I read FitPregnancy. It seems slightly silly to me, this being my fifth (I'm a breeder!) pregnancy and all and yet I'm still drawn by the lure of Build An Entire Maternity Wardrobe Out of 5 Simple Pieces (of clothing I could never afford) and essays by professional athletes who do two-hour trail runs when 9 months pregnant (despite the fact that I can barely chug out a mile these days). One thing never fails to catch my eye: research. While most of it only pertains to preggos - apparently swimming at least once a week helps you use less pain meds during delivery (okay, universe, I hear you!) - there was a piece of general interest today.
I don't have the exact quote but the research blurb stated that women who are of a normal weight but perceive themselves to be overweight gain twice as much weight as women who can correctly identify their body type. Overweight or obese women who perceive themselves to be of a normal weight or underweight gain eight times the amount of weight of a woman who can correctly identify her body type.
Genetics, friends, social pressure, media influences, and family are all factors in weight gain that are often discussed but this was the first time that I have come across research that says a distorted body image causes you to gain weight. And it doesn't matter whether you think you weigh less than or more than you actually do - apparently any distortion causes a measure of weight gain!
The implication is that no matter what your weight, if you are honest with yourself about it then you will gain less weight over time. It's so simple and yet so hard to do!
The magazine blurb being annoyingly short, it did not attempt to explain these results. My first question is do the women with the distorted body image really believe that they are heavier/lighter? Or are they knowingly lying to themselves? If they do truly believe what they told researchers then perhaps that indicates a measure of body unawareness that would correlate to food intake. On the other hand, if they are willing to lie to themselves about their weight then perhaps they also are willing to lie to themselves about food intake. My personal theory - unsupported, of course, by anything but my own eating disordered past to draw from - is that women who are uncomfortable with their body have an uncomfortable relationship with food.
I'll admit that I have a difficult time being honest with myself about my body. If you show me one of those body-type lineups (as they often do as part of eating disorder therapy) and ask me to pick the one that most closely resembles me, I always end up picking one bigger than myself. According to this research, that puts me at risk of gaining double the pregnancy weight of a woman without my mental issues. Scary stuff for someone who is terrified of gaining weight!
How about you - are you able to be honest with yourself about your body type? Have you noticed a correlation between a distorted self-image and weight gain? Anyone else have a shameful magazine addiction??
Comments (15)
Well, I'm fucked.
I am usually able to properly precieve my true body-type, I think. But since my goal is to gain weight, anyways, I'm fine. I'm really quite happy with my body these days, though.
I still have a bit of body dysphoria after losing 90 pounds, but I only realize it on accident once in a while when I initially don't think about it. For instance, during our personal trainer orientation, my boss had us trainers-in-training put our feet hip-width apart to do some exercises, and he noticed that I put mine well beyond hip-width. I corrected my mistake and explained to him why that happened, and I've been more aware of my actual body size ever since.
My sister-in-law should wear a 2x, but she buys medium and large. She's constantly giving me clothes and claims she's giving them to me because they were too big on her. This girl is easily 40 pounds heavier than me. So she definitely has a distorted self image.
I think I know what my body image is. And although I don't like my body I know I'm not fat, but I'm not thin either. I just have some extra meat on my legs.
i'm sometimes unsure of my body type. especially when i look at beautiful women in magazines... but i can accept the body how it is now and take care of it as much as i can.
I don't really know what my body type is...I know that being 5'3" and 130 lbs makes me in the "normal" category in terms of BMI, although I think I'm slightly chubby.
this is fascinating
I go both ways. Sometimes I think I'm so skinny, but then I see a picture of myself and I think "Wow, I didn't realize I looked like that!" Then I think I'm too big, but then people yell at me and tell me I'm skinny.
So now I just try not to think about it... and well I've been losing weight like crazy- so maybe it is true! lol
i perceive my body correctly :)
i could never lie to myself about it
I lost sixty pounds over a seven month period. I gained more than twenty of it back. I seriously did not think that I would gain it back. It really depressed me and then I decided to eat junk food again. Now my clothes won't fit and it makes things more depressing.
I've changed my eating habits once again.
I'm overweight, but during my pregnancy with my son, I lost weight. Its not like I didn't eat because I did, but for some reason, the I didn't have weight gain until after my doctor fussed at me in the last month. Then I packed on a good 15lbs quickly- my total pregnancy weight gain.
I have a skinny/muscular body type. (not overly muscular by the way.) I think I look thinner than I actually am because of my height.
It's weird, I'd probably give you different perspectives on my weight on different days. I think I'm at a decent weight, but sometimes I just feel a lot bigger esp around my skinnier friends :T but my best friend usually keeps me in check. She'll tell me straight up haha
I understand it's hard to explain unless you've been that way yourself. Distorted body image is a sort of denial. You expect everyone around you to point out that something's wrong and when they don't, you think it's not actually happening.