the pscychological effects of weight loss

Options
13

Replies

  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    Options
    Part of the bodybuilding lifestyle is always improving physique... I guess I'll never be happy with my body image.
  • imakimm
    imakimm Posts: 839
    Options
    Even though I have lost a bunch of weight my mind still thinks I am fat. When I look in the mirror I still see myself as overweight. The only way I see a difference in myself (besides different sizes of clothing) is looking at pictures. When I see a before and after picture I see that I am not overweight anymore, even though I still feel it! The mind and body play tricks!
  • RunFarLiveHappy
    RunFarLiveHappy Posts: 805 Member
    Options
    When I was "morbidly obese" I didn't really see myself for the size that I was. Now that I'm a healthy body fat % and almost a healthy weight/BMI I don't really see myself for the size that I am now. Whenever I go try on clothes I still start in XL and cannot believe when smalls or mediums fit. I just tried on some size 8 jeans this week and still can't believe it. I look in the mirror sometimes for longish periods of time just hoping it will sink in. I am not at my goal body, but I am a far cry from where I started. Sometimes I can acknowledge that I look nice or cute a particular day. Overall it is still an adjustment. The entire journey has been very much a mental one for me anyway so this doesn't really surprise me.
  • EmilyEmpowered
    EmilyEmpowered Posts: 650 Member
    Options
    When I was "morbidly obese" I didn't really see myself for the size that I was. Now that I'm a healthy body fat % and almost a healthy weight/BMI I don't really see myself for the size that I am now. Whenever I go try on clothes I still start in XL and cannot believe when smalls or mediums fit. I just tried on some size 8 jeans this week and still can't believe it. I look in the mirror sometimes for longish periods of time just hoping it will sink in. I am not at my goal body, but I am a far cry from where I started. Sometimes I can acknowledge that I look nice or cute a particular day. Overall it is still an adjustment. The entire journey has been very much a mental one for me anyway so this doesn't really surprise me.

    This is me! I look at pictures and think, when was I that big?? Why didnt I notice?? And now, I am where my original "goal weight" was, and there are days when I just can not stand to look at myself. Overall, I think a lot of people overlook the mental side of weight loss. I read once, in an article I can NEVER seem to find, that it takes around 6 months for your MIND to catch up to every 10 pounds you lose! That is another reason why its best to lose slow, so you can adjust to how you really look.

    Having kept the weight off for a year and a half now, approximately, I am just now starting to adjust to liking myself and seeing myself thinner. But the only thing that has really helped me is to STOP focusing on being skinny and start focusing on being MY BEST fitness wise. That mindset and LIFTING have changed my view of myself tremendously over the past two months (except for during those "emotional times" I still cry like a baby that I will never reach my goals. Have to remind myself- I DID reach my original goal!)
  • EmilyEmpowered
    EmilyEmpowered Posts: 650 Member
    Options
    Also, because of this ALOT of people think I am stuck up or fishing for compliments, because I complain about how I look and they dont see what I SEE! They dont realize that my self esteem really is in the toilet, waaayyyy lower than it ever was when I was bigger. I think part of it, is a lot of us live our lives at that size, and even knowing we are overweight until we start taking steps to LOSE, we dont address how we feel at that weight... Because it can be painful and hard to accept. So once you start losing, you are forced to recognize and then we start picking ourselves apart, finding flaws.
  • jadisfeigns
    jadisfeigns Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    I lost weight being on a drug. I was not "over weight", i would have been normal. But i would sometimes get comments from people saying "you used to be bigger". It's very hard to hear that, and wonder...was I bigger? Now it's hard to put back on any weight I did lose, but I need to. Any weight loss that does happen that is detrimental to someone's health is so difficult with certain people because you can get to a point where we just want more (loss) and can't accept the littlest gain back. That's where I'm at now.
    One woman told me once before you start losing, you have to be happy with yourself

    Good luck and make sure you stay safe.
  • josarahm
    josarahm Posts: 48
    Options
    No one outside of my home commented on my weight loss until I lost 70lbs (26% of my total body weight) and still only four people did. I didn't really believe the nice words. It took me losing 92lbs and having A BUNCH of people comment over the course of a month (and a small freak out on my part) and a round of new pictures (b/c I rarely see anything in the mirror. Only pictures) for me to really realize that I haven't looked this good, ever. The last time I was this weight I was in 6th/7th grade and I was shorter, so bigger around. In HS I amhad the beginnings of a double chin (which I never noticed until a few nights ago looking at friends Facebook albums) and I wore my clothing too big or too small. The double chin is gone and I'm trying really hard to wear the right sized clothes (oh my god this is hard -- I never realized how ill fitting my clothes were!) and I've lost 92lbs. I do look good, at least comparing myself to the old me.

    It's hard to get here mentally and I might not stay in this frame of mind but right now today I know what people say is true. I may not be pretty or skinny but I do look better than I ever have before.

    Also, another thing that helps me is that I have never had the luxury of looking 'normal' I've always stuck out and looked different (I have


    a disability). I will always clearly see those imperfections that make me different and I know there isn't a damn thing I can do about them. So perhaps I don't see small things that other's do, so YMMV.

    And PS, I still think I am 92lbs heavier when trying to navigate in space... I think there's not room for me to go from point A to point B. I'm still surprised when I sit in a seat and fit. Or when I'm laying in bed and my whole body sits on the mattress in a different way. No idea if that ever ends. I hope this helps. Los





    ing weight is a complicated business. Physical, mental. It's a whole shift in your life. I've never felt so 'crazy' ever in my life.
  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
    Options
    I don't like wearing clothes that fit correctly, because they feel "tight" on me. I am use to wearing baggy clothes from my fat days...but honestly I feel more comfortable in clothes that aren't "tight". I would have to think most men feel the same way. Many, many people have commented on how terrible I look in loose clothes, and how much better I look with clothes that fit properly...not sure if i am just not used to being slim, or if I just like being comfortable.
  • Bonny619
    Bonny619 Posts: 311 Member
    Options
    When I show people my before and afters, I have a sudden fear they are secretly thinking I look the same as the before pic.

    I feel you!
  • peaceloveweedandveggies
    peaceloveweedandveggies Posts: 48 Member
    Options
    I still turn sideways to "fit" between things, when I don't have to any more ...

    oh god, i do this alllll the time!
    :l
  • pwittek10
    pwittek10 Posts: 723 Member
    Options
    I lost over 100 pounds, but I only see myself fat
    I always head for the plus size section in any store,
    (I wear size 4 not size 28W)
    I guess that is how I will always see myself
  • Muchmoretogive
    Muchmoretogive Posts: 73 Member
    Options
    This is called body dysmorphia where people believe they are bigger/heavier than they actually are!
    You have all done so well to lose weight and to carry on either losing weight or maintaning your goal weight is fab!

    I suffer from this and i always have done back before i had kids and i was uk size 8 i thought i was fat!

    I don't think it matters what size you are i think everyone gets this awful complexion about themselves due to the media and sexualisation of women (and men) The pressures of today are ridic!!!!

    As long as you keep going and carry on and don't give up and lead a healthy life style and feel more confident and are happier in yourself then who cares what other people think. I still have 2 stone to lose but i am happy atm because i now have a bmi in the normal range which means i have done something positive with my life.
    KEEP IT UP :)
  • americangirlok
    americangirlok Posts: 228 Member
    Options
    When I was in 8th grade I went to public school for the first time. In my first week, a boy came up to me and told me his friend thought I was cute, and did I want to date him. I looked to the friend he was pointing at (he was very cute) and nodded yes. Then all the boys in the group erupted in laughter at the idea that I thought they were serious that a guy like him would want to date a fat girl like me.

    Ever since then, when a guy approaches me out of nowhere it takes EVERY OUNCE of my self will not to shout "Get the **** away from me, I'm not a joke!" I was at the mall recently with one of my friends and I was feeling self conscious because everyone was making eye contact with me and smiling at me. I told my friend "Why is everyone STARING at me!?" and she said "Because you are cute." and I was floored. It also makes me sort of sad that when I was fat people would not even make eye contact with me or look at me. It's like I was invisible. Now I make it a point to walk over and talk to bigger people at work/ school and be super friendly because I don't want them to feel invisible. Still I should learn to just treat people like people instead of seeing their weight.


    Something very similar to me happenedin 8th grade too. My best friend tried to warn me that it was a joke, but I thought she was just jealous. I went home and asked my mom if I could date this boy and she relented and I called to tell him that. And then the next day, it was just a huge joke.
  • nicoleashley_24
    nicoleashley_24 Posts: 144 Member
    Options
    Yeah, I think it definitely happens, and both ways actually!

    I gained a lot of weight in college, and although the scale showed me that, I would look in the mirror and say, "well I don't look that different." etc, etc. I guess I was in denial...

    Now that I've lost all the weight I gained plus a little more, I feel smaller, but I still don't feel "skinny" at all! I know I am at a healthy weight, but I just can't really believe it when people say I look skinny.

    I agree. I've been a healthy weight and active most of my life so when my weight was creeping up, I didn't see how much I had actually gained until I saw it in photos. Now that I'm losing weight, I have two images in my head, one of me at my lowest weight and one of me at my highest and since I'm not at either of those right now, I feel conflicted about what I actually look like.
  • 1223345
    1223345 Posts: 1,386 Member
    Options
    I used to be very thin, and I never knew it until I was fat. at 125lbs and 5'3" I always thought I was gross, and fat, looking like a busted can of biscuits. Now that I really do look like a busted can of biscuits, I wish I would have enjoyed my nice body when I had it.
  • saintgabriael
    saintgabriael Posts: 3 Member
    Options
    I pray Miracles..for all
  • AliciaStinger
    AliciaStinger Posts: 402 Member
    Options
    I'm 5'2" tall. When I graduated high school, I weighed 207 pounds; I bought my clothes from Lane Bryant (I looked big in XL shirts and was up to size 16 pants). In 2010, for whatever reason, I started dropping weight...one summer day I stepped on the scale and was down 16 pounds from the last time I looked. May 2012 I reached my lowest weight in years: 173 pounds. I was wearing medium shirts and size 10 pants. I figured by the time I reached size 10 pants and medium shirts - and had lost almost 35 pounds - I'd be where I wanted to be...but every time I looked in the mirror I saw that I was still chunky. Everyone was complimenting me and telling me I looked great (and I did look great), but 173 pounds is still chunky for someone who's so short. I kept seeing how much more I had to lose.

    Just don't give up. I had to take time off due to surgery, illnesses, and an insane schedule that had me on my feet 16 hours a day. I gained back 2/3 of what I lost in a few months. After several tries, I'm really back. I'm working out again, and when I get back down to 173, I'm going to throw a freaking party. Just sayin'!
  • kerricus
    kerricus Posts: 165 Member
    Options
    Has anyone read Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self? or Angry Fat Girls : 5 Women, 500 Pounds and a Year of Losing It... Again

    I'm curious what people thought of those books. I've been meaning to read Passing for Thin for years now.
  • Sunshine2plus2
    Sunshine2plus2 Posts: 1,492 Member
    Options
    Yes. When I was my heaviest 330 pds and a size 28, after losing 138pds in my mind I was still that big and would continue to go in the store and look at the sz 28 clothing even though I was a 14!
  • Inshape13
    Inshape13 Posts: 680 Member
    Options
    It is completely natural for your head to have to catch up with your body in regards to what size you are. I still look in the mirror and see a fat girl and pick at every imperfection I find. Pretty soon you will get the "you are getting too skinny you should stop losing weight comments instead" probably. Have a great weekend, it will get better with time and be proud of yourself.

Categories