Psychological Effects of Weight Loss

Weight loss has obvious physical effects, but an underappreciated aspect of weight loss is the psychological impact on the person who has slimmed down. Usually this outcome is positive, but not always, and being able to handle the psychology of weight loss is a key strategy for maintaining a healthy weight.

Planned Weight Loss

• People who plan to lose weight and are successful at it generally enjoy feelings of self-confidence and improved self-esteem. This is especially true for people whose prior obesity was itself a function of some underlying psychological trauma. However, some people who have an unhealthy obsession with their weight may never be satisfied, no matter how low the scale registers. These people are candidates for anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

Unplanned Weight Loss

• Some people lose weight without intending to--often from serious illness, a chronic disease or malnutrition arising from poverty or mental illness. Although some people may view this development positively, others may be scared or upset at the loss or view the loss as cosmic punishment for wrongdoing or inadequacy. In addition, people who become underweight without desiring to be so can have similar psychological self-image issues as the morbidly obese: self-loathing, feelings of sexual unattractiveness and low self-worth.

Unreasonable Expectations

• People who undergo rapid, extreme weight loss (usually, those who lose more than 60 pounds in fewer than nine months) may be initially pleased by their performance and expect that they will look and feel a certain way after they reach an ideal body weight. However, reduction from obesity is often accompanied by stretch marks and loose abdominal tissue that is unsightly and will not be ameliorated except through surgery. For these people, working hard to lose weight only to have a body that is less perfect than they expected can be intensely depressing and could even lead to weight gain or emotional despondency.

Biochemical Changes Affecting Psychology

• Psychological disposition is tightly linked to hormone levels. Rapid weight loss often affects a person's endocrine system. For example, in men, testosterone production is stimulated most strongly from two events: rapid weight loss and intense physical activity. An obese, sedentary man who effects a lifestyle change that features frequent aerobic activity and low-calorie dieting will experience extreme weight loss, but also a flood of testosterone that will affect his mood, concentration and sexual aggressiveness. These hormone-induced behavior changes directly affect a person's emotional and psychological attitude.

Treatment & Prevention

• Although the most common psychological effects of weight loss are positive, people can reduce the risk of an unfavorable response by thoroughly understanding the physical changes he will undergo while losing weight and accepting that a reduction from morbid obesity, even if he lands at a target weight, will not necessarily lead to a "bikini body." In addition, any depression that may set in from misaligned expectations should be treated by a licensed clinical therapist.