Still in disbelief of weight loss

leelxxsh
leelxxsh Posts: 28 Member
in Motivation and Support
Do any of you ever get up to go weigh yourself and be unsure if you've ever actually lost the weight/inches, or if the scale/tape measure has been lying, or it was always just a fluke? (I really hope that made sense)

I started my journey at 159 pounds and weighed in at 144 yesterday. Every time I go to step on the scale, part of me still worries that it'll read 159 or 160. I think it's because I've never actually taken control of my weight and always just accepted what the scale said, whether it was good or bad.

The plus is that whenever I do weigh/measure myself, I'm always greeted by a pleasant surprise :)

Replies

  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    Yeah. I always think when I get on the scale it's gonna read in the 180's (even though I've been maintaining between 150-155). It's been off for a good solid year, but I always think it's gonna come back on...
  • aquarabbit
    aquarabbit Posts: 1,622 Member
    Of course! Especially if I come on here and see someone saying "the scale won't move" or something like that. It's strange, but on the weeks I think I've lost a bunch, I don't. And then when I think that I haven't lost anything, I lose 3 pounds or a few inches. Kind of irritating. I'm definitely not the kind of person who likes surprises! I want to know! That scale and tape measure are so annoying!
  • orangeglow39
    orangeglow39 Posts: 2 Member
    OMG, pat yourself on the back and keep doing what your doing!
  • Katey911
    Katey911 Posts: 80 Member
    Totally. My mind often transposes the numbers - so say if I now weigh 225 but I used to weigh 252, I have to stop and check and force myself to remember that I'm not at the higher weight anymore.
  • Ajjf
    Ajjf Posts: 27
    After 80 pounds I still do that. I watch the scale thinking and remember when it popped up at 368. While I feel a lot different, and I'm wearing smaller clothing, I don't honestly see the results much when I look in the mirror. Sure, I can see more definition in parts of my body, and I do get excited by that. But it's always going to be so much more evident to those around us than it is to some of us. I don't honestly know if I'll really believed I've lost the weight until I look like the cover of a magazine.
  • leelxxsh
    leelxxsh Posts: 28 Member
    I think a lot of it has to do with mental barriers. While we really want to lose the weight, it's hard to actually accept that it's happening.
  • Ajjf
    Ajjf Posts: 27
    I agree completely. And I think those of us who have been heavier longer, (14 years in my case) have a tougher time breaking down those mental barriers into acceptance..
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I agree completely. And I think those of us who have been heavier longer, (14 years in my case) have a tougher time breaking down those mental barriers into acceptance..

    Agreed - I have been overweight since I was 19 years old or so (I'm 35 now), and I still look in the mirror and see "fat". I am still overweight right now (5-11 / 204lbs), but I know I'm not "fat". I don't know that I will ever see myself as thin, so I have to rely on what others say I suppose.

    Along the same lines - I should see under 200lbs on the scale in the next couple weeks and I honestly will probably break down and cry from being happy, proud, amazed...all that good stuff. I can't wait for that feeling.
  • Cheryl_Rica
    Cheryl_Rica Posts: 12
    For some reason, I keep buying the size I used to wear. It's like I can't accept it.

    But a few weeks ago, I wore something that I bought with the idea I'd wear it when I lost weight. I didn't even have to kill myself with spanx (it was pretty clingy).

    And yet I just ordered a top in my old size, even though my old tops in this size look like smocks.

    This has to be a common kind of crazy, right?
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
    I always think that my belt loop is going to instantly move back a hole on the days I'm feeling iffy about my weight loss. Even though it would be nearly impossible for it to do that in a day, I still count holes every time I clip my belt just to make sure it's still at the same one.
  • smsquash
    smsquash Posts: 38 Member
    This reminds me of a weird habit I had when I went from 180 to about 130. Every time I would go shopping, I would always choose clothing much larger than I needed. Even though I knew I fit into the smaller clothes, I would look at them and think, "that's so tiny, you'll never fit into that, better get the bigger size." And then I would go into the dressing room, and everything I tried on would be too big and I'd have to go back out and switch sizes. Seriously, I did that for such a long time after losing weight - probably at least a year. Weird.
  • mscountrygirl39456
    mscountrygirl39456 Posts: 113 Member
    I started out at 307 lbs....Today my scales read 270.8..... I often wonder if I need to change the batteries in my scales.....:noway:
  • lilbearzmom
    lilbearzmom Posts: 600 Member
    I do this too. Maybe it's so I won't be disappointed if the scale just doesn't happen to move that week...
  • michelle7673
    michelle7673 Posts: 370 Member
    Yes!
    I have it in my mind how much I've lost, but when I think about what I actually weigh, my mind goes back to my starting weight...
  • ladybugs98a
    ladybugs98a Posts: 30 Member
    I feel like this all the time. I know that I lost the weight but my mind can not accept it. When I look at myself in the mirror I don't see the difference but when I look at pictures I see it. For my it goes back to my negative body image.
  • leelxxsh
    leelxxsh Posts: 28 Member
    Not sure about you all, but I know that in my case part of it is me saying to myself "you know, 15 pounds isn't that much", not really understanding that if it took 3 months for me to lose it, I won't be able to put it back on overnight. This was especially true at the beginning, when the numbers were still small.
  • Anony1023
    Anony1023 Posts: 19 Member
    Or the reputation that weight lose or eating healthy has as being SO HARD! It's not super hard... it just takes dedication!
  • 26banker
    26banker Posts: 6 Member
    I think our brain sees us a certain size for better or worse. Often times it will be someone else noticing before you do. I have
    a ways to go but I guess what I say now is that I am doing good things for my health and for the first time I mean it.
  • kzakian
    kzakian Posts: 45 Member
    I've only lost 5 pounds so far (been logging for about 35 days) and I still can't believe I've lost anything.

    In fact I go onto the reports section to see my progress and just run my mouse down the line of weigh-ins as it goes down on the chart.. I've never been able to lose any weight, it's just so surreal. If I knew losing weight was so simple I would have done so way earlier. I can't wait to see some serious body re-shaping. :D
  • blondageh
    blondageh Posts: 923 Member
    Sometimes when I type in my weight I forget I have lost 100 lbs and start typing in a 3 instead of a 2. It is always fun to catch my mistake and to mess with the MFP calculator.
  • FitGeekery
    FitGeekery Posts: 336 Member
    I'm definitely in the same boat of thinking that 30 lbs really isn't that much. Or focusing on how much further I have to go. Or that it took so long to do because I made the smallest changes possible and never gave 100%.

    For some reason it's always been easier to focus on the long road ahead or the challenges that come with it than seeing how far I've come or where I'm at with myself today. Like day and night, and all for the better. Still working on focusing on the positives :) it's a struggle, that's for sure!
  • VioletNightshade
    VioletNightshade Posts: 197
    I've lost 40 pounds recently - was 260 at my highest, yet, every time I get on the scale, no matter if it's been a week or a day, I ALWAYS expect it to be like 395 or something that for me was never even on the spectrum of possibility. I'm around 220 right now, and losing, but instead of just 'big, but working on it' I still feel like one day I'll either wake up or get on the scale and realize that all the weight loss was just a dream and I'm really pushing 1000 pounds and bedridden because of my weight or something.

    It doesn't really feel real that it's actually going.

    I hope one day that feeling goes away. It's dreadful.
  • cruzcrzyMarie
    cruzcrzyMarie Posts: 251 Member
    I've been in maintenance over a year, and at times I still have the irrational fear(after an occasional bad eating day) that I am going to gain 50-60 pounds over night!
    It's crazy.
  • JumpingDog
    JumpingDog Posts: 125 Member
    I don't have this problem but that's probably because this is my first time trying to lose weight. I was fat for a while but never cared. Then one day I said, "Okay, no more being fat", and I lost weight and I haven't stopped. So, I am sure that I don't have this problem because I am not intimidated by a scale; dieting has not been a chronic thing for me.

    In no way am I saying that losing weight is easy though; I just have an iron will and I am terribly honest with myself. It has taken over a year to lose weight and I don't expect it to magically attack me in my sleep.

    For those though that do feel like it might happen, remember that it takes time to become fat just like it takes time to become thin. Both can happen rapidly, but not overnight. : ) Besides, the mirror will give you a better idea of where you are than a scale.

    One thing that never left me though is my personal space size. I still have the personal space bubble of someone 40 lbs fatter. I have when people use space around my thinner body that I still believe is mine. They have no idea though.
  • cctorrez
    cctorrez Posts: 15
    I'm in tears reading these posts. It's such a relief to know I'm not alone. I've recently lost 90 pounds over the course of a year and a half, and I still see myself at 300pounds. Or imagine that's how I look when I'm out and about. Constantly adjusting my clothing thinking that I have the same body as before. I had been overweight my ENTIRE life. Since preschool I was always chubby. So now, at 19 weighing 20lbs less than I did in 6th grade, it's extremely difficult to see myself thinner. I look in the mirror and can't see we're I came from. Maybe it happened too gradually for me to see it, but everyone else does. My roommate sometimes says "how dont you see it??" It's weird. Sometimes I fear I'll wake up at 300pounds and it was all a dream, it's still very surreal and I hope this doesn't last long because I want to enjoy my new
    Body !
  • JDMarlowe
    JDMarlowe Posts: 327 Member
    I totally know how you feel!!! I still expect to see 317 on the scale when I step on it... And i now weight 190 . I also still expect to see the "fat guy" in the mirror when I look.. I spent most of my life obese, its what my mind is used to seeing. And I stopped loosing weight 3 years ago!
  • mmedjjon
    mmedjjon Posts: 511
    for twenty years I was over 300 lbs. Topping out at 382. Ihave lost 160 pounds all together and cant believe it. I have never in my memory been this size. it is truly a new world for me and I love it.

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