An interesting concept came across my newsfeed a few months ago. The headline, “ghost fat,” immediately grabbed my attention. What could this be?
It turns out that the body distortions we often associate with eating disorders can occur due to other types of weight loss as well. People who are painfully thin due to an eating disorder often still think of themselves as obese. Apparently, those who have lost substantial weight due to gastric bypass surgery or use of a GLP1RA medication (Zepbound, etc.) also continue to think of themselves as heavy.
I can relate to having ghost fat. When I first lost my 80 lbs on Jenny Craig back in 2006-2007, my husband pointed out that I retained a habit that now looked quite silly. When walking between parked cars, I would turn sideways despite the fact that I now had feet, not inches, between me and the parked cars. Even today, I am startled on occasion when I see a photo of myself–that can’t be me, I’m bigger than that.
Now I’m curious about individual differences in responses to body distortion. I have never felt the need to eat in a distorted way or to reach an unhealthy weight (My BMI is a comfortable high 19 almost 20). Yet I clearly retain a distorted body image nearly 20 years after my weight loss. It seems to me that it might be useful to learn more about this phenomenon.
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