Feeling Fat

TXRedDirt

ive lost 70 lbs, the lowest I have weighed as an adult and in the best shape of my life and still "feel fat" Does it ever go away?

atypicalsmith

From your profile, you are down to 211 pounds. This might be the perfect weight for someone 6'2", or 50 pounds overweight for someone 5'8". If you still have more to go in your goal, then carry on. Just because you are in the best shape you've ever been it doesn't mean you can't get into better shape. You've been struggling a very long time, and quitting smoking (congratulations!!!) caused you to gain weight. I didn't have a weight problem AT ALL until I quit smoking and ultimately put on 60 pounds. I'm 5'2" - not good! But little by little I'm whittling it down. Best of luck to you!

Kalikel

It's an excellent question. I was just discussing this with friends. They're all like, "You're not fat! Not like that!" but I don't feel much different. I still have a long way to go and hope that that feeling disappears when I've done it. but I've talked to others who lost and they say they still feel fat even though they aren't.

I think it's a kind of BDD thing. Anorexics can't get small enough. Muscle dysmorphics can't get big enough. Former fatties can't feel normal.

I've lost eighty pounds ad dropped from 2-3X to Ms and Ls...and feel like it's *maybe* twenty or thirty, tops. That all I see. I know how much space I take up on the couch and in the car, but I still can't see it. So bizarre. Sometimes I remind myself that clothing manufacturers have changed sizes over the years and what is now an M was an XL when I was in high school. But I've still lost eighty freaking pounds and do not see it.

I still feel fat. I'm starting to adjust, but it just feels weird, like I can't really be wearing Ms and like it's a dream.

Achaila

While I weight 240 now, there was a time 3 years ago that I went from 273 to 194 and I looked great. Went from a size 24/26 down to a 10/12. But I still felt like I was 273 pounds. I had seen myself like that for so long that I guess it was just embedded in my brain. I felt fat even tho I wasn't. An example would be one time I went to sit in the back seat of a car with 2 other people and made them smash clear against the other side to make room for me and climbed in and took up half the space that I thought I would. It was just in my head that I still felt like I needed it. I ended up getting pregnant before that feeling ever went away, but I have heard from others that it eventually does. Just hang in there darling.

gothicfires

You can retrain your brain. When you look in the mirror tell yourself out loud that you look good because you lost that weight. Admire yourself and do it whenever you pass a reflective surface. Eventually your mind will fall back to the positive memory you are creating rather than the negative one you nurtured before you lost the weight.

meltedsno

interesting topic...I know how you feel... everyone I know tells me I am so "thin" but I don't feel it. I am wearing a size 4/6 (down from a size 24/26) and about 125 lbs lost. But I s-t-i-l-l f-e-e-l f-a-t. Am I fat? I just don't know if it is in my head or if I am really fat. I keep thinking my clothes are fitting so tight this week compared to last week, but really I don't think they are... I don't know. Is it possible that my mind is playing tricks on me?

d08t

Great work. Keep pushing and make changes in diet and exercise where needed. Don't focus on where you were or where you are, but get excited about where you can be and make it happen.

Arliah

I hear you ... it's the same for me. I am 5'3, started out at 187 and am down to 141 right now. And despite the fact that every now and then I break out of that "I am fat" mentality, it's not very frequently. Especially when I see pictures or (even worse) on camera. We have conference rooms at work that have cameras for VTCs, and every now and then they are turned on when we come in and we can see the room on screen ... and holy *kitten*, I always want to run!). I still have 20 lbs to go, and I am hoping that it will get better. But I can't help but thinking: What if that thought does not go away?