I know this is a weird question, but every once in a while I get the feeling that people won't take me seriously if I get smaller. Like I'll be insignificant. No power. Ya know?

I'm not looking for a pep talk here. This is a real issue as people get nearer to their goal. I'm looking for your thoughts.

Some people are afraid of the attention they've started getting from the opposite (or same!) sex as they lose weight. These people have maybe hidden from this attention for years beneath a layer of fat. Suddenly, when they lose the fat, they've lost a part of themselves.

Others, like me, sometimes feel like if they're smaller (more attractive), how can they still command power/authority at work? I'm ok on a personal level, but at work it's a different story. Will people treat me with the same respect if I'm smaller/thinner/more attractive?

What do you think? Be honest now. Ever had those feelings?

I got to 128-134 (size 6) and held a few years. I found I made more $ but for the wrong reasons. I'm a stylist and tips got bigger and my male clientel got larger. All the attention from men and the cattyness of some women unnerved me completely. It just seemed so unfair. I thought I was a wonderful attractive woman before! Oh, and my least favorite-- "your DH must like you so much better this way!" I could scream.
I had a few triggers that sent me back to my bad eatting. Suicide of a parent causing depression and finding myself (a happily married woman ) attracted to an old flame(no, I didn't act on it). The unwanted attention plus these factors just put me into a tailspin.
I felt so much more confident in a six but being on a pedestal because of mylooks is not pleasant for me personally.

I don't think it's going to have any effect on my professional life. I work for a fairly small law firm and have an excellent working relationship with both of the senior partners and the associates respect my knowledge and ability to keep the office staff in order. We're able to joke now about my lack of height (vertically challenged and one of the guys is 6-6) so why should this change? I'm very competent in my work, I'm respected for that competence, and my competence isn't going to change. My physical appearance is changing, that's all. There should be no jealousy from any of the other women since I'm the "old woman" by several years and if there is, well, then, we'll just have to deal with it.

In my personal life, I don't think my chubbiness or lack thereof is going to make the least bit of difference to my dog or my family. They've all known me and loved me for years so why would any of that change now.

shortstuff

It's natural, when you change something,to re-examine issues having to do with the change.
People DO treat you differently according to your size. It can be subtle or overt, but it is definitely there. And I don't think it's always an issue with "shallow" though it sometimes is.
I ran across a discussion board with someone who was on a makeover show, and got some face work done. She's a pediatric nurse, and she said the small children and babies respond to her much better now, because the small changes made her face more symmetrical.
Heck, if even babies respond, it's a deeper thing that just social prejudice.
I think all of us become more attractive, not just because we've lost weight, but because we have more energy and confidence as well. So some people are going to find you more threatening in this configuration, not less powerful.
Perhaps someone will feel less powerful because they are taking up less space. But remember, there are better ways to be powerful than that.

I definitely think a major change in weight is going to change how people perceive you...in fact it will likely change how we perceive ourselves. In my case and probably in most cases I think it will be for the better however I expect there are certainly cases where there will be an inclination for a person to feel smaller, maybe more vunerable, etc. This is the territory of a phycologist I guess but IMHO opinion it's another case of focusing on the positive rather than the negative and on the solution rather than the problem. The success of losing weight intitles us to a greater sense of self confidence. We have overcome a huge challenge.....yes the more I think about it the more I think we have to focus on bolstering our confidence. It's one of the things that makes great achievers great.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't say it was a rational thought, just one that pops into my head every once in a while.

Heck, I'm way more confident now than I ever have been before. And the "fear" of not being taken seriously is certainly not something that consumes me or even enters my thoughts on a day-to-day basis. It's just that once in a blue moon, it will pop into my head for no apparent reason and I'll think, "Well, where the heck did that come from?"

Just curious if others ever had those thoughts.