Seeing the thin person in pics/mirror...

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  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    As a friend told me: I've spent most of my life overweight. It's going to take my brain time to catch up to the new body that I have now. It's not going to happen overnight. And it certainly hasn't happened yet. It's actually been a very emotional journey for me because of the self-image issues I have. I look in the mirror, and I still see the same fat girl. I still enter a room and feel like everyone is staring at the fat girl. I can see difference in pictures sometimes, but then think, "No, that's not me." It's going to take me a long time, I think. One day at a time.

    OMG I so do that. Catch a cute guy looking at me and my first thought is often 'shame, bet he thinks I'm fat'. Then he'll wink or something and I get adolescent giggly. I'm better than I was though. Starting to realise maybe I'm thinner and prettier than I give myself credit for :S
  • lady6starlight
    lady6starlight Posts: 127 Member
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    Go through your Facebook albums. I just compared photos of me from January to today.... holy crap, what a HUGE difference!!

    Also, I compared my ID photo from undergrad in 2008 to my new grad ID taken the other day, my face is MUCH slimmer.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Go through your Facebook albums. I just compared photos of me from January to today.... holy crap, what a HUGE difference!!

    Also, I compared my ID photo from undergrad in 2008 to my new grad ID taken the other day, my face is MUCH slimmer.


    xlvuaa.jpg

    I have this one! I like this one :)
  • lady6starlight
    lady6starlight Posts: 127 Member
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    Wow!! You look great! :D
  • gigglybeth
    gigglybeth Posts: 365 Member
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    I'm just now starting to see my changes. It's taken a very, very long time to mentally catch up with my body and it's a slow process. Before I would go someplace, especially some place new, I'd think, "I hope there are other bigger people there" (don't ask, I don't know either, I guess so I wouldn't stand out as 'the fat one'?). Then earlier this summer, I realized I hadn't thought that in a long time.

    I still can't deal with male attention. Part of me thinks they may be making fun of me or staring because I'm so huge and gross.

    The funniest was one time last fall when I wanted to get some skirts. I went to the plus size section of Macy's (which at this particular Macy's is in the back corner on the same floor as housewares, linens, crystal and china, and a floor above regular sizes) and everything I tried on was too big. I was getting more and more frustrated that nothing "was in my size." As I was giving up and going home, I finally realized that everything was too big because I wasn't plus size anymore. It just never even occurred to me that I could fit into regular sizes.
  • Mechanikitty
    Mechanikitty Posts: 90 Member
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    20lbs and people who see you very regularly will notice, this includes yourself. It's a sort of rule by the thumb. Look at a before and after picture of a 20lbs weight loss and you'll see a difference, 10lbs not so much but I'm sure you'd feel that.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    20lbs and people who see you very regularly will notice, this includes yourself. It's a sort of rule by the thumb. Look at a before and after picture of a 20lbs weight loss and you'll see a difference, 10lbs not so much but I'm sure you'd feel that.

    I'm at 50 lb lost now lol. I noticed it MORE at around 20 I think. Theres a difference between seeing an 'unfat' person and a 'thin' one I think :)
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    I'm at 50 lb lost now lol. I noticed it MORE at around 20 I think. Theres a difference between seeing an 'unfat' person and a 'thin' one I think :)

    Definitely, I don't see myself as fat (though I never particularly did), but I also don't see myself as thin. I don't think I will until I have a flat stomach.

    I took a progress picture about once a month or so, and between the first and second pictures I see a huge difference. Then I can see no difference at all between the second picture and all my others. I think, according to those pictures, I look exactly the same as I did about 30lbs ago. Looking in the mirror though, I think I can see quite a lot of difference. I know there is a difference because I've lost inches, but I just can't see it in photos.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I suspect that the mental picture needs to catch up to the reality for us to keep the weight off because we subconsciously try to get our body to match the mental picture we hold of ourselves. Changing the mental picture takes longer.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    I suspect that the mental picture needs to catch up to the reality for us to keep the weight off because we subconsciously try to get our body to match the mental picture we hold of ourselves. Changing the mental picture takes longer.

    I think you might be right. I think it takes time, and for the new body to stop being a temporary thing.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I suspect that the mental picture needs to catch up to the reality for us to keep the weight off because we subconsciously try to get our body to match the mental picture we hold of ourselves. Changing the mental picture takes longer.

    I think you might be right. I think it takes time, and for the new body to stop being a temporary thing.

    I've lost 66lbs over 2 years (baby weight and then some) and I still see myself as huge some days. Sometimes I look in the mirror and feel miserable that I've worked so hard and still look fat, then other days I look at a photo and think I look good. It's definitely all in our heads, and i wonder if it'll ever go.
  • sassabella
    sassabella Posts: 98
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    Well, I've gone from 73kg to 61 kilograms between Feb and now. I felt like I was a little bit smaller than before but I still have had that idea that my legs are still pretty horrible and chunky.

    However, on Sunday I did a 5k run and they do this thing where they take photos of you nearing the finish line. I could not even believe that the person in the picture was me. I looked so athletic. People have been saying "oh you look amazing" or "oh you are so small!" and I guess I sort of didn't know if I should believe them and I didn't really see that in myself. After seeing that photo though I definitely think I'm alot more toned and small than I thought I was!

    My friend and I were sort of saying though that I think when we lose weight we all are a little bit body dysmorphic. While others see the weight we lose we don't really see it in ourselves and we kind of still pick and prod at the things we still don't think are perfect.
  • ashandstuff
    ashandstuff Posts: 442 Member
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    Go through your Facebook albums. I just compared photos of me from January to today.... holy crap, what a HUGE difference!!

    Also, I compared my ID photo from undergrad in 2008 to my new grad ID taken the other day, my face is MUCH slimmer.


    xlvuaa.jpg

    I have this one! I like this one :)

    HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!! Congrats!!!
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
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    I still feel fat. I feel healthier and stronger, but don't feel thin. And the majority of my weight has been gone for two years now.

    I found some pictures from before a few weeks ago, and I was utterly STUNNED. Could not believe that was me. But it was less that I was so big then, than that I am so much smaller now.

    I drive my guy crazy sometimes. I always want him to point out girls that we see who are the same size as me - just so I can see objectively how I look now. The ones I pick out to ask, he is laughing at me...the ones he picks out, I can't believe.

    It's like you said - when you look at parts, you can see a change. My belly is getting smaller. My arms look a little better. But as a whole, I still see myself as big.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    My friend and I were sort of saying though that I think when we lose weight we all are a little bit body dysmorphic. While others see the weight we lose we don't really see it in ourselves and we kind of still pick and prod at the things we still don't think are perfect.

    This is so apt. Friends who have lost like 5 kg and are still much bigger than me I look at thinking 'wow you've done so good, you're so much thinner'. I've lost nearly 5 x that and because I'm not 'finished' it's not 'enough'....
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Go through your Facebook albums. I just compared photos of me from January to today.... holy crap, what a HUGE difference!!

    Also, I compared my ID photo from undergrad in 2008 to my new grad ID taken the other day, my face is MUCH slimmer.


    xlvuaa.jpg

    I have this one! I like this one :)

    HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!! Congrats!!!

    Thanks... this was the first time I looked at pics and was like.... hmmm maybe it IS visible!
  • DesireeNL
    DesireeNL Posts: 220 Member
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    It takes a long time to adjust! Not just what you see, but also to the touch. When I'm putting lotion on my legs the shape feels different. I can feel a jawline and cheekbones in my face, I can feel the collarbones. It's still weird!
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    It takes a long time to adjust! Not just what you see, but also to the touch. When I'm putting lotion on my legs the shape feels different. I can feel a jawline and cheekbones in my face, I can feel the collarbones. It's still weird!

    for me i put my hands on my hips and there are bones there. I'm still like 'omg wheres my fat?'
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    I drive my guy crazy sometimes. I always want him to point out girls that we see who are the same size as me - just so I can see objectively how I look now. The ones I pick out to ask, he is laughing at me...the ones he picks out, I can't believe.

    Yep I kinda want to compare myself with people too, but my friends are mostly teeny tiny or pregnant so they're no help haha. I'm going for more of a Kardashian, Kate Winslet, J-Lo kinda shape myself....

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