Do you still feel "fat" mentally after a lot of weight loss?

directorj

I still feel ridiculously fat, although I'm down 35lbs. I still have work to do and just about at the halfway mark. When I look in the mirror I feel that it's not me and I didn't lose anything. I swear each time I go shopping for new clothes I go straight to the big sizes XL / XXL section when I know I fit a Medium. Just yesterday my friend asked me what size I wear and she was going to pick up a shirt for me. I hesitated and said Large because I felt that a medium would be too small.

Anyone feel the same?

bigdawg025

Most days I don't feel fat... but every once in awhile I do. It takes awhile... it goes away eventually.

NinjaMonkey201

YES!!!
I've lost 53 lbs and it doesn't feel like I've lost anything. I didn't "mentally" realize I lost weight until I did a before and after picture. Then my jaw dropped and it put everything in perspective. Our minds can be silly at times. :-)

ebaymommy

Yes, absolutely. I've been at my current weight for just over a year now and I still struggle with this. Just this summer I had a waitress in a restaurant call me a skinny girl and my first thought was to look behind me and see if there was a skinny girl standing there. I think it takes the brain a long time to catch up.....especially if you've been overweight for a long time. For me this is the first time in my entire life that I've been really fit/toned and at the right weight, so the years of hating myself and feeling fat just don't drop off right away.

CoryIda

I don't feel fat anymore, but I have a lot of the same self-confidence issues I did when I was obese. My brain hasn't caught up with my body. I think it's probably fairly common, but it stinks. It isn't that I feel fat, but the feelings of being ugly, frumpy, awkward, etc. remain despite the fact that I've shed an entire person worth of weight.

UsedToBeHusky

I've lost 70+ and I'm STILL not happy when I look in the mirror. But all things considered, I'm only half way to my goal.

BobbyDaniel

Even though I've bought a lot of medium shirts as of late that fit pretty well I still automatically go to the larges first and will usually order a large shirt when I register for a race still. I guess not wearing a medium shirt since I was in 9th grade makes it hard to think that way after 25 years.

jenny8902

Sometimes I worry that once I reach my goal weight I will still feel fat. I wish I could see myself from someone else's eyes just once. a before and after picture is a really good idea to put things in perspective. great job on losing 35 lbs you're doing amazing

michelleb148

I totally feel the same way. Even though the scale and the measuring tape show changes, I just still feel the same. I spend so long battling my self image of being "fat" that it is hard to be comfortable with the idea of being smaller. I feel as if one day I'll wake up and be somehow be my big self again.

Just keep at it. With success comes confidence and sooner or later you'll be flaunting (and rightfully so) that you have come so far!

Classalete

I wouldn't say I feel 'fat'...but I'm always seeking improvement and hardly seem satisfied with the progress I make.

pink_and_shiny

Abso-freakin'-lutely.

I've lost about 35 pounds and gone from a 16 to a 10, I still often feel the same size. Just the other day I saw a girl from high school (whom I hadn't seen in 9 years) and she said I was skinny and asked what I was doing. I couldn't (and still can't) believe that I look that different, that I've made that much of a change in myself since then.

This fitness stuff has SO much to do with our mental state and how we perceive ourselves, it is astounding. Sometimes it seems like simply being happy with what I've got going on will show a dip in the scale.

bregalad5

I'm at around 55 pounds lost, and sometimes I look in the mirror, pinch my stomach and say "I'll never lose this" This actually happened to me today... I've lost 55 but my brain still tries to tell me I can't do it, which is just wrong.

Figuringoutme

116 pounds down and I still feel like the same old me

b0t23

25 pounds down just since sep 1 and I still see that I have a belly.
hopefully when I hit my target weight I will feel better about it.

pink_and_shiny

Abso-freakin'-lutely.

I've lost about 35 pounds and gone from a 16 to a 10, I still often feel the same size. Just the other day I saw a girl from high school (whom I hadn't seen in 9 years) and she said I was skinny and asked what I was doing. I couldn't (and still can't) believe that I look that different, that I've made that much of a change in myself since then.

This fitness stuff has SO much to do with our mental state and how we perceive ourselves, it is astounding. Sometimes it seems like simply being happy with what I've got going on will show a dip in the scale.

Articeluvsmemphis

well, I'm still fat so do I count? :laugh: anyway, this is the first time I've ever tracked my weight loss so diligently and I notice all the changes in my body from the start till now. For every compliment I get about my weight loss I soak it up because I know I've worked hard. So once I do reach my final goal I don't think I'll have that problem of feeling fat because I know I'm not and worked my butt off not to be that way. pat yourself on the back or the "brain" and see you've done so well, and you no longer look like your former self

nancymmorris

I have lost 40 lbs and went from a size 14 to a size 4. When I look in the mirror I still see the size 14 body. I don't know what to do to change it.

KimertRuns13_1

I struggle daily with seeing my success. there are days that i do feel fat but mostly because I know I still have weight to lose and rather than seeing how much I have lost some days I focus more on what is still left to lose.

bethdris

I still expect to walk by a mirror and see the "fat girl" I used to be...someday I may get past it, we'll see!!

kiwi1855

All. The. Time.

My mother is fairly thin, and whenever I used to hug her, back when I was 290lbs, I felt like I would crush her.

I'm now 182lbs, and just as thin as she is... and I still think I'm going to crush her. She did illustrate the fact that I'm a bit smaller now, as she wants the jeans I'm currently wearing once they are too big for me.

I understand completely - it's just something that we all have to work on and gain confidence in.

spennato

Although I have dropped over 100 lbs, My pants have gone from a 46 to a 34........I still feel fat!!!! Hopefully once I drop these last 16 lbs I will have a different view. What I do is look at pictures from my heaviest weight, that always makes me feel like all this work is definitely worth it!:bigsmile: