Do you feel thinner? Because I don't....

kimberly0416

I felt thinner and happy about how I looked in my skivies.. I think that is why I started to get lazy and gained some of it back.. :explode:

but I do hate pictures.. ><

BetterCrazyThanLazy

Yep, I lost 80 lbs before starting on MFP and I have never felt skinny. I saw it on photos but I didn't feel it. I think those who struggle with weight have the worst case of BDD. I don't know if this is any different from anyone with an eating disorder.

nate6868

Well when i started this i felt the same that because i wasn't toning my body by exercising i was just dieting. Dieting is important but if you wanna feel great and be toned exercise is key as well!

pigeonhugger

I've been feeling this a lot lately - Kinda weird actually. I've been at my current weight +/- for a couple of weeks now & now I'm "seeing" my body differently... Seems like just a couple of weeks ago all I could see was the progress & now when I see my reflection I have the same reaction to my body that I did 20lbs ago

^^ this

love22step

Some days I feel fat, but I'm reassured when I slip into my smaller clothing, flex my new muscles, and look in the mirror. I'm much happier with the image I see. Pictures and mirrors are no longer my enemies! I hope you, too, will soon be able to see and appreciate the new image you've carved out! Just as important, I love being able to run, climb, jump, and do things I thought I might never do again. From the day I signed on to MFP over a year ago, I've been excited. I enjoyed reaching my weight goal, but I'm still excited as I push myself to meet new physical goals. For me, this has been a great experience and so much fun! :drinker:

lepow

I feel fat today, mostly because I went shopping and tried on the next size down. I wasn't ready for it yet, kind of a blow. I have to keep reminding myself of how far I have come, not how far I still have to go.

I've been known to do this, too, and have the same problem!

kathyms13

i know im much thiner, i have had to buy all new clothes , i see me in the mirrow or shop windows and like what i see but even tho everyone now says stop i wont to loose at least another stone.

cindybowcut

Some days I still think that I am really fat. Than I look at my before pictures and realize how good I look. Society has made us think that no matter how thin we are, we are fat. I know that I don't look like a model, probably never will, but I am getting to where I am happy with the person I have become. Even if I don't lose that last 20lbs I am so proud of myself and how far I have come. I know now that I was really obese before and chose not to believe it. I am healthy and just got a clean bill of health from my doctor. To me looks aren't as important as how I feel and I know that I am healthier than I have ever been.

K_Smith86

I think that anyone who has struggled with their weight will always have this issue. I know I do. I've only lost 5lbs, but I know I've lost inches. I had to go down a pant size, and today I went shopping on my lunch hour, and dropped a shirt size. Awesome right? Right. But I don't see it, and I don't feel it. I feel like I've gained weight, especially in my mid section. But clothes don't lie (unless someone played a mean trick and switched all the sizing labels lol). You will have days where you can see the differences, and days where you feel like you were before. It's natural. And I think it has been programmed into our heads from society. We're expected to look a certain way or be a certain weight, and when you don't fit into that, you get down on yourself and you are your own worst critic and enemy. Just take it one day at a time, it'll get better.

Alisha_countrymama

No I know exactly what you mean, I have lost 128 pounds and still feel just as heavy. I hate it.

Aurorakitty

I still look in the mirror and go "your fat need to excessize more not eat all that crap etc" but then other days I look in the mirror and go "your thin" and then I get all happy cause I can go shopping and buy new stuff but then feel guilty afterwards because what it I gain it back or what if I lose another pant size and have stuff that doesn't fit again? Serously I think this anxiety about weight is killing me and making me depressed but I don't think there is anything I can do about the emotional side of it. Kinda think this weight loss/ gain is hereditary. Need to worry more about maintaining weight instead of whether I should lose or gain.

HealthFreak1967

i'm 95 now but i feel the same as when i was 112, even though it's almost a 20 pound loss

mynameiscarrie

I feel the same way. It's really frustrating. I've gained some weight according to the scale but my clothes still fit from when i was at my smallest so I know I can't look all that different but I still feel really big...

I'm trying to stay positive though!

Sarah_Wins

I feel exactly the same way. I'm still Fat Sarah inside and probably always will be. THANK GOD FOR MIRRORS and smaller clothes!

jazzalea

somedays i still feel 320 on the inside ..............but i keep looking in the mirror and trying on new clothes and it's starting to sink in :flowerforyou:

jacksagod

I'm only down 25 but still feel at my heaviest of 304!! It's been like that on and off.

deenaspell

I hate that, but I do it, too! All you need is one bad angle to put you in a slump :-(

Deipneus

I've lost 38 pounds and am the lightest I've been in my adult life and when I look in the mirror I still see a heavy person. It's sucks *kitten*, but I think that's just the way women are programmed.

Now I feel even worse. I've got a condition only women are supposed to get! Seriously, it happens to a lot of us and I was prepared for it because I've done this drill before. I'm convinced that unless and until we change the mental image we hold of ourselves, we are at risk to gain it back. It only took me from November till May to lose 40 pounds. I'm still working on the mental image.

sweetsungirl

low self-esteem?? self-confidence? all I have to say is.... "I'm sexy and I know it!" *jumps on the counter and starts doing pelvic thrust / dancing around*

^^ THIS! **joins you**

redlady82

Um....yes. I've been losing and I was in a very down mood the other night over how hard I've been working and how little I feel it. At the gym when I see my reflection in the window doing cardio or the mirrors doing weights and core I swear I'm bigger than I've ever been but I know that can't be. My husband sees the difference as well but I need to get my head in the right spot. Hang in there...like you said you're clothes are looser. Find something you really like about yourself and start by focusing on that then next week find another to start looking at yourself more positively.

brjustice2000

You are retraining your body so don't forget to retrain your mind as well. We own our thoughts and emotions and how we feel is based on our perspective. When I taught middle school, I would use the example of "The team just scored; how do you feel?" The students raised their hands and would say something to the effect of great, happy, etc. I would scowl and say but it was the other team not our team, so why is it great? The students got the idea of perspective.

When you do well, tell yourself that you did well, and from time to time reward yourself with something that you want!

Do I feel thinner?
I remember when I could look down and not see my toes. I knew I was fat.
I remember when I could look down, see my toes but not my knees. I knew I was fat.
I remember when I could look down, see my knees but not my shorts. I knew I was fat.
I remember when I would measure my waist where I wear my pants, 50+ inches and I knew I was fat.
I can look down see my toes, my knees, my shorts, my waist is 40. I know that I still have fat. But my body fat has dropped
from 38% to 28% and I have lost about 35+ lbs of fat. I'm still a long way from my goal of 20% body fat and it may take
another 30 lbs of fat loss to get there. Do I feel thinner? Absolutely!!!!!!!!!!!! I do things to tell myself that I am thinner.

It is all perspective! How you feel about yourself is under your control. If someone gives you a negative comment, immediately give yourself a positive comment in your mind to cancel out the negative comment. At the gym on the elliptical or treadmill, I set the time for 60 minutes. At 35 minutes I don't think, OMG I still have another 25 minutes to go. I think, I have 10 minutes less to go than the time I have already done. At 50 minutes, I don't think OMG I still have another 10 minutes. I think, I have 40 minutes less to go than I have already done. Take everything that you can and change it to be a positive way to look at yourself and what you do. I look in the mirror and I still see fat around the waist but think, look at all that I have lost. If you change it all to positive thoughts, you psych yourself up and have plenty of motivation.

Keep working because you will get to the point where you see yourself in a positive light.

Merci444

I understand.I felt bloated still even when I knew I was losing. I found that cutting back on sugar and bread/pasta helped. I also feel better if I go to bed when I am slightly empty (not hungry)

But that is the physical part of it.

I had the opposite thing happen. I felt thin until I caught a reflection of myself in a store window and didn't know it was me. I didn't realize I'd gained so much. It was a wake up a]call and it got me going,

but the opposite has happened (which I think it what you are talking about) I tried and tried (and felt like I was failing) to lose the weight, but I just got used to myself at the new heavier weight and I no longer felt like my old fit self.

I then started losing, but I still felt like the heavier me. I am slowly losing, so I battle with the whole self image thing. I will say that when I don't feel bloated, I actually feel thin and good.

jerbear1962

I look in the mirror and see the small differences, and even notice when I do something that I knew I couldn't do a couple months ago. So I know I'm getting thinner, I just still have so far to go and this roll of fat around my belly that reminds me each time I sit up. I feel so much better and hope that once I have more off I will feel it better.

heatherloveslifting

Sometimes. But never in my life have I thought of myself as "thin". Not even when my body fat was in the bottom 6th percentile.

MeccaLoves2Sleep

I agree and am 100% with ya. Sad that we never feel good enough.. always seeing the worst (hips or chins or little dimples) even when we are killing ourselves at the gym, carving out time to concentrate on ourselves and balancing family/ career/ school.

BREAK THE CYCLE AND raise GIRLS (and boys) TO LOVE THEIR BODIES NO MATTER WHAT SIZE they are. Be the one influence that makes them happy to be themselves. Encourage a healthy body image.


“Even the models we see in magazines wish they could look like their own images.”
― Cheri K. Erdman.

“By choosing healthy over skinny you are choosing self-love over self-judgment. You are beautiful!”
― Steve Maraboli

I have no problems with self esteem. Just because you want to improve yourself doesn't mean you have self loathing or an unhealthy body image.

Wo. Sorry. not trying to start anything here, but just wanted to clarify as it seems you may have misunderstood my intention.

I was trying to be positive and remind everyone that you are juggling a lot and still are beautiful, even if you don't always feel it, or see it, or fit into the jeans you want.

Sorry if that didn't come accross.

vickijay

Wow sooooo many people agree. That makes me feel much better. My friend saw me this morning and said I looked a right skinny Minnie and I felt all bloated fat and rank. So odd, but at least we can all feel odd together!!

I think it does work both ways too because I didn't really notice how fat I had got when I was at my heaviest

Ellieus

for me it depends. I've once lost 50 pounds and felt almost the same after (except for fitter and I noticed I didn't knock over things in the (German thus smaller) supermarkets with my butt).

fit_and_fab_after_kids

was just thinking about this today! i still feel and see the old fat me

eviegreen

I'm working on this, too. I've been chubby throughout my adulthood, so it's incredibly difficult for me to see progress. I think the image of myself at my biggest -- and the fear that I'll go back to it -- has overtaken any ability to see myself differently in the mirror.

I'm trying to change it by focusing on individual parts of my body and how I remember them. Like my arms. I remember that, last year, the sharp point of my elbow was hardly visible while surrounded by fat. I can see now how slimmer my arms are, how my elbow juts out from a much more toned arm. Or how my belly was much rounder from the side, but now dips in at the waist.

If I look at my whole body, all I think is, "I still have work ahead of me." But when I look at the parts of my body that are my biggest trouble zones, and how they've changed, it really helps put it all in perspective.

BeautyFromPain

no