Does losing weight really make you happy, or is it just what society makes us believe?

In Eight Bites, Machado shows how losing weight doesn’t magically make someone happy—it just makes them fit into what society wants.
Machado really captures how deep insecurity can mess with someone’s sense of self. The narrator has spent her whole life feeling like her body is wrong, like it’s something that needs to be fixed. The narrator gets weight loss surgery, thinking it’ll fix everything, but instead, she’s haunted by the part of herself she tried to erase. This ghost isn’t just about her old body; it’s everything she thought she could get rid of—her struggles, her emotions, even parts of her identity. Her insecurity doesn’t just come from her own thoughts—it’s pushed onto her by her sisters, by doctors, by the world around her.I felt connected to this chapter.

What I find what was messed up is that she truly believes being thin will make her happy because that’s what she’s always been told. Her sisters all had the surgery and pushed her to do the same, making it seem like their worth depends on their bodies. Once she loses the weight, she realizes she didn’t actually “fix” anything. The ghost of her past self lingers, reminding her of what she lost—not just physically, but emotionally too. It’s like she gave up a part of herself to meet an impossible standard, and now she has to live with that.

Machado shows how insecurity isn’t just about how we see ourselves—it’s about how we’ve been taught to see ourselves. The story makes it clear that the real problem isn’t her body—it’s how she’s been conditioned to hate it. If society made me maybe acpect her the way she is, maybe things would of been different. Society constantly tells women they should take up less space, be smaller, and erase any parts of themselves that don’t fit the mold, or even say maybe if you loss weight maybe you will be happy, you will have alot of boys wanting you. The narrator goes through with the surgery because she thinks it will finally bring her the happiness and self-worth she’s been chasing. But after everything, she’s left with regret.

Machado really digs into how society makes people, especially women, feel like their bodies are problems that need to be solved. The narrator was never really given a choice—she was taught that being smaller meant being better. I could relate to this. I am hispanic and growing up I have always had extra weight and I remeber that my own family would say she 10 she should be on a diet or it better to stop it now then later. I grew up with a lot of insecurity still today but it not like went I was still a child now I don’t care what other think I have learned to love my body a bit more, but there moment were I feel insecure and start thing of what are people thinking of me. Moments were I think maybe I should get a weight loss surgey or get a lipo but then I think is this for me or for others? So, she bought into the idea that happiness is tied to thinness, and by the time she realizes that’s not true, it’s too late. It like went you in a relationship and the person you with tells you oh maybe if you do this you will be more pretty, this gets stuck in your head and you starting thinking maybe I should do it, he will be happy and love me more. The person in the book permanently altered herself, and now she has to live with the consequences. Her ghost isn’t just haunting her—it’s a reminder that she didn’t just lose weight; she lost herself.

I picked this first image is because she thinks she thin but once she sees herself she sees herself as the way people see her

Here we see someone on the floor, after seeing herself in the mirror, she broke down into pieces.

Here we have kids laughing at ht kid for his weight or even the way he looks it just not about weight but also the way he looks.

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