when will our...........

ok everyone says that i have lost of weight 48lbs so far.......but when will my mind catch up with my body........i've been obese for about ten years...........which is a life time to me. I can only see my clothes size change ,but i still think i look fat.........................vickie r.

I still think I look fat too. Because I am! Seriously, the last time I lost a significant amount of weight (about 100 lbs) before I got preggers, I weighed 160 lbs, wore a size 12 or 14 and still thought I was just as fat as I was when I wore a 22. Now I'm starting out much higher than before and all I see is fat fat fat. I think I could be 120 lbs and still think I was a porker. I know mentally I'm shrinking, but I can't see it a mirror if I'm looking for it. I caught myself on a security monitor and it was at that moment I saw the weight loss, and it's because I wasn't looking for it. When I got home I looked into a mirror and all I saw was fat again. I was a fat kid, and that's all I know and so it's all I see. Maybe after a tummy tuck and a boob reduction and lift I'll see things differently. We'll see. Sheryl still in search of a "skinny mirror" after 35 yrs....

Vickie, I have the very same thoughts you do. I've never been able to realistically gauge my body size; I look at other women, and really can't tell if I am larger or smaller in proportion to them. Sometimes I feel enormous; other times I think "hey, maybe I'm not so bad off". And it's not that I feel that I'm terrible or ugly or anthing like that; it's like I'm missing the skill to know my own body size. It sounds strange, doesn't it? So even as we're losing weight, we don't necessarily feel smaller than before. I can't really explain it. I think it helps to have some objective measures, such as your weight, your clothing size, your measurements, to help you see your own progress. I kept a pair of pants that fit me at my largest size, and the other day I pulled them on. Ha! I have gotten smaller, even though I don't "feel" smaller. Sheryl

Hi Vickie, I know what you mean. I have been heavy since I was a child and since I was 19 I've been around 275Lbs, I had gone up to 306 when I decided to go for the surgery, I was 275 before surgery and I am now down to 210. I am finally out of the plus sizes in a 16-18. But everytime I pick up the smaller clothes, I think this won't fit. Then I remmeber I tried it on or already wore it, but I still see myself as fat. Someone meeting me for the first time seeing me 5'2" and 210 lbs I am fat. People who know me keep calling me skinny, so in comparison to what they were use to seeing I guess I am thinner to them. I look in the mirror and still see the fat. I have to look at pictures of me before and now to notice I have lost any weight. But, I do feel better, and I move easier. I know people are trying to be nice, but I really feel funny about being called skinny. It sometimes makes me angry or annoyed. Mary L

Vickie, our mind plays terrible tricks on us. I had it the other way around. I didn't think I was that fat. I saw myself only as a little bit overweight. I never thought of myself as obese. I would say to myself I wasn't that fat, and in the mirror I would see myself "thin". Now that I have lost some weight and I look at before videos of me or pictures I'm like OMG! I can't believe I was that fat and I thought I looked good. I was in big time denial. Now my mind is playing trick again. Even though I know I've lost 40lbs I now see myself as obese. I need to work on this brain of mine.

Vickie, I can say the same as you. You feel better, clothes fitting better, etc but you still can't see it. What truely made me see my progress was looking at pictures from before surgery. only then could I see a difference even though I don't see it when I look in the mirrow. It was suggested to me to take pictures once a month and compare each picture from the previous one. Then you will see your progress. Kelli

I have lost 50 pounds but I still look the same to myself as well. I try not to weigh and just go with the clothes size - I am down from a 26 pants to an 18 and from a 24 top to a 14 so that works for me! Shannon