Having trouble seeing myself (literally)

k2d4p

When I was big I would be very sarcastic when I talked about people wearing the size clothes I wear now. Now that I wear them, they don't seem that small. Is it just a girl thing, to never be satisfied with how you look? I can hold up a pair of shorts and think they look so tiny and when I put them on and they fit, they really don't seem tiny at all. They look completely different when they are on me and I look in the mirror.

Please tell me I am not insane. I am really having trouble with what I look like now. It's almost like I can't wrap my head around it. My husband sometimes points out people who are walking when we are in our our car and says that person is my size or I am smaller than her. I see that person and think, yeah right. Seriously.

I swear I am not trying to toot my own horn here. I am wondering if other people have gone/are going through this. Will I always see myself so different than other people see me?

KatyE213

You have lost a massive amount of weight and that will take some adjusting to! It will probably just take a while for your head to catch up! Very well done on your weight loss

mishamae

You are not insane, because if you are than I am too! lol This happens to me too! Just the other day I was at a clothing store buying some new pants and didn't even bother picking up sizes I thought looked way to small for me, guess what those ended up fitting. Also when I catch my reflection in a store window or in my own mirror sometimes it doesn't register for a split second that it is me.

I feel that losing weight is not only a physical transformation, but it also has to be a mental/emotional change in the way we see ourselves. I think that it just takes a little longer for our inner selves to catch up with the outer changes sometimes. I think soon enough you will get used to your new body and your mind will start viewing itself they way it actually looks

Congrats btw on your amazing weightloss! :flowerforyou:

6heatherb6

Agreed..It may take you awhile to get used to yourself but I also think for some 'insane' reason we aren't ever really happy re: our weight/size! Oh well....you've done really well so just keep looking and reminding yourself that that healthy women is YOU!!!:flowerforyou: Well done you and all the best!

mamagooskie

I feel the same way. so often I am in awe of how tiny other women look (especially on MFP before and after photos) and I wish I could look that good or whatever then I read the story and realize I am like 10-20-30 lbs lighter and I am always like no way am I that size or less.

I still have my "big" days no matter how small I get. I am not sure how thin I will have to get to be convinced I'm thin but for sure my mind has not caught up to my weight loss yet.

becka63

I've done the same both ways actually.

When I was about 20 I was a (UK) size 8 and over the next 5-6 years I increased to a size 14 and at my heaviest was wearing a size 16. My mental self image was of me at around a size 10 and I couldn't get my head round the overweight, unfit reflection I was seeing in the mirror.

Now I have lost some weight and am about a size 10-12, my mental self image has changed...to someone who is overweight! I have just come back from a family wedding, and did overindulge quite a bit, and on the way home I was feeling really 'fat'....then I gave myself a reality check - I was wearing size 10 trousers, size 10 knickers and a size 10 top. And I had worked damned hard to get there!

So I guess it does take time, I would like to think that I can form an accurate mental self image sometime soon!

billmac

Not wishing to hijack your thread in a different direction but this is a joke on myself.
I had a bit the opposite problem. i was lying on a bed at the physiotherapists wearing just a pair of shorts I looked over to the bed beside me and I thought "I'm pleased I'm not as fat as that fat b.....d" Then I realised it wasn't another bed...it was a mirror!

I really think you are doing really well. Most of us think we are trimmer than we are. i think I saw a statistic somewhere from a survey that on average we are actually about 10 pounds heavier than we think we look.

KatyE213

Not wishing to hijack your thread in a different direction but this is a joke on myself.
I had a bit the opposite problem. i was lying on a bed at the physiotherapists wearing just a pair of shorts I looked over to the bed beside me and I thought "I'm pleased I'm not as fat as that fat b.....d" Then I realised it wasn't another bed...it was a mirror!

Hahaha love it!!! :laugh:

tashjs21

You are totally sane!

Before I had my daughter I had lots somewhere between 60- 70 pounds (I didn't ever get on the scale to find out my start weight...I was too scared of it) And when I was just 10 pounds shy of my goal...I thought I was still really close to my previous self. Now looking back at pictures and holding up my clothes from that time frame, I realize that I was actually looking really great.

I am back to square one but I am hoping that this time, when I get back to the pre-pregnancy weight, that I will see it and be happy with it and KNOW that I look damn good!


Be patient with yourself. You have accomplished a lot and look amazing! Your mind will catch up soon! :flowerforyou:

trissa3

Sounds like we're all in the same boat. But after being in a larger body, we still have that "I'm big" mind set. The brain inside isn't catching up w/the outside. I think loads of "skinny" girls think the same way and that's how they get into trouble with other "eating issues". We have to learn to look in that mirror and feel good about what we see. As long as we're eating healthy and keeping on track, we're good and should be proud of what we see.