Ghost Fat: The Unseen Consequences of Weight Loss

Many people who lose weight, whether through diet and lifestyle changes, medication, or bariatric surgery, recognize their body has changed. While they also experience improvements in quality of life and psychosocial areas, that’s not true for everyone. Some patients don’t “see” they’ve lost weight — a phenomenon referred to as “phantom fat,” “ghost fat,” or “vestigial body image.”

“Most people are happy with their appearance, or at least their body shape, after weight loss — although some are unhappy with the loose, sagging skin that can follow weight loss and seek plastic surgery to remedy that,” David Sarwer, PhD, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education and professor of social and behavioral sciences, Temple University College of Public Health, Philadelphia, told Medscape Medical News. “There’s a subset of people who remain dissatisfied with their body image, including their shape.”

This body dissatisfaction of people who lose weight may be long-standing, predating the weight loss, or may be new because weight loss has catalyzed a host of previously unaddressed psychosocial issues. Some may show up at assessments on treatment onset, while others may be detected by monitoring changes during or after weight loss. “Mental health counseling after bariatric surgery is greatly underutilized,” Sarwer observed.

Ghost Fat

Research has corroborated the lingering self-perception of being “obese” vs “ex-obese.” In one study, patients who had undergone bariatric surgery reported being unable to see the difference in their size and shape 18-30 months following their procedure, despite substantial weight loss.

Some research suggests that rapid weight loss (eg, through bariatric surgery) is more likely to generate the perception of “phantom fat,” but additional research is needed to investigate whether the mode and speed of weight loss affect subsequent body image.

Being habituated to one’s former appearance may play a role, Sarwer suggested. “We see this not only with weight loss but with other body-altering procedures. It takes the brain time to catch up to the new appearance. In rhinoplasty, for example, it may take patients a while before they become accustomed to looking at their new face in the mirror after decades of looking at a more prominent nose.”

Years of Social Stigma

It may also take time for people to overcome years of enduring the stigma of obesity.

There are “pervasive” negative attitudes implying that individuals who are overweight and/or obese are “lazy, weak-willed, lacking in self-discipline and willpower” — a problem compounded by social media and media in general, which present unrealistic, glorified body images and disparaging messages about those with weight problems.

“Body image is a construct, rather than what you see in the mirror,” Sheethal Reddy, PhD, a psychologist at the Emory Bariatric Center, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Atlanta, told Medscape Medical News. “It’s the mental construct of our physical selves.”

According to Reddy, body image develops “within a broader societal context and is influenced by the person’s ethnic, racial, and cultural heritage.”

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to body dissatisfaction. This is compounded in those with obesity, who often experience weight-based victimization and internalized weight-based stigma, compared with adolescents with lower weights. Weight stigma often takes the form of teasing and bullying.

“Appearance-related bullying and teasing during childhood and adolescence can reverberate into adulthood and persist throughout the lifespan,” Sarwer said. “When we see these patients and ask if they’ve ever been teased or bullied, not only do many say yes but it takes them back to those moments, to that origin story, and they remember someone saying something mean, cruel, and hurtful.”

Stigmatizing experiences can affect subjective body image, even after the weight has been lost and the person’s body is objectively thinner. Research comparing individuals who were overweight and lost weight to individuals who are currently overweight and haven’t lost weight and individuals who were never overweight suggests that “vestigial” body disparagement may persist following weight loss — especially in those with early-onset obesity.

The Role of Genetics

Genetics may contribute to people’s self-perception and body dissatisfaction, both before and after weight loss. A study of 827 community-based adolescents examined the association between polygenic risk scores (PRS) for body mass index (BMI) and type 2 diabetes and symptoms of body dissatisfaction and depression.

“Given the significant genetic role in BMI, we wanted to explore whether genetic risk for BMI might also predict body dissatisfaction,” lead author Krista Ekberg, MS, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois, told Medscape Medical News.

Genetic influences on BMI, as measured by PRS, were significantly associated with both phenotypic BMI and body dissatisfaction. “The association between PRS and body dissatisfaction was largely explained by BMI, suggesting that BMI itself accounts for much of the link between genetic risk and body dissatisfaction.”

Psychiatric History and Trauma

Adverse experiences, particularly sexual or physical abuse, may also account for body dissatisfaction after weight loss. “When some people with a history of this type of abuse lose a large amount of weight — typically after bariatric surgery — they often go through a period of emotional turbulence,” Sarwer said.

Childhood maltreatment can also be associated with body image disturbances in adulthood, according to a meta-analysis of 12 studies, encompassing 15,481 participants. Sexual abuse is “surprisingly common” among patients with obesity, according to Sarwer. A chart review of 131 patients revealed that 60% of those who reported a history of rape or sexual molestation were ≥ 50 pounds overweight vs only 28% of age- and sex-matched controls without a history of abuse. Other studies have corroborated these findings.

Excess weight can serve an “adaptive function,” Sarwer noted. It can be a self-protective mechanism that “insulates” them from sexual advances by potential romantic partners or abusers. Some may find that, after weight loss, repressed memories of a sexual assault surface as a result of the newer, more “attractive” appearance. Feeling vulnerable in their thinner bodies, they may need to regard themselves as overweight to maintain that feeling of “protection.” Weight loss may also trigger memories, flashbacks, or nightmares, as people return to a weight at which they were abused.

Dissociation is another mechanism linking trauma with post-weight loss body dysmorphia, Supatra Tovar, PsyD, RD, a clinical psychologist and registered dietician with a practice in California, told Medscape Medical News. Dissociation from the body is often a coping mechanism for dealing with an overwhelming traumatic experience.

Individuals with a history of depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress disorder have higher levels of body dysmorphia, both before and after weight loss. One study found that patients undergoing bariatric surgery who had some type of psychopathology and other psychological risk factors were significantly more likely to report body image concerns 3 months after the surgery. Body image concerns were also more common in patients with preoperative depression, current psychotropic medication use, and a history of outpatient therapy or psychotropic medication use.

“Depression, anxiety, and trauma play a role in how you see yourself and how you carry yourself,” Reddy said. “This is wrapped up in any type of psychopathology. Being depressed is like looking yourself through a cloud. It’s the opposite of ‘rose-colored glasses’ and instead, looking at yourself through a negative lens.”

Diagnosis and Interventions

Some helpful tools to assess the presence and extent of weight dissatisfaction and body dysmorphia include the Eating Disorder Inventory — Body Dissatisfaction Subscale and the Body Shape Questionnaire. It’s also important to take into account “the extent to which people are invested in their appearance psychologically,” Sarwer advised. The AO subscale of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire generally assesses this. The Body Image Quality of Life Inventory assesses how and to what extent the perceived body image affects the person’s quality of life.

Experts recommend cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as an evidence-based intervention for body image issues, including those following weight loss.

“There’s an extensive CBT body image therapy program specifically tailored to the needs of overweight and obese individuals,” Sarwer said. “We don’t ignore historical variables that may have contributed to the problem, like early bullying, but we encourage people to think about what’s going on in their day-to-day life today. We drill down not only into the maladaptive behaviors but also the cognition and beliefs that may be erroneous but underlie these behaviors.”

The aim of CBT is to “modify irrational and dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, and behaviors through techniques such as self-monitoring, cognitive structuring, psychoeducation, desensitization, and exposure and response prevention.” The program laid out in Cash’s body image workbook includes eight steps plus an “afterword” (Figure).

Weight Loss Doesn’t Automatically Equate With Happiness

Another realistic expectation runs counter to a common misperception that becoming thin will automatically translate into becoming happier. That’s not always the case, according to Tovar.

“If you haven’t worked deeply on addressing self-compassion and understanding that who you are at the core has nothing to do with your physical appearance, you can have an empty feeling once you’ve reached this point,” she said. “You still don’t know who you are and what you’re contributing to the world [because] you’ve been so focused on losing weight.”

Weight loss can also “unmask” questions about self-worth, even when receiving compliments about one’s “improved” appearance. “Praise and compliments after weight loss can be a double-edged sword,” Tovar observed. “You might think, ‘I wasn’t accepted or praised when I was overweight. The only way to be acceptable or validated is by losing weight, so I have to continue losing weight’.” This fuels fear of regaining the weight and can lead to continuing to see oneself as overweight, perhaps as a way to stay motivated to continue with weight loss. “Feeling that one’s value depends on remaining thin hampers body satisfaction,” she said.

Tovar, author of the book Deprogram Diet Culture: Rethink Your Relationship with Food, Heal Your Mind, and Live a Diet-Free Life, encourages people to shift the emphasis from weight loss to a holistic focus on self-worth and to explore obstacles to those feelings both before and after weight loss.

Endocrinologists and other medical professionals can help by not engaging in “weight and body shaming,” Tovar said.

She recommends physicians “encourage patients to tune in to their own bodies, helping them become more aware of how different foods affect their physical and emotional well-being.”

Set realistic expectations through “open, nonjudgmental conversations about the complexities of metabolism, weight, and health.”

Tovar advises rather than focusing on weight loss as the primary goal, physicians should focus on health markers such as blood glucose, energy levels, mental well-being, and physical fitness.

Prioritize “listening over lecturing.” Begin with empathy, asking questions such as “How do you feel about your health right now? What changes have you noticed in your body lately?” Doing this “creates space for the patient to express their concerns without feeling judged or shamed.”

Refer patients to a mental health professional when a patient exhibits signs of disordered eating or poor body image or when emotional factors are playing a significant role in the relationship with food and weight. “If a patient is caught in a cycle of dieting and weight gain, struggles with binge eating, or displays symptoms of depression or anxiety related to body, then psychological help is crucial.”

Ultimately, the goal of treatment “should be to provide a safe, supportive environment where patients can heal — not just physically but also emotionally and mentally,” Tovar added.

Tovar, Ekberg, and Reddy reported no relevant financial relationships. Sarwer received grant funding from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He has consulting relationships with Novo Nordisk and Twenty30 Health. He is an associate editor for Obesity Surgery and editor in chief of Obesity Science & Practice.

Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW, is a freelance writer with a counseling practice in Teaneck, New Jersey. She is a regular contributor to numerous medical publications, including Medscape Medical News and WebMD, and is the author of several consumer-oriented health books as well as Behind the Burqa: Our Lives in Afghanistan and How We Escaped to Freedom (the memoir of two brave Afghan sisters who told her their story).