Do you find it hard to see you have lost weight ?

Smallerjojo2015

Hi I know I have lost a lot of weight ( still have a lot to lose )
But I find it very hard to see it does anyone else have this problem ?
Think it is not helped that not many people / friends have noticed I have lost weight
I started MFP in January I was 302 lbs
I have lost in total 6 st 11lbs or 95 lbs
I weigh 207 lbs
I see myself in pictures and in the mirror and I see I have lost a little bit of weight
I know I am getting a lot smaller clothes
I have lost 11 more lbs since I did this photo

ScrAgnX

When I look in the mirror all I see is the 70 lbs left to lose (not the 107 already lost).

When I looked in the mirror before this year, I never thought I looked as bad as I see in my "before" photos though. I didn't see the jowls, puffy cheeks, etc. I only noticed my excessive weight when I was trying on clothes, or looking at photos of myself (which I avoided like the truth they were).

I know that part of my not seeing the change is highly psychological (both before when I saw myself as thinner than I was, and now when I see myself bigger than I am), but somehow when I look at pictures I believe it more.

I hope looking at the photos above you are able to see the change, and that they motivate you. They are a testament to your hard work, and show the amount of effort you've put in so far. I'm sure that everyone notices, and they are too afraid of insulting you by telling you that you look healthier (some people don't like hearing it for some reason).

Anyway, great job to date and best of luck going forward.

Miss_Mania

I totally understand what you mean. I find it hard to see how far I've come also. I know that I have lost weight and that I am smaller than I used to be, however it's like I now have no self awareness. I was morbidly obese for the majority of my life and I got used to looking and being a certain way. In fact I haven't been this low in weight since maybe first year of high school?

I look in the mirror and I do have more confidence. But I can't gauge where I fit in anymore. I have lost my weight in a rather short amount of time - so I'm guessing my brain is just playing catch up. But my weight is changing every month and every time I feel like I've adjusted to the way I look - my body and face changes again lol.

I no longer know whether I'm bigger or smaller than someone else because I literally have no comprehension of my body's image. I think it'll just take time to adjust lol.

MimiOfTheLusciousLawn

Such an interesting topic. I've battled my self image for as long as I can remember. Like @ScrAgnX, I could look in a mirror and not see myself but photos were horrors. When I was thinner, I always saw myself as fat, when I was 400+ I never really saw how large I truly was. I wonder where I'll feel normal, where I'll actually feel the size that I truly am, or if that is just a fallacy.

The progress you have made is AMAZING!! I didn't get my first "wow, you've lost weight" comment until I was 100 down. You're doing and looking great - keep up the good job!

Smallerjojo2015

It's good to know I am not the only one

kaihunter45

Congratulations on the new you. You've done wonderfully and it's very noticeable.

HowlinAl

Well, your weight loss is very noticeable. You look great. I think sometimes folks we work with every day often don't comment because a) they see you every day and just haven't noticed your gradual loss. And then there is b) they assume you will fail and regain your weight, so they want to avoid hurting your feelings later on.

Hang in there!

creepykbear

You're looking great! I feel you about not feeling like you've lost weight. I'm 70 lbs down with much more to go - but yet, I don't feel like I was as big as I was or how much I've lost. My clothes do tell their own story - yep, they're falling off, I've lost weight!

I work in healthcare and had a patient who was 420 lbs - my starting weight. Everyone was talking about how much he weighed, and all I could think was - YO PEOPLE - I WEIGHED THAT MUCH 5 MONTHS AGO! Then when I saw him there I thought, no I wasn't ever that big. It's a weird head game for sure... just glad I've made the changes and making it stick.

Cheryl7777

Wow you look great. I can see a drastic change. It's always hard for me to see the weight loss change too. A dietitian told me once that we should take a picture after every 50 pound loss on our journey and keep them together to look back on. I'm going to do that. Congratulations on your success and good luck going forward.