Fear of Gaining Weight - Tips to Stop Feeling This Way!

Written by: Shruthi Chacko – M Sc (Psychology)

Last updated date : March 28, 2022

Table of Contents

Fear of Gaining Weight – Tips to Stop Feeling This Way!

  1. Where Does Fear of Gaining Weight Come From?
  2. How Did We as Society Come To Hate Body Fat?
  3. Tips to Overcome the Fear of Gaining Weight
  4. Work on Your Body Image
  5. Your Weight Does Is Not Your Self Worth
  6. Try to Not Be Too Emotional
  7. Get Professional Help to Stop the Fear of Gaining Weight

The fear of gaining weight can be hard to deal with. You might have this constant thought that you are going to gain weight. Everything you do, anything you eat or wear seems wrong. This constant voice in your head makes you question your lifestyle. But, hey, sometimes it is good to question your eating habits and lifestyle. Perhaps, you become aware and gives you a chance to reflect on the way you lived your life. But, if you feel like you are constantly thinking about it, it is better you act upon it. Are you constantly thinking about how many calories you eating? Do you always feel conscious when you are eating out with your friends? Is this making it hard for you to enjoy your time with them? Do you eat very little some days due to fear of weight gain?

Read this article is to overcome your fear of gaining weight.

Chapter 1:

Where Does Fear of Gaining Weight Come From?

This fear can be a result of many things in your life. Maybe, it is the comment that your classmate passed about your weight? Or you had recently lost all that extra weight, and now you are scared that you might gain it back. Hence, it can be due to various things. In fact, fear can be the result of humiliation, disgust or embarrassment. Let us look at a few situations that can cause this fear of weight gain in you. Perhaps, you may be able to relate to some of these situations. You may find that you may have experienced or are experiencing such situations in your life.

  • Your freinds or family who have been critical about your weight
  • Health conditions that require you to go on a certain type of diet
  • Hearing comments on your body weight
  • Family attitudes or lifestyle that tend to follow selective eating
  • Traumatic childhood expireincs that shamed you for your appearances or eating habits.
  • Constantly comparing yourself to social media ” Filter Pictures”
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Chapter 2:

How Did We as Society Come To Hate Body Fat?

Are you maybe wondering, how on earth did we start hating body fat in the first place? Do you fear weight gain? The answer to this is, cultural beauty standards are the culprit. These beauty standards keep on changing now and then. Back in the 90s, extremely thin bodies with very little curves were considered beautiful. Think of Jennifer Aniston or Courtney Cox from the famous sitcom, Freinds. It is funny how now those appearances are not considered desirable. But, the pressure to conform to these beauty standards was suffocating back in the days and even now. Today, the trend is rather a little different. The perfect body is curvy with lean stomach and thigh gaps. Who knows what 2040 and beyond will bring. Only time can tell us about it. Moreover, it is better that you do not fall into such mind traps of these illogical beauty standards.

Hence, maybe you are too worried to keep up with the cultural beauty standards. Do you judge yourself if you are not meeting up these standards? Do you find yourself attractive if you are lean with thigh gaps?. Try not to be so hard on yourself, you should not follow and live your life based on such trends and come and go. In fact, when you do this, you are feeling unhappy and dissatisfied with the body that you are blessed with. Moreover, the body which helps you do the things that you do. Don’t you think you should be a little kinder to your body that exists for you?

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Chapter 3:

Tips to Overcome the Fear of Gaining Weight

It can be hard to stop having such feelings about gaining weight. Keep reading if you want to know how you can overcome these thoughts of fear of weight gain. But, you can rise above this fear to have a healthy mind and lifestyle.

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Chapter 4:

Work on Your Body Image

First, it is important to know that your body image has nothing to do with how your body looks. It had everything to do with the way you feel about yourself. Perhaps, this means that you have control over how you feel about yourself, only you. There can be influences from the outside, but at the end of the day, it is up to you to how you treat and think about yourself. Does this put a lot of pressure on you? Have you thought why? In fact, when you really give this a thought, the society, norms and culture cannot make you feel less beautiful. Maybe, you should consider thinking from a different lens. Perhaps, this gives a greater sense of control over how you feel.

Only you can decide what you internalise and only you, get to decide what you think about yourself. Isn’t that a very liberating thought? Hence, when you decide to change your way of thinking, you soon start looking at your body in a much more positive way. Hence, it will have a positive impact on your quality of living and you feel soon find yourself much happier.
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Chapter 5:

Your Weight Does Is Not Your Self Worth

Your self worth should not be based on your weight and how you look. Of course, looking certain that is appealing to you can give you that boost of confidence. But, always remember bodies changes now and then. Do you fear weight gain? Also, try not to base your self-worth merely on how you look. It should not be based on the number of Instagram followers or how many likes or comments you got for the post. Your social media life should never be considered as your yardstick for self-worth. In fact, this can become very damaging and dangerous. Your self-worth can be derived from various other qualities that can help your mental wellbeing. Perhaps, you can view your self worth in this manner:
  • Are you empathetic?
  • Are you an excellent listener?
  • Do you always give your 100%- relationships, work tc.
  • Are you a generous person?
  • Are you good in understanding people?
  • Do you help people around you?
Try to think of the qualities that make you unique and beautiful. I am sure, if you give it some time, you will be able to list out your best qualities. You soon stop having the fear of gaining weight. Let me give it a shot. I am kind to myself and others. I am a good friend and am supportive of them. I’m consciously putting effort into doing things that are meaningful. I’m ambitious, I give my best for work. So, even if I gain a couple of kgs, it is alright. I will still continue to feel about myself even though I may not be looking the best at the moment. I do not view my self-worth based on my weight, I base it on who I am.
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Chapter 6:

Try to Not Be Too Emotional

I know, this tip is a hard one. It is difficult to not get emotional when you are experiencing fear of gaining weight. Rather, it is very natural for you to get emotional in such as situation. Therefore, try to think in an objective manner. This can save you from having an emotional burst. This sense of objectivity is your ticket to get out of the emotional rollercoaster that you were on. Having a rational mind can help you deal with this situation in a much better way. Let us look at some of the truths can you probably incorporate into your thinking.
  • Consuming a calorie excess diet= Increase in body weight
  • The laws of energy and thermodynamics balance our weigth loss and weight gain
  • Resistance training helps in gaining muscle weight
  • If you dislike being heavier, you can reverse this following a calorie deficit diet.
  • Body weight keeps fluctuating
Hence, try to look at facts and do not get driven by emotions. You need to remove the judgement of seeing yourself as being fat, unattractive or fear of judgements from others. Hence, try to focus on these above fats and start working on your body and become what you envisioned.
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Chapter 7:

Get Professional Help to Stop the Fear of Gaining Weight

It can be hard to do it all by yourself. After all, we humans are emotional beings and sometimes getting extra support can really help you. Therefore, having a coach to tell you to state these objective facts now and then can be very beneficial. They will be able to educate and guide you on what works best for your body. It is true, weight gain can be a very scary thing. We live in such a world that makes sure it is. However, this very scary thought can be seen from a different lens, when you have the right facts with you and faith in yourself.

At Espychonline we have a few series of self-help courses including ”Body Image Concerns” that can help you with your body image struggles in a better way. Please visit our Courses page to know more about it. You may also find it informative to read up on ”Disturbed Body Image: Are you at Risk?” or “What to Do after a Binge to Not Gain Weight?” to know more to stop having the fear of gaining weight.