How to Have a Healthy Body Image Before, During, and After You Lose Weight

Rather, it’s related to your relationships, health behaviors, mental health, identity, and other factors, says Charlotte Markey, PhD, a clinical health psychology professor at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, who specializes in body image and is the author of The Body Image book series. “Body image goes beyond the superficial,” she says. “It’s how comfortable you are in your own skin.”

By noticing your thoughts around body image and following simple steps before, during, and after you lose weight, you can feel better about how you look on a daily basis.

How Weight Loss Can Change Your Body Image

Kelly Coffey learned from a young age that her larger body was not a problem — it was the problem. As such, she believed, losing weight was the solution.

“I assumed being thin was the magic bullet that would transform everything about me,” says Coffey, now an American College of Sports Medicine–certified personal trainer in Northampton, Massachusetts.

But after losing more than half her body weight through weight loss surgery in her twenties, Coffey experienced only a short-term mood boost. She still had a poor self-image and self-soothed with junk food and cigarettes. Two years later, she’d regained more than half the weight she lost.

It wasn’t until Coffey found healthier coping mechanisms (like weight lifting) that she developed a healthy body image. She no longer weighs herself, but she's been around the same size for about 20 years.

“In treating my body with respect and love, I became someone who had a truly uniformly positive self-image,” Coffey says.

You may get a short-term self-esteem boost after weight loss because making an effort to do something you think will benefit you (and succeeding) feels good, Markey says. Plus, you’re likely to get external validation from a society that reveres and bestows privileges on smaller bodies.

However, those positive feelings tend to be moderate and can wane over time.

“I wouldn’t say no one feels better after weight loss, but I think the extent to which it might impact body image is oversold,” Markey says. ”People sometimes feel let down by this myth of transformation.”

People can be disappointed after weight loss if, for instance, they’re left with sagging skin, a sunken-looking face, and decreased muscle mass, says Jenna Hollenstein, RDN, an anti-diet dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor in Mamaroneck, New York.

Losing weight can also drum up unwanted emotions due to its effects on hormones and other biological processes. “When you’re creating a deficit, your body is in a stressed state, which can increase depression, anxiety, and fixation on food,” Hollenstein adds.

How Weight Loss Drugs Can Affect Body Image

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and similar weight loss medications have become a popular way to shed unwanted pounds — and a new source of dramatic “before” and “after” weight loss photos.

“We don’t have research at this point that concludes that GLP-1 use will improve body image,” Markey says. “Most of the research is conducted by the pharmaceutical companies that produce the drugs, and most is not psychological in nature.”

Framing a larger body size as a disease can also be stigmatizing. “In this case, higher-weight bodies are positioned as problems to solve,” Markey says.

As a result, treatments like Ozempic can become an expectation, she adds. If it’s possible to lose weight with medication, people who remain the same size may be judged as irresponsible for not doing so.

7 Tips to Help You Maintain a Healthy Body Image Before, During, and After Weight Loss

If you’re struggling with how you feel about your body, whether you’ve already lost weight or are considering starting a new diet or drug, seek professional support. Ideally, this would include a counselor or therapist who specializes in supporting a positive body image as well as a registered dietitian with a weight-neutral, health-at-every-size approach, Markey says.

You can also take these steps to improve your self-image.

1. Focus on Behaviors, Not Outcomes

At the end of the day, you can only do so much to change your body’s shape and size. That’s why focusing on actions (like choosing more nourishing foods and switching to a standing desk), not outcomes (like wanting to lose 20 pounds), is key to your self-image.

“If you struggle with negative body image, doing whatever you can do to take actions that make you feel good about what your body is doing is the quickest route to improving your body image,” Coffey says. “That’s true whether those actions result in weight loss or not.”

2. Train Yourself to Notice What Feels Good

When Coffey’s clients are having a tough time with their body image, she encourages them to think about a recent time when they felt good, rather than how they think their body looks. For example: “After I go for a walk or lift weights or swim, my body feels wonderful, and I feel grounded and breathe a little deeper.”

While it takes practice to shift your thinking, focusing on the pleasure derived from a healthy behavior primes you to want to do it again,” says Coffey, who offers a free online workshop that helps people improve their relationship with food and themselves.

3. Celebrate What Your Body Can Do

Focusing on what your body can do, rather than how it looks, can support a healthy body image, Markey says.

4. Practice Self-Care

“Practice getting enough sleep, eating adequately, and doing things that bring you pleasure,” Hollenstein says. No matter where you are on your weight loss journey, recognizing and honoring what your body needs is a way to practice a healthy body image.

Put another way: It’s easier to like yourself if you take care of yourself.

5. Cultivate a Body-Positive Community

It’s normal to have body image challenges — you can thank a culture that has historically celebrated thinness and a narrow view of beauty for that.

“Part of the work is pulling away from the messages we’ve received over the years about what our body should look like,” says Jodi Rubin, LCSW, a certified eating disorder specialist in New York City.

Distance yourself from negative people in real life, too. “If you’re spending time with people who have a horrible self-image, that language is going to stick,” Coffey says.

6. Understand That Your Body Is Always Changing

Even if you’re not trying to lose weight, your body will change through various life stages as you age, develop different relationships and interests, become a parent, go through menopause, and more.

“Every few years, you should count on something changing,” Markey says. That can be a tough reality to accept when there are so many messages in pop culture and across social media about “getting your body back” and “maintaining.” But accepting that change is normal, natural, and expected can help you maintain a healthy body image through it all.

7. Seek Professional Help

Any weight loss journey is as much a mental and emotional one as a physical one. Seeking mental health support can be critical to both your weight loss and body image success.

And know that therapy doesn’t have to be a long-term time or money investment, Markey notes. “Even a few meetings with a professional who can talk you through some of this and shift your way of thinking can do more than people realize,” she says.

RELATED: Why a Therapist Should Be on Your Weight Loss Support Team

Additional reporting by Kelsey Kloss