There is no point in denying that people find a skinnier figure more attractive than a bigger one. And we see that in the standards of beauty all around the world, the pressure that is put on people to not gain weight, the disdainful looks overweight people get and how drastically differently they are treated in comparison to skinnier people.
The last fact is really true, as people have experienced both sides themselves. One of them is Katiria Duque, who shared her story on TikTok of how she lost a lot of weight and noticed how people’s behavior towards her changed.
A woman shared her experience of how people started to treat her differently after she lost weight
Image credits: Nenad Stojkovic
Katiria Duque is a 28-year-old Colombian American who works as a photographer in Houston, Texas. She made a video stitching another woman’s video who wrote “When you lose 70 pounds and suddenly you have a boyfriend for the first time in your life” bringing attention to the issue of people having double standards based on weight.
Katiria really related to the statement and wanted to talk about her own experience. It seems that more people connected with what these women had to go through as the video got 2.4 million views and over a half a million people liked it.
Image credits: katiriandrea
Bored Panda reached out to Katiria and asked what her reaction was when she saw her video blow up. She told us, “My reaction to my video going viral was overwhelming and not because of the views but people's reactions! I had no idea so many could relate to my exact story. Brought me to tears because I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”
She also added, “at the same time it brought me peace, knowing we could all overcome fatphobia if we stick together and continue to live our lives. It seems like we all stopped living so that we could accommodate the people that hate looking at us in bigger bodies. Soooo many people in the comments have been hiding for years. Enough is enough!”
The woman lost 150 pounds (68 kilograms) and the world around her changed completely
Image credits: katiriandrea
In the video, the woman reveals that in 2019, she lost about 150 pounds (68 kilograms) and at that point she weighed about 130-135 pounds (59-61 kilograms), having gone down from about 275-285 pounds (125-129 kilograms).
The TikToker wanted to lose weight because she wanted to feel more energetic and she feared for her health as she wanted to avoid diabetes and she had other reasons, but all of them focused on her own well-being.
Image credits: katiriandrea
At first she was doing it for her own well-being, but she saw how people around her started to show her more attention
Image credits: katiriandrea
But there were side effects Katiria didn’t expect. People started to like her for no apparent reason. Strangers would say hello, it seemed like everyone wanted to be her friends and random guys would buy her drinks.
Her relationship with her family also changed. They became nicer to her and seemed very supportive. Her grandmother even took a picture of her because she was so proud of Katiria’s achievements, which she had never once done before. She also received better job opportunities and she felt that everything was going perfectly.
Image credits: katiriandrea
Random people on the street were approaching her, guys would buy her drinks, she would get better job opportunities
Image credits: katiriandrea
But there is a dark side to all of it. After receiving all of this positive attention, Katiria developed a fear of gaining all the weight back. It is understandable that when she suddenly was adored by people, she didn’t want to lose it.
It made her realize that how she was treated previously was not right and now, being able to compare, she started to feel that she was really hated when she weighed more. All of this took a toll on her mental health and wanting to maintain her newly achieved happiness, Katiria developed an eating disorder.
Image credits: katiriandrea
Her family was also very excited for her and showered her with more love than usual
Image credits: katiriandrea
Of course, she tried to fight it and started implementing more food into her diet. Then her fears materialized and she gained everything back. Sadly, that made her feel bad and for the last two years, she didn’t appear in any events and was hiding her ‘failure.’
We asked Katiria if her family knows about her situation as they were so happy to see her do well and she took the opportunity to clear the air as many people thought that the way the family was treating her was not very nice.
Image credits: katiriandrea
"My family does know I gained my weight back and they are so supportive in every way. I mentioned that I had gotten treated differently by them when I lost weight, I got treated nicer but they truly didn’t know how to react. They had watched me bust [give my all] day after day. They saw me change right before their eyes. It was their natural first reaction and I didn’t give them enough credit in my video because once I let them know that it hurt my feelings the way they had changed towards me, they immediately apologized and told me they loved me in every size. And that they’ll support me through anything."
All of that made Katiria fearful of gaining the weight back
Image credits: katiriandrea
She started eating very little and working out a lot to hold on to the new perfect life; however, it led to mental issues and developing an eating disorder
Image credits: katiriandrea
The woman doesn’t blame her family for how they reacted to her becoming slim and being so excited for her; she said, “I am so thankful for them and really can’t blame them for being conditioned to a skinny world when the world has brainwashed us all. My family is only human and I am thankful they reacted so kindly when I talked about how they made me feel. They’re allowed to learn and grow with me.”
Katiria told us a little about her family’s reaction when she started gaining the weight back: “No one commented on my weight gain and we actually all got closer. I never felt uncomfortable again. And that’s why I’m in a much healthier head space this time around, I’m trying to find my balance this time.”
Image credits: katiriandrea
For the last two years, the woman was hiding the fact that she did gain the weight back, but she is also hopeful for the future
Image credits: katiriandrea
For a lot of people, their weight is a sensitive topic. They feel that they weigh too much or too little, maybe they are insecure about certain parts of their bodies, but the message that Katiria would like people to take from her video is this: “You matter in this world and there are thousands If not millions of people feeling just like you. Which brings comfort in knowing there is a community that we can feel safe in, all uplift each other in and go out into the world and be unapologetically our authentic selves. Because we deserve a place in this world just like everybody else.”
Here is the video where you can listen to Katiria's story
What do you think of Katiria’s video? Have you experienced something similar? Do you feel that there is still stigma around overweight people and that they are treated differently than those with a slimmer physique? We would like to hear all of your thoughts in the comments.
People in the comments were relating to Katiria and shared how they experienced the same thing
