Do you see yourself differently?

Dandman1990

I wanted to create this post to gather opinions on the weight loss process. I've lost a little over 30kgs so far with about another 30 to go and yet I can't tell the difference at all when I look in the mirror or when I compare myself now, to pictures I purposely took when I started trying to lose the weight last September (I took a lot of them in order to hopefully one day look back and see how far I'd come).

The standard response I get to this is "it's all in your head" and "well you must feel way better now" but I honestly don't see or feel any different to how I did before, for me it just seems like a number on a scale has changed and that's it. I'm guessing that's probably because I'm only about halfway and still have a lot left to lose.

I'm really not looking for any kind of attention i was just wondering when you really started feeling the benefits of the weightloss and really started to notice a difference in yourself? Thanks!

Madame_Goldbricker

Everyone around me now comments on my loss so far. I can tell a difference in my progress pics too. However I still have days I look in the mirror & do/don't see any changes it's a bit of an odd thing.

hyg99

I know what you mean, I still look at my face and see no change, yet everyone comments that I look different. I went on holiday and came back, everyone suddenly noticed, whether it was because I was slightly tanned and therefore looked healthier.

Well done btw

keobooks

My grandfather had a false young image of himself. He said sometimes he'd get startled when he looked in the mirror because he FELT 25. He felt young and healthy and got shocked there was some old guy looking in the mirror at him. He was never senile. He was just incredibly fit and active up until his 80s and part of his brain assumed that he was still a young guy.

Unless someone points a camera at me, I feel like I'm a skinny person because I've been thin most of my life. When I see the picture, I sometimes fail to recognize myself. Even though I'm morbidly obese, part of my brain is totally convinced that I'm a skinny person.

I think people who have been heavy most of their lives will unfortunately have this heavy person living in their brain for a very long time. I think we all have to learn to work around whatever part of our brain crystallizes an image of us and we're kind of eternally stuck with it.

kaseyr1505

Like most people, I have made a lot of small changes since I started my journey. So, I think I do see myself differently. My skin is better, and I notice my shape isn't as bad as I thought it was. I notice how much better clothing looks on me. When I'm naked or in a swimsuit, I see some of my surgery scars that I used to have to pull my stomach taut to see. I also notice that I'm not as rolly poley as I once was.

I still have days where I don't see any difference in some parts. I have always had an issue with my legs. I think they're a lot bigger than they are, I think i always will. But, what helps me see a difference is trying on a dress or skirt that was once tight, and seeing how much is loose.

dsb188

My health coach told me 3 months ago. "If you don't feel good about yourself now, you don't feel good about yourself when you lose weight". I was 365 plus and now I'm 303 and still losing. I had self confidence at 365 and still have it now. I'm happy I'm getting healthy for myself. I can look back at old pictures and say oh my goodness i looked a mess but at the same time I look back and say I was happy and will continue to be happy taking care of myself.

fittestpal

its because you see yourself everyday several times a day so the changes aren't as noticeable to you

omma_to_3

Do I feel better now? Not really. I felt fine before and now I'm always sore and tired from my workouts.

Looks wise, I started noticing when I left plus size clothes. But really didn't think I looked good until I got to a size 10. I still have lots if days where I feel like nothing has changed but I know it's all in my head. What's hardest for me is that I'll never have a flat (or even sort of flat) stomach without surgery.

hortensehildegarde

Unless someone points a camera at me, I feel like I'm a skinny person because I've been thin most of my life. When I see the picture, I sometimes fail to recognize myself. Even though I'm morbidly obese, part of my brain is totally convinced that I'm a skinny person.

This is similar to my experience. Objectively I know I am morbidly obese, but I really don't feel any different than I did when I weighed 100 lbs less. I mean I do in that it's harder for me to do some stuff, but I don't feel less attractive or anything.

Last time I lost a significant amount of weight I went from what was likely the 180/190 range down to 123 and I don't recall ever feeling any different. I knew stuff fit better. I knew I was stronger. I was cut in crazy places. I obviously didn't care too much for all the "benefits" as I didn't bother to exert the effort to stay there. (Granted that was a LONG time ago).

At this point I know I need to lose weight for health reasons, and I am lazy and don't want to be bothered with buying new clothes. And as much as I am comfortable with myself, I know the outside universe is NOT comfortable with me so it'd be nice to be rid of that stigma too.

I'm not sure why it matters so much how you think you look? Or what exactly you hope to attain by "looking better"?

I can understand objective health benefits from less weight, but who gives a hoot what you look like, you can be awesome regardless, and you can appreciate your loss even if you think you look exactly the same. I guess my point is you may be like those of us who think we look the same at 123 or 232- are you going to be ok if that turns out to be the case? And if not you might like to explore why not lest you go through all this work and end up not being able to feel the sense of accomplishment you so rightly deserve.

kirili3

Weight loss doesn't solve internal issues. If you put too much emphasis on outer appearance for happiness, there's no way to be happy. But try to take some photos, see the difference, the result of your hard work and the reason for your better health, and see if you can value it for what it is: a great achievement.

scb515

It's difficult to see it on yourself as you see yourself every day. However... Even if I can't always see the weight loss, I can feel it. I definitely feel better in myself and that helps keep me going.

loz2304

When you're overweight it's easy to put all your negative feelings onto your image, without realising it more often than not so when positive changes happen its hard to stop feeling how you always have about yourself. For me personally I started doing things that helped boost my opinion of my body like getting a really nice body moisturiser that lead me to thinking that my skin now started to feel softer and some compliments as well or getting my nails done. All of which had nothing to do with my weight but helped me see myself in a better light, it's still a work in progress but more good days than bad are an improvement