for those of you who have lots a significant amount

jaecamp1

When did you start feeling either normal or even thin? Seriously, my size 22 head thought I'd feel really thin at a 14. Now I'm transitioning from a 12 into a 10 and I still feel huge. I look at people similar height and clothing sizes as me and I feel I'm way bigger. Even clothes that look small, until I get them on, look giant after. Was there a weight or size it hit you that you weren't fat anymore?

sparklelioness

I know exactly what you mean. I was a 24, now I'm a 14, and obviously i feel a million times better, but i don't feel thin. Even though when i walk and look down i just see my breasts & legs (no tummy sticking outt like before), i still dont feel thin. I dont think I will til I'm a 10 or under, honestly. It's hard sometimes, but you have to just keep at it. I know I'll get there-you will too

burnphoneone

I dunno if I qualify as "lost a significant amount", but I definitely still feel big. Like, I know rationally I've made progress, but it still feels like I haven't gone anywhere. When I was wearing a 14, I thought I'd feel good at a 10. Now I'm at a 6 and I think I'll feel thin at a 4 or 2.

As it turns out, adjusting my self-image is even harder than losing weight. Who knew?

alisonlynn1976

I feel like a normal-sized person now, although I still have 8 pounds to lose to move into the normal BMI category. I feel pretty confident that people don't conceptualize me as "the fat woman" anymore. I wear US size 8 usually.

JesterMFP

For me, it's been a gradual process, but only really in the last few months. I've ben maintaining since last November, so I would say not until several months after I reached my goal. And, it still comes and goes. Some days I still feel really big, especially if I'm bloated. Some days I still want to lose more weight, even though there are parts of my body that are looking a bit too skinny for my taste.

It's not just the fact that your head needs to get used to what you look like, but also the fact that the body you end up with at goal is not necessarily going to be your ideal. I would quite happily lose a few pounds from around my belly/back and thighs, but I would actually like to gain a bit on my boobs/chest/ribs, and I'd like my face to stay as it is now. So, I have to compromise, and learn a bit of self acceptance. So, be prepared for that part to mess with your head too!

But yeah - as for actually seeing myself as the size I am, it was definitely some time after starting to maintain that it started kicking in, and it's still only sometimes. I still sometimes feel like the fat friend, even though I'm now thinner than the majority of my friends!

xX_PhoenixRising_Xx

I'm not there yet. I have days where I feel 'normal' sized and days where I still feel like the size US22/24 old me. Currently a US12 top/14 bottom so I'm certainly not thin (yet!) but I'm 105lbs lighter than where I started.

Justkeepswimmin

I felt I wasn't "Fat" around an 8. I felt I looked decent around a 6. I felt I looked hot around a 4. I got to a smaller 4 for a while and 2 in some cases, but I've gained a bit back so now I'm more solid 4. Working my way back.

Pidgeywendy

Hello,

I was a size 34 when I started and the biggest person wherever I went :-( I always said that I would be happy to be a size 18....and when I reached that, I certainly wasn't happy! I'm currently a size 16, and feel like I now blend in with everyone else size-wise. That could be because I carry a size 16 well, having an hour glass figure that now gets me lots of positive attention! I'm quite an attractive blonde too, so I'm sure that helps my confidence ;-)

What I will say I've noticed, is that a size 16 on the way UP, is very different to a size 16 on the way DOWN. I'm older, my skin was stretched, and I've had three pregnancies. So whereas I felt I looked great as I size 14/16 years ago - I don't feel I'll be happy with it now. I feel I need to go further to look good. So for me, I feel I will need to be a 10/12 (I'm only 5'2") before feeling satisfied. Do I feel 'normal' now? Yes, as I'm the British average sized woman now.

What you're looking for, you won't find on a clothing label or from the number on the scales....it's something you find within you.

jillianbeeee

It took a while for my mind to catch up with my body. But now it is becoming more about fitness and less about weight loss. I am starting to focus on being healthy instead of being thin and while the weight is still coming off I have trouble with the compliments and the "wow how the heck are you doing it." I worry about boring people even when they are interested in the hows. lol. Some days I still feel like the "big girl" and I think our minds have a way of doing that to somehow remind us that this is a lifelong journey and not a passing interest. Congrats on the weight loss!

lilbearzmom

Yes- I feel that way big time and it worries me a little- like I will never just be happy at any weight. I went from a size 28/26 to now a size 10/12 pants & Medium tops and still feel like I'm fat. I have reached my initial goal weight of 160, but now want to go to 150 (and the last ten lbs are sticking to me like white on rice). I look in the mirror and it's hard to believe that I am only 20 lbs overweight (according to BMI charts). I just totally get what you're saying.
Edited to add that the size 28 me would say that being a size 10/12 and 160 is an unimaginable fantasy dream, but now that I'm here, that doesn't feel like the case. I always thought I would be the happiest person on earth if I lost the weight, but the reality is different.
Congrats to everyone on your amazing success!

amandatapar

I have lost a total of 72.2 pounds so far and gone from a size 18 pant/XL shirt to a size 8 pant/ medium shirt. I still don't like myself in pictures but I have started to accept that I am skinnier in my own brain. It took me a while. People call me tiny now. I am 5' 8" and currently weigh 150.8 pounds and want to get down to 140 pounds.

luckydays27

For me, I started to feel thin at 50lbs lost. So right about 170. Now I am 165 and I feel great. I start in a us 18 and am now in a 10 ore 8 depending on the brand. I can see my collar bones and feel my hip bones again and am happy. But honestly I was happy at 219lbs also. I feel better about myself because I am more fit.

You need to find your happiness. It's not going to come from your scale ir the clothes you wear.

supplemama

Well keep in mind that a size 14 or 12 is not a thin size for most women. So it makes sense that you don't feel thin at this size, because though you have lost a lot of weight, you are still likely overweight.

4ever420

There's some days that I feel really small and it just hits me that wow, I'm not obese anymore! Then there are times my brain 'forgets' that I've lost a ton of weight and I still feel like that super big woman. For the first time ever in my adult life I'm able to fit into the odd "regular store" clothing item though most things in regular stores are a tad too small still. When I'm in a regular store I often feel self conscious and feel like the sales lady must be wondering what the heck this bigger woman is thinking trying to fit into these regular clothes. I guess once I drop another size and start regularly fitting into normal sized clothes then maybe I won't feel so out of place anymore?

omma_to_3

I've gone from a 22W to a size 8. I feel normal but not thin. I will not feel thin probably ever - unless I have a tummy tuck to get rid of the loose skin on my stomach. For me, the flat stomach would make me feel thin!

squishybarb

I was at 180ish at my heaviest and I'm currently at 133 (as of this morning.. who knows what it is right now.. lol). For someone 5'3''ish, that's a good amount. I'd have to say at about 145 I was feelin "skinnier".

I wear a size 6-8 - but this is where what JesterMFP said comes in! My arms are disproportionately large to the rest of my body. Shirts are a little baggy on my midsection but tight on my arms.. My hips/butt are the same way, too, when compared to the rest of my legs. My waist is very small compared to everything else.. I think I'm always going to feel as if my arms are "large," even when I'm totally satisfied with the rest of my body - maybe my thighs too.

I still have days I feel like a blimp, but I usually know that's a week before the dreaded monthly visitor appears. My family tells me I'm "skinny," but I feel pretty average. I know I'm not unhealthy by any means.

I think it's different for every person, and it varies every day! lol

KimberlyinMN

I am almost always shocked when I see myself in the mirror. I was a size 32/34 and am now a loose 16. I think there's a lot of mental stuff involved with being comfortable in the smaller sizes. I still have the imaginary fat bubble around my body where I think my body size is still at.

mamadon

Most of the time I feel pretty good. Sometimes though, when someone takes a picture of me I still see a fat girl. This just happened the other day.

pinkraynedropjacki

It took so long for me to get my mind out of 'fat mode' even now I look at myself without a mirror & see myself as fat still, even though my boss said you are tiny no way you are a size 12.

I think it's cause we didn't see ourselves as fat before it, otherwise we would have done something sooner right? So when we have lost the weight it's taken our minds a long time to catch up. It's been almost 2 years now for me & I still struggle with my mind.

Take a look in the mirror, fully naked, then say to yourself.... "damn I lost a lot of weight, look how thin I am" it does get easier.

Cindyinpg

Yeah, I've lost 123lbs (30 before joining here) and I still feel overweight most days, even though I am at a healthy BMI (just barely). :ohwell:

ktsmom430

For me, I still do not see a thin person and I probably never will. It is hard to get past the image for me. I went from a tight size 24W to an 8 and 6 in some brands.

LilacDaffodil

I started at a UK 16/18 and now wear 10s, but whenever I buy something new to wear I hold it up and say 'I'm never going to fit into that' and am still shocked that I do. Catching a glimpse of myself in a mirror always surprises me too, I still hate mirrors and dread looking in one, but I don't recognise the 'slim' me It's been 3 months since I lost any weight so you'd think I'd be getting used to my new look by now. Congratulations on your great success x

guessrs

When size 11 pants were loose on me I was like whoa, so at size 8 or 9 I'd say.

theonenonlymrssmith

I started feeling good about myself at maybe a size 6/8. Really great when I hit a 4 and I shocked myself when I was just able to buy size 2 jeans! I'm small though, at only 5' 2" with itty bitty bone structure and no boobs no matter what my size so to feel thin I've got to be super tiny. I've still got mommy gut to overcome, but everywhere else I feel great about finally.

TheFitHooker

I still have moments when I don't feel like a size 1/2 I still feel like a 20, but I have had to take a lot of photo's and compare them, I do this a lot, it's the only way I can wrap my head around it. Some days I feel smaller but not a 1/2.

Francl27

Size 6/8 now (US) and still feeling like a whale.

kristen6022

I started out pushing a 16 (which means I wore a 14, but should have bought 16's). I didn't feel thin until size 8. The day I bought a 6 I had a party in the dressing room. The day I ordered a 4 in Old Navy Jeans online because they didn't have a 6 and they fit, I almost flew through the roof.

Now I don't feel good unless my jeans are a 4 or 6 and my dress pants are a 6 or 8. I bought a size 4 skirt from Limited this weekend and was so excited. I have 3lbs to go until I hit my "vanity" weight of 145, again after gaining back 12. I'll be a BMI of 20 at that point but it's really hard to maintain...when I start to have to get 8's in jeans I really know I need to start watching again...

PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot

I'm down ~45-50 depending on the day, am within ~5ish lbs of my goal weight, and still look in the mirror and see a lazy, overweight slob who can inhale a can or three of pringles in a single breath.

So I'm not sure, unfortunately.

EmilyEmpowered

Well, for me some days I feel really "thin" other days I feel disgusting and huge... Its part of being a woman, no? :laugh:

Honestly, For me it still has not entirely set in that I have lost so much, so when I go to the store and the size 2 fits, I get confused/excited and cant believe it. It is hard to say when I started feeling "normal;" because honestly, until it was pointed out to me that 255 meant I was "morbidly obese" I never really saw myself that way when I was bigger. Now that dieting and losing weight and fitness has become such a big part of my life, I examine myself day in and day out, and seem to come up short more often than not. :ohwell: But I do have just as many good days as bad, and I think that over time I will start seeing who I am now in the mirror, instead of that middle-of-the-road version of myself that I see these days... :drinker:

EmmiDahling

When I hit my current size (10 US) I started to feel like I was a normal size in my clothes. If I look in the mirror with my clothes off though, I think I almost look fatter than I did at size 20. I think part of it has to do with where the fat is left and how much jigglier it is. I'm hoping that I'll start to feel slender at an 8 or 6.

yaseyuku

My jeans range from US size 0-4 and I still often see myself as weighing what I did before I lost weight, or at least being much bigger than I know I am.