Social media comparison trap — need advice

Clinical perspective, offered as context rather than as advice.

One year anniversary on mental health — reflections:

What I wish I'd known: the side effects are temporary, the benefits compound over time, protein is more important than I thought, and the mental health aspect needs as much attention as the physical.

What surprised me: how much my relationship with food changed, the cascade of health improvements beyond weight, and how supportive this community is.

What I'd do differently: start therapy earlier, prioritize resistance training from day 1, and stop comparing my progress to others. Everyone's journey is unique.

Following on from DoseLogDan — and this may be the naive question:

How would you tell the difference between that and the alternative explanation?

rachel_ABQ said:

One year anniversary on mental health — reflections: What I wish I'd known: the side effects are temporary, the benefits compound over time, protein…

Therapy insights from my mental health journey: my therapist introduced me to the concept of "identity updating" — the psychological work of becoming a new version of yourself.

Key realizations: I used food to manage emotions, I had internalized fatphobia that I'm still unpacking, my social identity was partly built around being "the big guy/girl," and learning to accept compliments is surprisingly hard when you've been invisible for years.

Physical transformation without emotional processing is unstable. Do both.

rachel_ABQ said:

One year anniversary on mental health — reflections: What I wish I'd known: the side effects are temporary, the benefits compound over time, protein…

Agreed, with the usual condition: that holds for the average and this board is a collection of individuals. A population claim and a personal prediction are different things and get quoted interchangeably.

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