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A psychonutritional phenomenon describing the temporal gap between a person’s changing body, metabolic state, and eating patterns (for example, rapid weight loss or appetite suppression with GLP‑1 medications) and their more slowly updating internal identity as an eater, a person in a particular body size, and a bearer of health‑related roles. In this context, identity lag refers to the delay between objective changes (such as reduced appetite, altered food preferences, or visible body‑composition shifts) and the individual’s self‑concept and emotional experience catching up to those changes, often manifesting as distress, ambivalence, body‑image confusion, or persistence of “old” food‑related habits and self‑stories that no longer fit their current physiological reality.
Author and reviewer
Editorial responsibilityHow to cite this entry
Ephi Lu. (2026). Identity Lag. In Encyclopedia of Nutritional Psychology. The Center for Nutritional Psychology.
https://www.nutritional-psychology.org/encyclopedia/identity-lag/Know a term that belongs in the Encyclopedia?
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