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

jody0726

WOW - I just posed this exact question to my MFP friends... now I see this old topic showing up in my feed. While reading through many of these comments, a thought came to my mind. Yesterday, I was at the consignment store, bringing some clothes that I don't fit into any longer. When the gal held up a pair of my old jeans, I honestly gasped at the size. Now, I remember wearing those jeans; I remember how they looked on me and how I felt in them. I also remember the tub of smaller sized clothes I kept tucked away under my bed "just in case" I ever fit into that smaller size again. I remember once going through that tub, holding up one pair of the jeans and thinking how small they looked, compared to the larger sized jeans I was currently wearing.

Today, I can't wear either pair of jeans (the larger sized or the smaller sized). They are BOTH TOO BIG for me!! Although I do struggle with how I view myself, I have to choose to remember from where I came. I do have a pair of my favorite old jeans in my closet saved for this exact reason.

I have just crossed the 50 pounds lost mark. I know I have a long way to go before I am "skinny." However, I am healthier, I am stronger and truthfully, I am skinnier this month than last. Many blessings friends!

lisasch67

Yes. It sucks it's the most uncomfortable thing. In the last 4 years I've lost 45 lbs total and I still feel like I weigh what I did when I started even though my clothes are smaller, I get compliments, and can see the difference in photos. My self esteem and confidence just aren't there yet. So frustrating.

soontobesam

I sure do. I know how hard I've been working and I know without a doubt that there has definitely been changes to my body but most of the time I can't see it. Every so often I'll catch a glimpse in the mirror (before my brain has a chance to delude me) and i'll think wow - look how much better my so and so looks.

I also think now I'm much more aware of all fat on me. I ignored it for so long but now I'm acutely aware of it.

divinebird

I wonder how it will translate to me. I always think I'm thinner than I actually am. In my mind's eye, I am the same shape I was in High School. Every photo of me is a shock! I'll be interested to see how that translates after more than a decade buying plus sizes.

heagler870

I am still fat even though I have lost 50 pounds. The only way to know that I am lighter is to look at the pictures I have of before and the ones I have now. I can't tell any difference. I feel like when as I continue to lose weight I will still feel fat. I mean, I have never been thin so I don't know how it will feel nor will I know how to feel. I think that it's going to be quite a mental journey just as it is a physical journey.

SPNLuver83

I feel ya. When I look in the mirror I tend to see all the things I don't like rather than my progress.

alisha232

Yes.
Everyone is constantly complimenting me on my weight loss. I have lost nearly 60 pounds after my pregnancy. I reached my first goal which was to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I still want to lose 10 pounds. a lot of people look at me crazy when I say that. They try to tell me not to lose any more, but my BMI is still considered overweight. I have always struggled with being self-conscious and I'm hoping to break myself of that, but oh the things a baby does to your body..or at least mine

KevDaniel

Yes.
Everyone is constantly complimenting me on my weight loss. ...

I guess my response to everyone is.. what a great problem to have

autumnbottom8

I absolutely have this problem. I've lost 65+ pounds and somedays I feel like I haven't even lost 5. Taking pictures does help see the difference.

joebanker24

I just recently went shopping and was hoping Stacy and Clinton would pop out and help me! I had a disconnect of what size I should buy and styles I looked good in. I have other friends on MFP and we were just discussing this topic. I don't feel fat. I still have a more to lose but can't get used to the idea of buying smaller clothes. It's mental change as well as physical.

directorj

bump

skinnieminniemouse

I do quite a lot of the time. You have to remember how far you have come though. You have done ridiculously well to get from an XL/XXL to a medium. You should be proud of how far you have come and how much you have lost. If it helps, compare pictures of you now to your heaviest. It can be quite shocking to see them in close comparison! You see yourself every day so sometimes you won't realise how much you have changed.
Be proud

usernamejoe

I'm down about 60 over a few years. Some days I feel as big mentally as I did when I weighed that much. I guess being larger than normal for so long it wears on you and it takes awhile for your mind to catch up

Lize11e

I've been fighting with this recently. Sometimes I look in the mirror and think, "Wow, I really am a good bit smaller than I was." and other times (underwear in the mirror is AWFUL) I feel like I haven't changed much at all. I still have a really long journey ahead of me, over 100 lbs left to go but I had over 200 lbs to lose when I started. To date I'm down 88 pounds total. My old clothes have long ago ceased to fit but, for some reason, it feels like I should still be able to wear them. I'm amazed when I put on something that I'm sure is going to be tight and find that it is actually too loose to wear. My mind definitely has a LOT of catching up to do.

splashangel

I was goal weight for seversal monthes before I really saw me. I visited a church for revival at wand the bathroom had a wall that was a really big mirror. As I was leaving the bathroom I saw a tall, slim, attractive ( I winced typing this but it is what I thought)well dressed woman traveling at the same rate of speed as me. For a second I didn't understand it was a mirror. Then in an instant it clicked. I stopped, backed up, and really looked at me. Although, I didn't see me the way I did in that split second of time, I did take a closer look at my stomach. No longer poking out. I looked at hips. Yes, narrow. I spun to look at my butt. Thank goodness! It's thestill there just BETTER! I noticed I stood straighter and the dark circles under my eyes were all but gone. I am always slightly taken back when someone says something like I wish I was skinny like you, or you can eat whatever you want and it won't hurt you. I don't know if it will ever permanently click for me.

celticmuse

I absolutely have this problem. I've lost 65+ pounds and somedays I feel like I haven't even lost 5. Taking pictures does help see the difference.

But I find that I still look fat in photos, which is discouraging. I feel as if I should look better than I do in photos.

PDLUCKY

I have lost really 89 pounds so far and when I look down I still see this big belly but when I look in the mrror it doesn't look like hardly anything but still when I look down I see my belly and think I am still just as fat as I was. I hope this goeas away.

Jelly6739

Yes that can happen. I dropped 100 lbs with gastric by-pass and still have another 75lbs to go and I still feel huge.

chocl8girl

Yes. I hold up my size 16 jeans and just KNOW they will not even go over my thighs, even though I actually know that they are too big to wear without a belt, and my newer stuff is now a size 14...

crimsoncat

But I find that I still look fat in photos, which is discouraging. I feel as if I should look better than I do in photos.

Oh my gosh this. I have 15-20 pounds lost and have kept it off for five years.I can tell the difference between then and now, but I swear that I look fat in many of the photos of me I see taken by other people. I think it's just a bad angle thing, but it can really ruin my day when I stare at my face in pictures and compare myself to my ideal. I have to fight every day to remember I have lost all this weight, toned up and that I should be proud. Instead, I just see "chubby face".

theesfield

That is so wierd.. I could have written the exact same post..word for word. I feel your pain!

EpiGaiaRepens

i lost 40 lbs two years ago. Yes, I still feel fat. My skinny friends will offer to let me wear their clothes and I'll always say "i don't think it'll fit." It always does. But I see a tub of lard when I look at myself.

On the other hand, sometimes I am aware that I am "skinny" now too. And I'll be all proud of my body- like lying in a bikini on the beach.

It's weird.

MsTaurus30

Absolutely! I've lost bout 25 pounds and still feel the same. My hubby tells me i look so much smaller but i still can't see the difference yet ...but when i go shopping for cloths and i always try to try on a size smaller pair of Jeans and to my surprise they actually fit ....but yeah i totally feel you on that.

kindred_fawn

Yep, One time I went shopping at a plus size store. I couldn't fit anything it was confusing because to me, I still looked fat.

Ive always had problems with people telling me im either too skinny or too big so I kind of lost perspective. When I was size 6, people said I was anorexic. When I was fitting size 10 people would say "youve put on the beef". Now I am size 12 and I feel enormous still!

So now I just measure myself, if the measurements are going down, then I know I am losing weight even though I see fat in the mirror.

mheightchew

Absolutely...

AndreaPool

Just got back from shopping and noticed that I have that exact problem: I still tend to look at the bigger sizes and have to constantly remind myself that those will be too big for me...
I've lost around 25-30lbs now (not sure exactly, because I only weigh once a month and am due for a weigh in tomorrow), but I know I'm down 5 sizes in jeans, and at least 3 sizes in regular clothes.... (we have different size-systems for jeans here in Holland)
It seems silly that somehow that hasn't really registered with me yet...

I've been asking people who I'm close with to keep an eye on me, because the idea that I'm still chubby does make me feel that I still need to lose weight while I know I really have to start looking into maintenance now. It's a little scary how your mind can trick you into thinking you're still exactly the way you used to be.
So I'm hoping that one of these days it will click in my mind

crystalcumb

I feel the same way and I'm almost at my goal, 2 pounds away but i find myself on mybodygallery.com all the time looking at women who are the same height and weight as me and it make it a little better. but i hate to be the skinny friend that says " I'm so fat, i need to lose weight" and everyone looks at me like "where"?

charcharbec

Absolutely! I have struggled with this since I started losing weight. And as I started to really gain some serious muscle over the last two months (about 7-10 lbs worth) I have completely been freaking out like I have gained fat or something (I haven't-- in fact my inches are down too. Crazy?) But I still think I am the fat girl everywhere I go... everything I do.... I have a wedding to go to in Feb for my cousins. I used to be the fat one, and I am so worried I won't have done "good enough" for everyone else. It's not ABOUT everyone else, and yet that's all I can think of. It sucks.

But you are not alone.

P05T5CRIPT

I really, really get this. I'm down 43lbs since June 18th and I've been shopping twice for new clothes and each time my friend will pick up a medium and I'll go 'no that's too small and pick up the L or XL', I just don't see myself mentally as having lost weight. Whenever I do fit into something that's not a large, I'm always stunned and surprised!

It's like my brain hasn't caught up to my body yet and I'm still just under half way to my target weight!

hottottie11

I do. I lost 50 lbs...went form a 14 to a 6-8 and still feel like a size 14. :-/...My dream size has always be a 4...so let's see how I feel there.