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. 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. Our narrative analysis of interviews, reflective notes and email correspondence disentangled two storylines illuminating paradoxes within this long-term weight loss process. 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. 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. 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. 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. In the medical narrative of transforming the body by repair, a problematic relationship with food did not fit into the plot.

本文以叙事现象学为基础，描述了一个例子，说明生活时间、自我和身体与社会世界的互动如何交织在一起，以及我们的自我意识如何发展。我们通过一位 1970 年代通过手术减肥的女性的生活故事来探索这一点，从那时起她就一直在与自己的身体、食物和饮食作斗争。我们对采访、反思笔记和电子邮件通信的叙述分析解开了两个故事情节，阐明了这个长期减肥过程中的悖论。Thea 的医学体重叙事：从严重肥胖的儿童到健康的成年人是她在医学和肥胖治疗背景下的故事，表达了成功和控制。Thea 的故事：对抗体重的故事是一个体验故事，包括具体的例子和引述，突出了身体的挣扎以及存在和拥有自己的身体不可避免的模糊性。这两个故事情节共存并阐明了减肥手术叙述中的悖论，与有意义的生活事件和经历、饮食习惯以及与重要他人的关系有关。手术被认为可以挽救生命，但手术改造还不够，因为从长远来看，它不会影响食欲或对食物的渴望。在通过修复来改变身体的医学叙述中，与食物的问题关系不适合情节。