Losing Weight To Date Ain’t Great

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Back in the mid 00’s, I went on my last diet ever, and lost a bunch of weight.  I was still plus-sized, but because weight loss wins you lots of points in our f-ed up society, the weight loss did give me a temporary confidence boost.  And so I thought that it would also lead to more dudes clamoring to date me.

As you might imagine, there was no clamor, at least not immediately.

Mike & Molly Pic

I’ve heard the show Mike & Molly is terrible, but I think the actors are really cute. (Image courtesy of AP)

But because of this confidence, and a new approach to dating (which I’ll tell you about one of these days), I eventually starting dating a lot.  I literally had weeks where I went out with 3 or 4 guys in one week.  After a mere 6 months of this dating whirlwind, I met my boyfriend, who I’m still with.

So my boyfriend has been with me at my thinnest weight and my heaviest weight and he still thinks I’m the awesomest woman in the world. Back in the day, when I was a self-hating fatty, I would have thought the key was that he met me when I was thinner, and I somehow beguiled him to such an extent that he’s with me now.  But I know now that that’s not true at all (because it doesn’t make any sense).  And if you think about it, getting thin in order to date more and maybe get into a serious relationship is actually a terrifying prospect.  If the person you’re with truly is not attracted to bigger women, you’ll likely stay even more focused on maintaining your weight loss, which is essentially impossible to do.  

I’ve also had experiences where I knew a guy when I weighed more, lost weight, we started dating, and every time the guy would say something to the effect of  how they would have dated me when I was fatter too, but that I didn’t seem interested.  In other words, when I weighed more, I assumed that the guy wasn’t interested in me, so I seemed like I wasn’t interested in him as a sort of defense mechanism.

Basically, I could have been having a lot more fun being my fat self!

In the interest of not having you make the same mistakes I did, please, please know that you are perfect, adorable and eminently date-able right now.  You don’t have to lose weight or look different or whatever.  Flirt at coffee shops, make an okcupid profile, let yourself wear that hot dress in the back of your closet that you’re dying to wear but couldn’t find the courage until now.  And if you don’t have anyone to date at the moment, you can have a totally lovely time dating yourself in the meantime.

Assuming that your size is always an impediment to dating simply isn’t true.  I encourage  you to look around you a bit and consider this.  Are all your thin friends happily partnered?  Are all of your fatter friends unhappily single?  Do you know people who are of varying in sizes in good relationships and not so good relationships?

Allow yourself to enjoy body confidence right now, without losing weight.  If you’re not sure how to do that, definitely check out my Body Love 101 resources page.  And if you’re serious about getting support (and getting hot dates), sign up for a free Body Love Breakthrough session with me.

Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight.

17 thoughts on “Losing Weight To Date Ain’t Great

  1. I’m on the fence with this one. While I definitely believe you can find great love no matter your size, you certainly have more options when you are smaller. Now, that’s not a judgement at all, that’s reality, and I think we do plus size women a disservice when this isn’t discussed. There was a really great post on the Crunk Feminist Collective website called Dating While Fat and Feminist that went viral and it addressed this very topic. The writer concluded that she would need to lose weight to find a mate. This article also addressed the intersection of being plus sized with being a dark-skinned black woman, so that further complicates the issue. I think most women could use more confidence when it comes to love and dating, but size can have an impact on your options.

    1. Trenia, thanks for your comment. I still don’t think that intentional weight loss is ever an answer, because it’s rarely permanent. If you’re just going to gain the weight back, plus more, you’re eventually going to have to come to terms with being the size you are, or weight cycle forever, which has it’s own host of problems.

  2. This is some great advice! If you lose weight then start dating someone, you’ll always be worried that any possible weight gain would affect that relationship. You’ll never be sure… Love your body the way it is now girls, be healthy and embrace every inch :)

  3. Mike and Molly is the greatest! Melissa and Billy have the absolute perfect comedic timing! And they address so many issues like what you are talking about here. Health issues aside, being happy where you are no matter your weight is possible and women (and men) need to get themselves out there and grab with both hands!

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