speaking about my experiences. My experiences are important but the experiences of one person cannot be the basis for therapeutic interventions.
So, I would like to know if any of you guys went through these types of issues, and, if you did, what was helpful while you were going through this. Also, did your friends and family try to help you through these times, and if they did, what did they do and was it helpful? Also, Based on what you experienced what do you think would be helpful that you or other didn't try?
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