How to Be at Peace With Your Body During Weight Loss

somethingsoright

I struggle so much with trying to feel good about myself during this weight loss period. I get ready for work, look in the mirror, and am so ashamed of my body. Like, can I just wear a potato sack and call it a day?

No matter what I do, the weight is coming off slowly (and I have a lot to lose). I don't want to keep feeling like *kitten* about my body for many months to come. It's tiring. How can I accept my current body while actively working to change it?

jojo19812018

I feel exactly the same way.. it’s very hard. The only thing is to keep reminding yourself of how well your doing and think of the end result. Sorry I couldn’t help more. 😊

somethingsoright

jojo19812018 wrote: »

I feel exactly the same way.. it’s very hard. The only thing is to keep reminding yourself of how well your doing and think of the end result. Sorry I couldn’t help more. 😊

I'm sorry you're dealing with this, too. I do try to think about how I'm on the right track and the effort will pay off eventually, but then I look in the mirror and all I see is a body built from failure.

Weird that I liked my body better before losing weight. Like, hey world, this is who I am. Now my thinking has become nothing but critical.

pinuplove

I tend to be more critical of myself as I lose. It's fairly common. The middle part is tough, from a 'fat and gravity conspiring to drag things down' perspective. Hang in there. That gets better!

Don't let discouragement over things you maybe can't control keep you from making forward progress. One day you'll look and the mirror and not hate what you see - I dare say even like it 🙂

88olds

Clothes. Clothes that fit right.

Are you in the money spent on clothes at this point is wasted camp? Try to get out of it. Or do an experiment. Try consignment shops but pay a tailor to get a good fit. Just to try it out. And do anything else you can do to improve your appearance now. Don’t wait. Especially if you have a lot to lose.

At 285 lbs, I dressed like an unmade bed. At about 260, I bought a new suit. Game changer. At about 235 lbs I met Harry the tailor. He turned me into the office fashion plate. People wanted to know where I shopped for clothes. Guys offered to buy the neckties I was wearing.

Funny thing was that when I hit my 184 lb goal weight, I started shopping at Marshals and the like. I thought I looked good in anything. If you knew me through this whole business you wouldn’t believe it.

Don’t wait. Start working on this now. Taking pride in my appearance changed everything. I weigh about 85- 90 lbs less now than when I bought that 1st new suit.
Worth every cent I paid.

cowgoo

I found that keeping my appearance presentable, like having my eyebrows done, doing my nails and hair makes me feel more confident at the size I am while losing. I've also gotten some new clothes which helps boost my mood

somethingsoright

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will focus on finding clothes that suit my body shape better and make me look like a million bucks. I realized that I'm so focused on covering up that everything starts to look sloppy and bigger than what it really is. I didn't do this before losing weight. I still need to work on my mindset, but the clothes will be a start.

RunsWithBees

Exercise helped me make peace with my body. I lived a sedentary lifestyle until I was almost 40, even as a child I never participated in sports or exercise. Once my health was on the line, I started with walking, then hiking, then running. Now my passion is trail running and I am constantly amazed at what my body is capable of achieving and this is the source of the appreciation and love I have for my body. Regular exercise has shaped my body and I like how I look now but that is secondary to performance and health. It took time to get to this peace though, a year or two into maintenance and exercising on a regular basis is when I’d say I really loved what I saw in the mirror and in pictures. Another thing that helped enormously was improving my posture, it can make a world of difference!!!

emmamcgarity

Clothes will make a big difference. Also practice your self talk. If someone else the same size as you were in a conversation with you would you be as unkind to her as you are to yourself? We are worth more than the negative talk we choose to hear in our own heads.

lemonita12

I'm so much with you on this. I noticed that I also avoided going out because I feel nothing fits nicely and I dread the holidays as I have not lost much so my nic clothes still do not fit.
Lovely sugestions from the people above, unfortunately I cannot offer much advise as I feel I am on the same boat but just wanted to say you are not alone

cowleyl

cowgoo wrote: »

I found that keeping my appearance presentable, like having my eyebrows done, doing my nails and hair makes me feel more confident at the size I am while losing. I've also gotten some new clothes which helps boost my mood

That's exactly what I did. My weight loss was unbelievably slow (but I've lost more than 30 kg now) and I needed to feel good about myself or I would have given up). I focused on the things that I could control that would help me in that regard.

cowleyl

somethingsoright wrote: »

I struggle so much with trying to feel good about myself during this weight loss period. I get ready for work, look in the mirror, and am so ashamed of my body. Like, can I just wear a potato sack and call it a day?

No matter what I do, the weight is coming off slowly (and I have a lot to lose). I don't want to keep feeling like *kitten* about my body for many months to come. It's tiring. How can I accept my current body while actively working to change it?

I have lost around 70 lb and have about 30 to go. It has taken a long time. You don't need to lose all of it to start feeling good. Prior to committing myself to losing weight, I would wake up every morning and mentally beat myself up for being so fat. Once I committed, I would wake up each morning and feel much better because I knew I was doing something about it. MFP helped enormously. Even when I would have days or even weeks off my diet, I committed to logging every day. That kept weight loss goals on my mind. I also knew that if I didn't start, I would be much heavier in a year than I was then. I started at 127.5 kg and am now 94 kg. I still have 15-20 kg to go, but I feel fantastic. Good luck.

concordancia

This is one reason I use fitness goals. Sure, bits of me may be lumpier than they were 20 pounds ago, but I can hold downward dog for a full minute and still hold it again later in the practice. I can wrap both hands around my foot in ham string stretch. I can climb that hill without stopping like I had to last summer...

LiLee2018

I know how you feel. I'm 42lbs down. Still have about 60 to go and that's all I see are those 60 I still need to lose. I rarely see the change in the mirror. Sometimes I do, but most of the time, I just see the giant belly that will probably be the last to go. I still see the flabby arms that are still huge etc.
I'm hoping that eventually, the way I see myself does change. I don't want to finally be at my goal and still only pick out the things I don't like.

AmyC2288

Take progress pics and refer back to them! This is the biggest pick-me-up for me by far! Even if you still have a ways to go, you will still be able to see your progress and be able to appreciate how far you've come.

tiffanyleilarsen

Doing exercise helped me see changes in my body quicker. I'm actually loosing pounds a bit slower, but I see the results so I keep doing it.

jryepin93

Exercise and trying on old clothes have helped me keep my sanity. There have been days when I look in the mirror and think I look exactly the same. On those days I go into my closet and pull out a dress I bought back in August that was TIGHT as heck when I originally bought it. Now, it's loose and I'll need to get it tailored eventually but it's a nice reminder that I'm doing something positive for my body and that it's changing! Despite what my mind thinks lol Also, take progress pics!!