When Will I Learn?

Stenobun

So yesterday I had two different people come up to me and tell me I'm looking really good, and in both instances I said the same thing. "Thanks, but I still have a long way to go." Which, of course, was followed with some awkwardness. And I wondered to myself later on, why did I say that? Why doesn't it sink in that I'm doing really well? Why can I only focus on the fact that I'm still 60 pounds away from my goal, not that I've lost 40, which is a LOT of weight?

How long did it take until some of you actually were able to take a compliment, until it really sunk into your own heads that you were as awesome as people said you were? I don't want to be one of those people that's never happy with themselves.

Gallowmere1984

My wife and I both catch this as well. When we respond to compliments with something like "work in progress", we always get "where could you possibly have anymore weight to lose?", or something along those lines. My response is usually something like 'heh, you obviously haven't seen me naked'.

LJSmith1989

Maybe you reminding yourself to not let the compliment be an excuse to stop? Thats amazing though 40llb!

tricksee

Maybe it's just the 'Old you' still inside the back of your mind.

When the new and confident you takes over, you'll be fine!

good job anyway!!

lilbell13

Yeah I know what you mean and that's exactly what I say 'I've still got a long way to go' or 'I'm halfway there'! Your message has inspired me to just start saying 'thank you, I've worked dam hard'!
Congrats on the weight loss thats amazing and you should be very proud of yourself!

alexbusnello

I do this all the time...

gwild0r

Its awkward but at the sametime this is great news! You won't settle with 40lbs.. and you shouldn't! KEEP KICKING *kitten*!

MenaMena

I have a hard time accepting compliments and would usually rather not be noticed at all. Funny thing is, I have a very visible position at work and in the community. It helped me to practice in the mirror saying, Thank you. No comment, no clarification, just Thank you. Congrats on your accomplishment and I know that you will reach your ultimate goal.

mizzie1980

I do the exact same thing, only my line is usually "Oh, thanks. It's a work in progress." Which ALWAYS prompts the person complimenting me to insist that I don't have anything left to lose. It's not true, I absolutely do. (still 16 pounds OVERweight, size 14 jeans) But then I kind of feel like they will think I was fishing for more compliments, which I really, really wasn't. I just don't know how to take a compliment on the way I look.

I still see myself as a "fat girl" and that's going to take a long time to fix. Just a few weeks ago, I was at my Pump Up class and happened to look in the mirror from the side. My first thought was "holy crap, where did I go?!?" I'm shocked, at lot, at how I look now, because that's not how I look in my head. And somehow I can't realize that the me people see is the one in the mirror, not the one in my head.