Her story is analysed in light of phenomenological and narrative theory, and cultural narratives surrounding current WLS stories. Forty-five years after weight loss surgery (WLS) she shared her life story revolving around body weight. This e-mail was a response to previous research findings and sparked the idea of writing a narrative case study with a life course perspective. It has been a long journey to get to where I am today. Today, I am nearly normal weight, but when I had surgery, I was 140 kg. “I had weight loss surgery in 1975, and I never hear anything about how the people who had surgery in the 70ties and 80ties are doing. In the medical narrative of transforming the body by repair, a problematic relationship with food did not fit into the plot. Surgery was experienced as lifesaving, yet the surgical transformation did not suffice, because it did not influence appetite or, desire for food in the long run. The two storylines coexist and illuminate paradoxes within the weight loss surgery narrative, connected to meaningful life events and experiences, eating practices and relationships with important others. Thea’s Story: The Narrative of Fighting Weight is the experiential story, including concrete examples and quotes, highlighting bodily struggles and the inescapable ambiguity of being and having one’s body. Thea’s Medical Weight Narrative: From Severely Obese Child to Healthy Adult is her story in context of medicine and obesity treatment and expresses success and control. Our narrative analysis of interviews, reflective notes and email correspondence disentangled two storylines illuminating paradoxes within this long-term weight loss process.

We explore this through the life story of a woman who lost weight through surgery in the 1970 s and has fought against her own body, food and eating ever since. Based in narrative phenomenology, this article describes an example of how lived time, self and bodily engagement with the social world intertwine, and how our sense of self develops.

Hamster wheel of life