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  #1   ^
Old Sat, Jun-02-12, 04:26
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default As a maintainer, has the stigma of obesity lingered after weight loss for you?

Quote:
Residual Obesity Stigma: An Experimental Investigation of Bias Against Obese and Lean Targets Differing in Weight-Loss History

This study investigated stigma directed at formerly obese persons who lost weight and became lean (through behavioral or surgical methods), or lost weight but remained obese, relative to weight-stable obese and weight-stable lean persons. This study also compared stigma directed at obese persons following exposure to descriptions of persons who lost weight vs. remained weight stable.


http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v...oby201255a.html
Following on from the thread over in the media forum, http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=442915, about this research, do you feel that as a maintainer, the stigma of obesity has lingered after weight loss for you?

I can't say that it has for me at all. Perhaps the fact that I've been maintaining around the same weight for over 4 years now has something to do with it, but I really don't recall being stigmatized in such a way even in the early days of maintaining my weight loss. If anything, the opposite is true, in that most people seem to be impressed that I was able to lose my excess weight in the first place and also to be able to have kept it off since then.
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, Jun-02-12, 18:30
freckles's Avatar
freckles freckles is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,730
 
Plan: Atkins Maintenance
Stats: 213/141/150 Female 5'4 1/2"
BF:
Progress: 114%
Location: Dallas, TX
Default

My experience has been pretty much what you describe yours is. I've gotten a lot of support and encouragement for losing it and holding steady and I am thankful.

I think it does have something to do with who I choose to spend time with.
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  #3   ^
Old Sun, Jun-03-12, 06:03
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
Default

I think this is true- it is amazing what a powerful and long lasting stigma FAT has become in our society.Very sad.

I don't discuss or really talk about my weight or weight history or weight loss, so I have no idea if I am still stigmatized.
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  #4   ^
Old Sun, Jun-03-12, 08:13
Plinge Plinge is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 2,136
 
Plan: No factory-processed food
Stats: 230/147/147 Male 5' 10"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: UK
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I never was stigmatised. Maybe I could have done with a bit of stigmatisation to shame me into action. I don't judge people by their weight, and my friends seem to be the same.

I do have a branch of the family that says things like "You're looking well", which I always take to mean "You're looking fat".
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  #5   ^
Old Sun, Jun-03-12, 09:33
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

I agree with Eno on this issue. Its been a long time for me now, 6.5 yrs below my goal weight.
At first, it was all very surreal to me in the way people reacted to the way I looked. People who used to ignore me were now looking me in the eye and actuallly talking to me....as if I was now an actual human! Which kind of pissed me off. I was polite to them but did not engage them in conversation after that.
Many people would literally not recognize me at all. I think that the amount of weight one loses is a factor in how others react to you. Losing over 100 lbs, you do not appear to be the same person at all, I know that I didn't.

But my family had shunned me at my morbid obesity. My only living relative, my sister, is so competitive with me that my weight loss become an issue for her.
I've had a neighbor say to me that its been so long now that I've kept it off that she no longer remembers with me with the weight on. I liked that!
I think that people literally expect us to gain it back. When it doesn't happen over time, the stigma has to shift...I hope it does!! I've had many people sure that I had WLS....I've even picked up my shirt a couple of times to show no scars!

I still feel fat...but thats not the quesiton here!
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  #6   ^
Old Sun, Jun-03-12, 20:30
bloodroses bloodroses is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 156
 
Plan: eat fat get thin
Stats: 323/135/150 Female 5'8
BF:49.2/21.7/22.8
Progress: 109%
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i don't believe any of that like Judy mention most people have forgot i was even fat. even i have moments where this feel really natural now. Im not thinking of who use to be fat five years ago and most people aren't im pretty sure.


Hey Judy! and yes many days i too still feel fat but we worked hard so it just a mind thing no?
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  #7   ^
Old Mon, Jun-04-12, 08:00
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bloodroses
i don't believe any of that like Judy mention most people have forgot i was even fat. even i have moments where this feel really natural now. Im not thinking of who use to be fat five years ago and most people aren't im pretty sure.


Hey Judy! and yes many days i too still feel fat but we worked hard so it just a mind thing no?

Hi Nikki! Great to see you!
Its great to see that you too are still maintaining your loss!!

Yes, I think that the longer we keep it off, the stigma can and does start to go away.
I now carry around a before/after pic to prove to people when they discover that I used to be morbidly obese. They are stunned when they hear how much I lost. Main comment is, you do not 'look' like you used to weight that much. That is the stigma. How do people look right after they first lose their weight? That does sound a bit nuts to me!!
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