Brain not catching up with weight loss?

[inject-and-forget]

I saw a post on Reddit where someone lost a lot of weight and said they were shocked to actually *like* their wedding pictures. That's the kind of confidence I dream of!

 

[LeanStrong]

The metacognitive framing is worth pursuing - the same attentional and perceptual patterns that shaped how you moved through the world at higher weight take longer to update than the weight does. The body image lag is documented in the bariatric literature because it shows up consistently regardless of how the weight came off: the external change happens faster than the internal recalibration.

 

[easinginprotein]

the adjustment time is longer than most people expect and doesn't have a clear endpoint - 70 lbs is a fundamentally different body and the brain's body image map updates much more slowly than the actual change. the mirror check that keeps showing the same old image is neurological lag, not self-deception; the update happens gradually and then people usually report it arriving all at once when they catch themselves in a photo or an unexpected reflection

 

[curious-jogger]

Relate to this so much. The number on the scale changing is nice, but honestly what shifted most was no longer treating my body like an obstacle I had to clear before doing anything normal. It's a subtle sort of relief.