Overcoming obesity "thin fat" is as much Alanon as calorie restricting: how weight loss alone fails

Hello dear readers whom I hope I may call friends. In today's chapter on how I lost 100 pounds, I'm looking at obesity shame, "dry fat" and how weight loss alone fails to heal. You may be wondering what "thin fat" means. It's a term I coined, similar to the "dry drunk" of Alanon. A "dry drunk" is an alcoholic who, while not actively drinking, is still not in recovery because all the "stinkin thinkin" that led to alcoholism remains. 

"Thin fat" refers to someone who has lost weight but still hasn't addressed the obesity mindset, or what I call "fat think." I'm going to use as an example, Mama June Shannon of Honey Boo Boo and From Not to Hot fame. Mama June is an extreme example, but many of us struggle with "fat think" even after weight loss. 

Mama June Shannon, mother of pageant star Honey Boo Boo, enjoyed huge weight loss after gastric bypass and other plastic surgery on a reality TV show "From Not to Hot." However, immediately after this transformation, she reverted to old behaviors (fat think). Probably even while she was being nipped and tucked, she continued eating the same. June Shannon has gained back 100 pounds (and counting) but claims to be "comfortable" with it. My guess is this is an excuse to avoid doing the work required to lose weight and also because she never really dealt with the fat think that led to obesity. 

She was one of those gastric bypass patients, such as those seen on "My 600-lb Life" who believe that bariatric surgery alone will lose weight.  I lost 100 pounds without gastric bypass. And while I made a million mistakes, one trap I avoided was the bariatric surgery myth of miracle cure. My weight loss was as much Alanon as calorie restricting: I had to examine old patterns of stinkin thinkin, in my case an obesity mindset which led to weight gain. 

I have always considered myself overweight, even when I weighed 110 pounds. I guess I had a form of anorexia, at least mentally. This "fat think" caused untold damage: terrifyingly low self esteem, anxiety panic attacks, depression, stress eating and more I probably haven't even unpacked yet. Weirdly, when I got overweight, it was hard to see because I had such a skewed self-image. I even hit morbid obesity and didn't realize until I took off the "blindness glasses" (more on that later). 

I cannot stress enough that healing obesity is about so much more than weight loss. Further if you lose weight without addressing the stinkin thinkin (and keep revisiting it because it is baffling, cunning and pernicious) it's very easy to regain the weight. Recovery really is one day at a time, every day. Stay tuned for more on how I lost 100 pounds. 

How I lost 100 pounds losing fattitude: lose weight nixing "fat think"

I talked earlier about how I lost 100 pounds (without gastric bypass) with fattitude adjustment. Fattitude is what I call "fat think" or the obesity mindset. Al-Anon calls it stinkin thinkin. And boy howdy, can it derail weight loss. To lose weight, I had to identify fattitude problems and readjust "fat think" to mentally healthier. 

First, what exactly is fattitude? It looks a little different for each person. "My 600-lb Life" shows examples. Folks on "My 600-lb Life" seek gastric bypass. Their fattitude involves self-pity, blaming others and making excuses for obesity. Their stinkin thinkin clouds reason.  Despite blatantly ignoring the gastric bypass diet, they fully expect to to lose weight. 

"My 600-lb Life" shows extreme examples of obesity. But you don't have to be that overweight or overweight at all, to have fat think. That's what anorexia, or body image dysmorphia, is all about--stinkin thinkin that sees through distorted glass. 

I had a form of anorexia, or body image dysmorphia, through elementary school to college. I saw myself as fat, even at 108 pounds. I got overweight after losing two babies and taking an antidepressant. But I didn't see it because my anorexia (fattitude) always showed me obese. 

It wasn't easy to readjust body image dysmorphia. Some days I see fat and only fat everywhere. I'm never sure I'm seeing myself accurately or through that carnival funhouse mirror called anorexia. But I know, because Al-Anon tells me so, that it's about progress, not perfection. Even after weight loss, I will still have SOME bulges. But they are minimizing. And best of all, I can see that. 

I don't know if I lost 100 pounds when I began to see progress or weight loss caused me to see progress. What I mean is, did I just fix obesity without fixing my head? I hope the former. Because changing body without changing mind is about as ineffective as gastric bypass without eating habit change.