When does your metal image catch up?

tweetiejovi
tweetiejovi Posts: 62 Member
in Motivation and Support
So over the last 2 & a half years I have lost over 70lbs thing is mental I still think I'm huge but can't see how small I am now so will they ever match up if so when????

Replies

  • morethenjustmum
    morethenjustmum Posts: 170 Member
    do you have any old photos of your self?
    Take some of yourself today and compare them , that usually does the trick for me.
    It took me about six months to see any change, although I felt change before it actually happened oddly enough.
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  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    I finally started really knowing how small I'd gotten when I would say place my hand on my thigh and realize how big my hand looked compared to before when my hand looked small
  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    Yeah I feel the same, I've lost 58lbs to date and if it wasn't for the fact I was wearing smaller clothes I wouldn't think I'd lost a single pound in that time. Until my stomach flattens I still feel as fat as day one.
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
    Yep it's not just you. I've only lost 14 pounds or so. I didn't realize what a big difference I had made in my body. I took some pictures today and when I saw my face I actually got a little sad...I look older!
  • thegreatcanook
    thegreatcanook Posts: 2,419 Member
    I struggle with this at times as well. I am just starting to get comfortable with having my picture taken.
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  • Ftw37
    Ftw37 Posts: 386 Member
    The body does change faster than the mind, for sure. I've heard it can take years to adjust the mental image.
  • tweetiejovi
    tweetiejovi Posts: 62 Member
    Yep it's not just you. I've only lost 14 pounds or so. I didn't realize what a big difference I had made in my body. I took some pictures today and when I saw my face I actually got a little sad...I look older!

    Yeah that's another thing I've noticed I look more older
  • m23prime
    m23prime Posts: 358 Member
    That's kind of the trade off at a certain point in life. You lose the weight and FEEL younger, but the extra skin can have an aging effect.

    I'm down more than 100, and intellectually, I KNOW I am smaller, leaner, and fitter--but in the mirror, the only thing I can see and feel is my big saggy belly.

    BUT--I can now take my new wrinkles and saggy belly for a run to the store! This is not something I could have done 100 lbs ago with a more youthful cherub-y face!
  • PaulaKro
    PaulaKro Posts: 5,790 Member
    I finally started really knowing how small I'd gotten when I would say place my hand on my thigh and realize how big my hand looked compared to before when my hand looked small
    @MB_positif -When I put my hands on my hips, what gets me is that there're bones there now! :noway: They used to be buried several inches under the skin.
    I have a question for those that have this issue. Did you exercise while you were losing the weight? Are you exercising now? Because I'm thinking that the more and more you push yourself and the stronger your body gets, the more you start to ''feel'' different. But if you are doing those things effectively, then it's not that.
    @Workoutforhealth - to answer your questions, for me, yes I work out walking/jogging, calisthenics & weight-lifting. It makes me "feel" strong (and empowered! :bigsmile: ). But I was strong when I was bigger too. It just doesn't help me understand that I "look" so different.

    A friend tried to help by saying I looked the same as a tall slender woman. I could see her slenderness but still can't visualize that my silhouette is the same. In my head, I know it's (probably - I have to say that) true, but I can't feel it.:tongue:
    Yep it's not just you. I've only lost 14 pounds or so. I didn't realize what a big difference I had made in my body. I took some pictures today and when I saw my face I actually got a little sad...I look older!
    @smarleallen85: A friend asked his 7 year old daughter if she remembered having dinner with me last year. She squirmed and stared and then said "she looked younger"! From the mouth of babes! :laugh:
    I struggle with this at times as well. I am just starting to get comfortable with having my picture taken.
    @thegreatcanoo - you and your wife look so happy together. :happy:
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    Depends. Did you save all your concert t-shirts from the 80s? If so, you just wait for heavy metal to come back in a big way, dust off your shirts, and you're caught up.

    (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
    Depends. Did you save all your concert t-shirts from the 80s? If so, you just wait for heavy metal to come back in a big way, dust off your shirts, and you're caught up.

    (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

    I feel you
  • Kenda2427
    Kenda2427 Posts: 1,592 Member
    It took me 2 years to stop seeing the fat chick in the mirror. Unfortunately I put some back on and I'm trying to shed them before the lady returns. :o(
  • lindainprogress
    lindainprogress Posts: 129 Member
    I caught a reflection of my face randomly out in public, it took a minute to register that it was even me. that was at 40 lbs lost. now I see what others see. I also see the beginning of a very nice turkey neck:ohwell: does anyone have any thoughts on that?
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    it is bizarre for sure. I have heard something I found interesting, although I can't remember where I heard it...but some people see themselves at a certain size generally, whether they have lost or gained a lot of weight they still see themselves at a past weight. I really think that is/was the case for me. I think that during the years I was say 280-300 lb, I still saw a 230-240 lb woman in the mirror. Photos or sudden glimpses in a mirror that showed me a much larger woman with big fat rolls, that felt weird to me like it couldn't possibly be correct. And now that I am at 173 lb, I still kind of think of myself in the 200-230 range I would say. So if I catch myself off guard in mirrors for example, it takes a moment to "get it" that I am that person. Probably the weirdest thing for me is photographs...I'm constantly thinking "Am I really that small?" just like I used to see pics and think "I'm not really THAT big, am I?"

    I can also relate to looking at current clothes and not fully comprehending that I fit into them. It does get less weird over time though.
  • carliekitty
    carliekitty Posts: 303 Member
    When I fold my pants I always think they shrunk in the dryer. I run outside and go to the gym, I have consistently "pushed" myself physically the whole weight lose time so no exercise doesn't help w your image of yourself.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    I had about 40 pounds to lose when I started. I've been maintaining for over a year and have continued getting firmer, maybe dropping a half to a full dress size in that time. Looking in the mirror without clothes, it doesn't register... My eyes go right to the flabby parts I haven't perfected and might never manage to. But then I put on the super-snug "booty jeans" I bought a year ago, and they fit like regular jeans instead... And the smallest of the dress clothes I put away about 10 years ago because they didn't fit, now are too big to wear :grumble: :bigsmile: ... And a dress I wouldn't have dreamed of trying on in the past is suddenly so perfect I need it in every color, in a size I haven't seen in about 15 years ... And then it dawns on me that yes, I really am different from the chubby chica I was two years ago.

    The point is, I can't see it that well objectively, but using clothes as a benchmark makes it sink in a bit. I also feel the difference when I run my hands over formerly flabby, now more muscular areas. In the gym and studio, too, I tend to think of myself as less capable than I am... I have to really push myself hard to realize how much more I can do than I could 2, 5, 10 years ago. Funny thing is, I used to think I was pretty strong and tough back then. Hah.

    I think seltzermint's got a great point: We kind of settle on a self-image, and it takes quite a while to change that image in either direction.

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