Weight and self-perception

Good morning...First, I want to thank all of the contributors yesterday to the blog with your fascinating comments. Very insightful and thought provoking.

Self-perception: Some of the comments yesterday were about overweight individuuals being perceived as "lazy" when, in fact, laziness has very little to do with weight problems. This gets back to the issue of self-perception and reality.

I have had a number of patients tell me that they never saw themselves as being overweight. What stunned them was an event, such as seeing a workplace photo and seeing what they looked like in tjhat photo. The reality of the appearance in the photo was contradictory to the self-perception of what their own idea was of the body type. I have had many people tell me they were shcoked when they saw a photo...and could not understand how their brain did not allow them to see that they were suffering from a very bad weight problem.

This is why I emphasis so much the issue of writing down your weight once a week and having a plan as to what to do if that number is not to your liking...whether it be visits to my program, following a caloric restricted diet on your own, weight watchers or whatever, it is important to face "reality" at least once a week, because the brain can sometimes play tricks on us as this relates to self-perception. feel free to comment...I enjoy very much reading what you guys and gals think about these issues....makes me a better doctor...and I don't have to pay you for the consult!