How do YOU see yourself?

I remember when I was over 600 lbs I rationalized my size to be able to live with myself.... call it lies, deception, low self esteem, poor body image. what ever you want to call it, it was a lifetime self defense to stay where I was at.

I know that even now, having once been big with all the mental negative thinking, my body image is still distorted and have a hard time seeing myself small. It takes alot of work on self to over come such issues.......
regaining Health is not all about changing lifestyle, exercise and weight loss. The mental work one must do to over come years of practice in old ways take much time to change. IMO It is why so many fail and regain.... and give up. Changing the neuro pathways of old habits takes time and perseverance especially for those who have been obese + all their lives.

It took a picture of myself for me to "see" I am I needed to do something, because up to that point, I knew I was overweight, but I never saw how bad it was until that point in my life. It was an innocent picture, I was having fun catching up with my family I haven't seen in years, but when I saw my image, all I kept thinking was, "what happened??"

I can totally relate. I still have more weight to lose to get to my ideal weight, and I've come a long way since that pivotal moment in my life. At times, I still see myself as that girl who wouldn't think twice in lounging around on the sofa, watching tv, and eating a bag of cheetos. Every single day, I have to remind myself that I am no longer that person, and my new lifestyle proves it.

When I was obese I didn't think I was THAT fat until I looked at a video of myself. DAMN. And then I saw myself as huge.

Now, 100 pounds lighter I see myself as fat. I know that I have body dysmorphia. My husband knows it. And I'm dealing with it. Sort of. They say it can take years for your brain to catch up but it's been at least 2-3 years at this weight and I still feel awful. Actually, I'm much more self conscious now. I just hope that after my last 30-40 pounds that I am happy with how I am and can see what other people do.

I do feel stronger most days so that's a plus.

I am so happy for people that are happy with their bodies!! Keep it up. Don't let your mind get you down.

Extremely Fat and out of shape. Nearly 500lbs and every bone starting to ache and my knees about to give out if my back does not go first.

THIS IS THE MOTIVATION TO GET ME MOVING TO DROP THE WEIGHT NOW, NOT TOMORROW !!

Patrick

I had gained weight so slowly I didn't really see it until I started to workout with some coworkers. Then I noticed my belly hanging in the way of some exercises, the cellulite dimples on the legs and the chicken wing arms. OMG.

Now, I have a lot of people call me skinny, thin or petite...but all I see are areas that still need improvement. Not to say I see "fat" but I still see "flabby" and "dimples".

I only recently started seeing it in the mirror..or when I hold my pants up and see how huge they are! *shudder*

I only put up older pics of myself and I really don't allow my picture taken anymore. I need to lose this weight so I can get a family portrait done. I even refused to get in the family picture a few months ago

I have a better feeling about myself when I look in the mirror than I do when I see myself in pictures, and especially when I'm next to someone else who is smaller than I am. :grumble:

When I was 200 lbs, I felt fat physically but it really sunk in when I would shop for clothes (nothing would fit), look at myself in a full length mirror and saw pics of myself. I hated and avoided getting my picture taking all of the time after that. Now, -37 lbs later I know that I am still fat but feel much more confident in my appearance. I can see the positive changes in my figure. I also know that I am healthier as well.

When I started my journey here I was 222 lbs, and I'm about 5'7". I was probably closer to 230 or more, but started losing weight before I had the guts to step on the scale. In high school I weighed between 138 and 150, but gained weight over the years and usually fluctuated between 180 and 200 from 2003-2012. It wasn't until 2012 that I ballooned up, but I just kept seeing the same person in the mirror that I always saw - someone a little overweight that could lose a few pounds, but not fat. It wasn't until I saw a picture someone took that I realized that I was getting pretty fat and had probably gained 30-40 lbs in a very short time.

Now that I'm down to 175 lbs with a goal of 150 lbs, I unfortunately see the same person I've always seen in the mirror. I just can't see any change with my own eyes. I know it's psychological, but it's very weird. I know pants and shirts that I outgrew now fit loose. I know belts that were too small are too big now. And I know everyone is telling me I lost a lot of weight. But my own self-perception is skewed. That's why we need those tangible things I listed above, along with new pictures to compare to pictures at your heaviest, so we can overcome our skewed self-perception.

I also believe we become more obsessed with our bodies since we spend so much time tracking calories, talking nutrition and fitness, and working out. This leads us to be more self-aware of our flaws than we were before, especially since we never want to return to the same lifestyle.

For me, this is the second go around at losing a large amount of weight. When I lost it all (80 pounds) the first time, I felt it and I felt great. When I gained it all back, I saw the numbers changing but I still saw myself as 180 pounds instead of 280. But, when I hit that 280 point and had my OMG moment, now that's all I can see. I'm down to 233 again, but the mirror doesn't show me that difference. I can see it in pictures, though, which is kind of strange.