Adjusting to your new physical space (aka, weight vertigo)

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vegaslounge
vegaslounge Posts: 122 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This week I hit 174lb, having started in Sept 2016 at 191, my highest recorded weight being 202. At 5'6" I still have some poundage to go before I hit my personal ideal (145-150), but, I'm the lowest weight I've been my entire adulthood and...it's kind of weird, not inhabiting the space you used to.
I'm not even talking clothing or shoe size, I'm talking your spacial awareness– mine seems utterly skewed! My brain and my body are just not in sync, like a strange type of dysmorphia. I still walk like I did 20 pounds ago, like I have those dimensions, but since I don't anymore I crash into everything like an old drunk. It's like you're expecting airbags to deploy and then remember you're driving a classic car.
Anyone else experienced this? Losing from 180-174 has actually been pretty easy and quick (the 180s stalked me for MONTHS). I lose in a plateau-woosh cycle, but damn, I didn't think my current loss would result in knocking gravity for a loop.

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  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I think it might all be in your head. You just lost one size. Most are not even aware of it except in clothing.
  • Wtn_Gurl
    Wtn_Gurl Posts: 396 Member
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    i was watching My 600 Pound Life, the person lost half their weight, they too felt that sensation. their center of gravity changed and they could not walk too well at first.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    I have a really hairy dog who sometimes gets way too long, curly and matted. When I shave her, she's wobbly for a few days until she adjusts. It's probably the same type of thing. Maybe try doing some balance-work exercises and see if that works. Google balance mat.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited May 2017
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    earlnabby wrote: »
    I think it might all be in your head. You just lost one size. Most are not even aware of it except in clothing.

    This.

    I've lost over 100lbs and do not have this issue.

    Perhaps you have an inner ear issue?
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    Interesting - I've lost 75 lbs over more than a year. I took a break for several months, but in the few weeks I've lost 17 lbs and 3-4" off my waist. When I go for a walk I'm only going 2.9 mph [used to be 3.1] and my gait is wobbly and I feel slightly unstable
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    I've lost 90 and I feel more coordinated and light in my feet. But that in and of itself felt strange at first.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Weight vertigo? Is that what it's called? My spacial awareness was very skewed at first. It's better now after a while around the same weight, I don't walk like a 300+ person, but I still walk like I'm a 250 person. My mind is always lagging by 50 pounds or something. I expect not to fit into certain spaces or to have to go in sideways squeezing behind things. I feel like I take up more space than I really do which has lead to the pleasant side effect of rarely bumping into things, the opposite of what you have. I find myself inadvertently leaving too much space between me and the edges of things.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    You might just be noticing it more because you're more aware of your body. I am clumsy but I notice it more at a lower weight because it feels a little different when I accidentally bash into stuff, but I don't bash into stuff more than usual.
  • srosenthal1225
    srosenthal1225 Posts: 44 Member
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    May I suggest you try yoga, I have lost 64 so far and yoga has helped me regain my center and balance after being so out of whack when I was so overweight.
  • Nevada
    Nevada Posts: 140 Member
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    Ever spend a few hours on a rocking boat? When you get back onto solid land, for a while your body is still countering the rocking motion. It goes away as you get re-accustomed to no more rocking.
    Maybe exercise to increase body self-awareness, like looking at yourself in a mirror? Take a walk carrying dumbbells, then put them down, being conscious of your body without the extra weight?
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
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    I'd believe this if one day you were 191 and the next morning you woke up at 174 - it'd take you a few minutes to adjust. But honestly, I've lost 90lbs over time and other than feeling fitter I have not experienced any issues like you describe - because it was gradual, I woke up each day a few hundred grams lighter (or heavier).
  • Wtn_Gurl
    Wtn_Gurl Posts: 396 Member
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    oh i just remembered, if your blood pressure drops lower, you might get a weird dizzy feeling but that might be low blood pressure or could be stopped up ears with gunk in it, as the ear canal controls your sense of balance. maybe get a check up to check those things.
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
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    I have moments where I walk past a mirror and see my reflection and I stop and stare, because I didn't realize that's what I look like now....I've lost 16lbs. It's like it startled me, I just don't think that I look like that so my brain tries to catch up and take it all in...so I get it :)

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