Almost anyone and everyone who starts a weight loss journey to improve their self-image, or because they feel like they’re supposed to, expect they will suddenly find some body confidence after weight loss.

Trust me, I’ve been down that road before and it doesn’t work like that.

It can work like that but there are a few things to bear in mind, and it isn’t like you’ll suddenly step on the scales, be at your target weight, and a magical switch is flicked that makes you feel all happy with yourself.

The Problem With Weight Loss And Body Confidence

Not liking your appearance, or hating your body, is possibly the most common reason someone starts a weight loss journey.

The idea that thinner is always better remains a prominent one in the world we live in.

It has changed a bit and a lot of brands include some diversity in size and shape across their marketing. But the initial idea of thinner = better remains.

Embarking on a weight loss journey for one of those reasons is starting off on the wrong foot, and is very likely to lead to failure.

You end up focusing all your attention on one aspect of you, whereas you should be giving your attention to the whole of you.

There is a good chance that if you only started a weight loss journey from the negative state of feeling unhappy about your appearance, aside from the stress and toxic emotions you’ll put yourself through on that journey, those negative emotions will end up fixating on something else about you.

You need to learn – and it is definitely NOT easy – to be happy and comfortable with who you are today. So any changes you make come from a place of self-love and acceptance.

That way when you hit your goal, whatever that goal may be, you don’t keep thinking you’re “not enough”, because you very definitely are.

How Does Body Confidence After Weight Loss Happen?

Having said all of that, it is common for someone to come out of a weight loss journey feeling happier and more confident.

But quite often it’s not just because of weight loss, and a lot of the time it is nothing to do directly with the weight loss either.

Read that again.

From a mental perspective, you set yourself a challenge, you dealt with discomfort, you turned up consistently, and you reached your goal.

That discipline, persistence, and dedication will be impacting all other areas of your life too. So you’re ready to tackle some discomfort, maybe some additional stress, and new challenges more directly.

So your confidence skyrockets.

From a physical point of view, there is a good chance you are getting more natural foods and more nutrients into your system. There is also a good chance your intake of processed foods, refined sugars, and artificial additives has dropped.

There’s a good chance that you’re not more active, have more energy, and find everyday tasks less demanding than before.

Add up the sum of all of these and the mental and physical transformation you undergo is pretty darn epic.

It’s at this point, that I’d like you to take a moment to pause and reflect on what I wrote.

I talked about appearance a grand total of zero times.

I talked about other people’s roles in your weight loss journey a grand total of zero times.

In other words, finding body confidence after weight loss comes from your insides.

It’s all you!

The Final Word

From my own experience and my own understanding, weight loss does not automatically lead to body confidence.

And if you start a weight loss journey for the wrong reasons, you may end up doing more damage to your mental health than any positive impact that you’re aiming for.

But the commitment, sacrifice, dedication and discipline you put into weight loss – like with any other goal – can make some huge changes to your state of mind.

And that is where body confidence after weight loss really comes from.