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

LITTLE_CJ

I have lost 31lbs...everyone around can tell and makes comments, but when I look in the mirror I do not see it...in some pictures I can tell in my face, but that is it. I still have a long way to go but I hope when I get closer to my goal I still don't feel this away.

notenoughspeed

I don't have to feel fat mentally after 59 pounds (38 on MFP). I know I'm still fat, but I know I am working towards a day that I won't be. Being fat is not a feeling. You either are or you aren't. I guess it could be a feeling, but feelings are just that feelings.

nxd10

I don't feel fat (and I didn't when I was heavier), but I am constantly surprised by my body, even though I've only lost 26 pounds.

I touch my legs and hips and they are smaller than I remember. I look in the mirror and the face that looks back is the one I saw in the mirror 20 years ago.

But then again, when I looked at photographs of me when I was heavier I was shocked at how fat I was compared to the image in my head. Now the face and photo match.

californiagirl2012

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?

It takes a while for the mind to catch up with the body. Even when you reach your goal. I have been mostly over weight and obese most of my life and it took me about a year after achieving my goal to finally accept the new me. It is a weird concept, feeling like an impostor in your own body, but it does happen to all of us to some extent, especially if we were over weight a long time.

mhorn2142

This is why photos are so amazing. I didn't see it (besides my face) before the pictures. Yet there is a massive difference. Every time I feel down I look at my pics. Even saved them on my phone for that reason! need to remind myself how far I've come.

You know everyone says to look at photos, but even then I don't see it. I must have really been diluted before not realizing how big I actually had become. The other day at a birthday party for my daughters friend, I allowed the hostess to take my picture instead of shying away as before. I was feeling more confident. Then she sent out the thank you notes with my pic. I cried! I was so devastated that after over 95lbs I looked the same. I am now 208 down from 304. From a size 26 to 16. But yet I look very much the same. It is very frustrating!

leeanneowens

Yes. My clothes are all too big, the scale tells me I've lost weight, and people ask me about it but when I look in the mirror I can't tell any difference.

Onaughmae

I have lost 93 pounds...and I still see the same person in the mirror. They tell me eventually your brain catches up with your eyes. I am still waiting

mommycline

Yes. There are times when I look at pictures and I can't see my weight loss.

don666car

even with all i have lost i still feel the same inside "FAT" i do feel better but i still think of myself as a fat man i hope this will pass with time as enjoy my new fredom of motion

AngelaJordan712

Yes, but I am still fat...but I do not believe I look any different...I did a before and after picture shot of just my face and saw the weight loss for the first time....and yes I never realize I am 6 sizes smaller in jeans until I put them on!

Mpol2

You know everyone says to look at photos, but even then I don't see it. I must have really been diluted before not realizing how big I actually had become. The other day at a birthday party for my daughters friend, I allowed the hostess to take my picture instead of shying away as before. I was feeling more confident. Then she sent out the thank you notes with my pic. I cried! I was so devastated that after over 95lbs I looked the same. I am now 208 down from 304. From a size 26 to 16. But yet I look very much the same. It is very frustrating!

I guarantee, honey, you look better. Put those old size 26 pants on and really look. You will see it eventually... Have faith and keep going.

Skeebee

I feel the same way. It's getting used to your body that takes a while. I"m finally starting to come out of my shell but, yes, I still feel 50lbs heavier.

Rockmyskinnyjeans

Some days I feel "fat", most days I know I've made a LOT of progress, but.... that progress seems to never been enough to satisfy me and I seek more and more and more progress, knowing then it will probably never be enough to make me truly happy. Before you tell me to get professional help or something, I already do see a therapist and I'm trying to work my way through this.

kimi131

I think it goes away eventually, or at least it gets better and comes and goes in waves. I feel pretty good about myself most days. I do notice when i start to slack off, even if I haven't gained or I've gained very little, I immediately feel fatter. That might be a good thing though. I do still have a tendency to go for the bigger sizes, but I usually reach for the mediums now instead of the larges (when most of the time a small is what I need).

rlmiller73190

I have it come in waves. I lost 37 pounds and currently weigh 125 pounds at 5'5". I know i'm not fat, but I still have days where I look at myself and think "ugh, i am fat" or I don't like the way certain clothes lay on me now because they're too big and create a weird pouch on my tummy.

jessicalynn75

I hope it goes away eventually because I am in my 18th month of my lifestyle change and still see the "old" Jessica in the mirror. It is crazy. Even doing laundry, I have moments where I pull something out and have a minor panic that the item shrunk. I know that I am literally half the person I used to be but I just don't feel it yet. If someone stares, then I automatically feel like they are looking at me as the fat girl...

daffodilsoup

Every time I put on a pair of 6/8 jeans, it is a surprise to me. I've lost almost 70 pounds over the course of a year, but after over two-decades of being "the fat funny friend", it's taking my brain a long time to catch up to my body.

runmybunsoff

Yesss!!! I go through waves of it often!!

Danni3ll3

Sometimes, especially when I see bulges that I don't like. However, the strange thing was that previously I never considered myself fat even at 190 lbs. I always saw a thin person in the mirror. It was the scale that shocked me into action because I never looked heavy in my clothes.

tabithajoyy

I've lost 80 and still cant get pass it. I feel fat all the time (Mainly bc i have excess skin) I dont know when my mind will catch up. I certainly dont feel skinny at all but i have people telling me all the time that i am skinny and that i look good at the weight i am now and i dont need to lose anymore. I wanna say to them, have you seen my naked? HAAHAA!

SheilaG1963

bumping this one, too!

binglebandit

This might seem ridiculous, but I sort of had the opposite problem while I was gaining weight. I kept feeling like I was still the same lower weight, even after a 60lb gain. Now that I'm trying to get back down to a healthy BMI it feels really discouraging to see the loss on the scale and then to see myself in the mirror. When I look in the mirror I can see the loss, but as that's what my mind thought I already looked like it feels like I'm not making any progress at all. Then I start to think, well if I think I look like this, and that's how I thought I looked, then how I look now is probably how I look in my photographs of me heavier.

A good way I've found to remind myself of my progress is to hug my husband. I can tell that his arms can reach around me more than they could before. Also, it's nice to have a hug just for the hug.

anesthesiaaa

I have just started but I have to say that this scares me too. I am already thinking "my friends and colleagues have seen me fat, they will never accept me as slim simply because they will remember me fat, won't look at me anyway, because I did not make a good first impression and they will expect me to put the weight back on".

But it's just me overthinking this and projecting my thouths about myself into the other peoples minds. I know it. Because whenever anybody else I know loses some weight, I'm thinking "oh, what a great job he/she's done, what an inspiration".

It's sad. I remember when I was a kid I always felt like the fattest biggest most disgusting kid in the class. When I look back at the photos I have to admit that I was very slim, not even a little chubby:-(

kellieym

I have the opposite problem. I mentally see myself as much thinner than I actually am! What brings back reality is seeing pictures which I'm sure would work in reverse too! Just recently I was tagged in a FB picture standing next to a good friend of mine that I actually thought was bigger than me and she looked half my size. Then my daughter posted Thanksgiving pictures and there was one of my butt that was twice as wide as I had imagined. So here I am back tracking calories and exercising for the upthing time! Try, try again right?

nonstopper

I think alot of people feel like that.

Never stop working out haha

yoovie

yes

but sometimes not even close

sometimes i feel like a whale

sometimes i feel like a supermodel

NewMnky1

Yes, even when I look at pictures from when I started to now I still don't see a big difference. It is crazy how your mind plays such a role in your image of yourself. I am hoping this goes away and I can enjoy and appreciate my successes.

kmcgrath1

Yes, I do. I've lost 30 lbs so far but was down 50lbs, then re-gained :grumble: , which makes it even harder when I see myself in the mirror. There was a time I was seeing that thinner me and felt happy with myself and what I accomplished. Now I see the heavier me and all I see are the disappointments with what I had let happen again. UGH It's hard to take compliments too, especially from my husband because I don't see what he sees.

KickassAugust

Occasionally Fat Missa will come out to play, she generally says something nasty in the mirror and goes to grab a snack.. but I'm not so upstanding that I wouldn't slap a bi*ch!


Edit: Effing typo!

kmcgrath1

I have the opposite problem. I mentally see myself as much thinner than I actually am! What brings back reality is seeing pictures which I'm sure would work in reverse too! Just recently I was tagged in a FB picture standing next to a good friend of mine that I actually thought was bigger than me and she looked half my size. Then my daughter posted Thanksgiving pictures and there was one of my butt that was twice as wide as I had imagined. So here I am back tracking calories and exercising for the upthing time! Try, try again right?

OMG, that happened to me too! I took a formal photo of my husband and I on a cruise and once I saw it printed I realized how much I gained back! In my eyes, I looked like Jabba the Hut!