Weight Loss and Self-Esteem/Ego

I had a patient come into the office yesterday and she was beaming from ear to ear. I commented about her very positive mood and she then told me that since her weight loss of over 20 pounds, "I have been asked out about 150% more times for dates." This patient has lost over 20 pounds, but her goal is to lose about 50 more. Along the way to her goal, however, she has noted already a marked ancillary benefit of her weight loss...being noticed in a very positive manner. This, in turn, has resulted in a tremendous improvement of her self-esteenm and ego.

Losing weight is clearly important from a health standpoint to reduce the risks of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, certain cancers, etc. We all know this and certainly, weight loss for the purpose of improving overall global health is a primary motivation for most people. There are a number of people who come into our program who do not have any known medical problems, take no medications, and yes, they are concerned about the medical ramifications of their weight problem. But, their main motivation in coming to us is to recover a higher level of confidence, self-esteem and improved ego that result from the aesthetic improvement that occurs with weight loss.

I also must add that this is not age-dependent, meaning that when someone is over 50 (an age that I certainly can identify with!), there still is a very strong motivation to lose weight because of the improved "look" that occurs at a more optimal weight. It is amazing to see how much younger our patients look after their weight loss. Concerning "antiaging" procedures, I can think of nothing more powerful than aggressive weight loss.