How long did it take for you to not feel "big" anymore?

I'm down to 161 lbs but in my head I still am 300 lbs. I still gauge whether I can fit between 2 cars parked near each other or whether I'll let someone help me up from the floor or will my butt fit in a chair? And I guess I still think people see the big Anna when I walk into a room.  If I hold up clothes, I can't judge at all whether they will fit or not.

I've been lucky that my weight loss has been pretty quick and I've had amazing changes in the last 6 months but I'm just wondering how long it took your brain to catch up with your body?

I'll let you know if I ever get there.

I did not feel big anymore as I was losing.  I felt so great with each size I went down.  Now that I have maintained for 6 months, I feel just as fat as ever....even though I know I'm not.....I feel ucky!  :O( 

I've definitely had a bigger problem with "feeling fat" recently than I did during the first few months. (I think I had a dream of what being thinner would be like and while the shopping is as awesome as I thought it would be, men are not gasping at my beauty as I pass them on the street, saggy stretched out skin is taking the place of the flat tummy I thought was under that fat and I'm not the social butterfly I imagined I was under all that fat and insecurity.) There's a great book by Jessica Weiner called "do i look fat in this?" It talks about how women use the "language of fat" as shorthand for other feelings and as a way of not dealing with feelings that are more difficult. Not saying this is you, lisajoy, but I definitely saw myself in that book. I highly recommend it. I never really thought about what I truly felt when I said "I have nothing to wear"  when I have a closet full of clothes but I tell you, it's not about the clothes. I just bought some new stuff the last few days. Stuff I was thrilled with when I bought it and brought it home. Now I could just cry because nothing seems right and I have an event tomorrow night and have "nothing to wear" even though the Macys bags strewn about my room say otherwise.

My brain knows that I wear a size 12 but it still seems to always be navigating life like I'm still a 24. I try to get out a lot with friends because I just need that feedback that, wow, I'm different now. (I thought this might be messed up but my therapist thinks needing that "mirror" right now is ok.  Phew. LOL) My PCP's fawning over me yesterday about how fabulous I'm doing and how great I look was defnitely helpful.  But I've heard that once you stop losing and start maintaining, it gets harder, if only for the fact that people aren't cheering for you and complimenting you constantly. Your thinner self just becomes who you are. Which is why I'm coming to appreciate support on the board here and at coffee and other groups from other WLS patients more and more every day. They know that even if you losing is over, what you are doing every day is amazing even if the rest of the world doesn't necessarily recognize it.

I'm still working on that... not sure if my brain will ever catch up!

I still feel big and I am almost 2 years out and 190 down.  Its more of a mental thing for me.  i want to look like I did when i was skinny.  I am in a size 10 and should be happy but still working on that perfect 6