For Successful Losers: Do You Still See Yourself as Fat?

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Replies

  • BodyByBex
    BodyByBex Posts: 3,685 Member
    No. I still have fat on my body but do not see myself as fat at all.

    This! I thought I was the only one to think this way!
    I'm over 200 pounds and considered 'obese'. I don't see myself as fat CURRENTLY and I wont when I reach my goal either.

    I currently see myself as having an excessive amount of fat on my body. When I lose, I will see myself as someone who has a healthier amount of fat on their body.

    I don't call myself fat or let it ever sink in when others do(even my soon to be ex-husband). I know that my body just started producing fat in excess and it is my job to help my body get rid of the excess.

    I am not, nor will I ever be, fat. It is, and always will be, a PERCENTAGE of my composition. I will not let it ever define me as a whole.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    Sometimes yes!
  • EdTheGinge
    EdTheGinge Posts: 1,616 Member
    Yes still feel and see the same guy I saw before I lost the weight, it's a state of mind which I have to overcome.
  • dani_bee
    dani_bee Posts: 45 Member
    I have lost enough weight to look in the mirror and know my body is different. But I still see fat on my body, if that makes sense. I am no longer fat, but I still have fat.

    I took a picture of my face the other day and literally stared at it for 5 minutes because I couldn't believe it was me. I still have shock when I feel a hipbone or see a picture of myself.

    And at the same time I can squish my (small) belly roll and be unhappy.

    I carry weight on my top half, so I am usually prone to over-analyze that part of my body, whereas my legs look tiny to me.
  • Indiri13
    Indiri13 Posts: 104 Member
    I see the new me but it took a while for it to 'click'. It was probably 6 months or so after I got my weight where I wanted it before I really was seeing the new me every day.
  • chopper_pilot
    chopper_pilot Posts: 191 Member
    5 days a week.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    Wow, these have been some incredible answers. Thank you all for sharing.

    For me, I was a fat boy. I realized I was fat around the 5th or 6th grade. From that realization forward it was total misery. I was not bullied as a kid, I did not come from a family that poked fun at my weight, or pressured me to lose, or anything. But I was my own worst critic, far, far more than any other person could be. From that moment of realization on being fat NEVER felt right. It always felt like I was trapped in some other guys body. The shame, embarrassment, and uncomfortability affected how I expressed myself in life, the choices I made, in some pretty astronomical ways.

    When I finally slimmed down however in my late teens/early 20s, I couldn't see myself. I fluctuated for a good 3-4 years, but for the most part stayed at a decent weight. But I never accepted my newer form. While I never saw myself as fat/obese in mind, just a slim guy trapped in a fat body, I still didn't' give myself ANY credit for how much I lost, and how close I got to my goal. Looking back it didn't matter to me that I lost 70 lbs, it just mattered to me that I still had another 20-30 to go. And so I didn't see my body as that different and was just as critical. Which was dangerous because when I started to regain by dropping my fitness, and swimming again in a marriage of sweets and stagnancy, I didn't truly appreciate how far I'd come, and how much I was about to fall...

    Now I'm knocking at the door of the body from my college years. I see myself SO much more clearly now, and have a far, far superior relationship with myself and with food. I've celebrated every change, every new phase, making sure to celebrate on the way down, instead of burying my head. Looking at my body now I'm starting to finally recall long buried memories of what it looked like then (prior I literally couldn't draw you a picture of what my body looked like at it's smallest). I'm finally not only heading back into low weight territory, but I will take it all the way this time.

    But I've realized that I can not associate with the "fat" me. He never felt authentic. I look, and feel, like a completely different person. The changes, external and internal, are rather staggering. The smaller I get, the more I feel like...me. I learned a lot being fat. Enduring it taught me lessons, and cultivated me, in ways that I could never imagine. So I no longer regret or lament those years. But I am so very ready to leave them in my past and embrace a brand new man.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    The OP is not interested in us. He/she is collecting data. Check the profile, I am not ashamed of anything I have posted, but I don't like the subterfuge. I am honest and I expect MFP to be honest! :noway:

    I'm sorry, what? :laugh:

    I'd love to hear you explain how you arrived at the conclusion that I am "collecting data" and using "subterfuge" in order to do so.
  • Arydria
    Arydria Posts: 179 Member
    I know in my head that there is a huge difference in the way I look and that I am a "successful loser." But when I see myself I still see someone who is disgusting and fat.

    ^ agreed. I will also be the big, fat girl because everyone around me will always be much smaller than me, no matter how much weight I lose.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    I don't look at myself as fat but when I look in the mirror, I'm either really hard on myself because I notice the flaws that I do have, or other times I don't recognize myself and can't believe how far I've come. When I look at old pictures, that's when it really hits me. The biggest eye-opener lately has been when I buy clothes. I've never been able to fit into a small and now that I can, it's mind blowing to me.
    Interesting, I still have a lot of size medium and small clothes, I just could never see myself as a "fat for life" person, especially since I always exercised, now I won't be. I don't think I will have any problem seeing myself as a thin person when I get there, just as I have no problem thinking of myself as a non-smoker, not an ex-smoker, it has been many years. It was some book I read back when I quit smoking, and basically it said calling yourself an ex-anything sets you up to "fall off the wagon". If you can teach your brain to think "I am a thin and healthy person", it would be easier to stay that way. I tried it with smoking, and even if I bring it up in an example like this, to me is like I never smoked, like I am just not that person anymore.

    This is an awesome outlook. This rings so authentically to me. Thanks for sharing.
  • bethcox16
    bethcox16 Posts: 229 Member
    to be honest, reading the replies to this thread has actually really helped me, because even now i still look in the mirror and see the person i started off at, even though I've lost a ft round my waist i still feel like i look the same, but after reading hat actually a lot of people go through the same feelings, i might just have to stop being so conscious about whether i look fat or not, and start thinking about what an incredible achievement we've all done and not give two monkeys bottoms!!!
  • aluethi1
    aluethi1 Posts: 97 Member
    I haven't lost anywhere near the weight I need to and am still in the obese catagory (though at this point I'm not much in it) but I did recently find out I'm not as fat as I think I am.

    There's a woman at work that I thought was skinnier than me, in fact I never even noticed she was overweight and still don't really see it. The other day she offered me a pair of work pants because they're a size too small for her. They were one to two sizes too big for me! I just thought, "I can't believe that she's bigger than me!"

    Even though I'm not really a successful loser, I thought this might help.
  • chollylops
    chollylops Posts: 149 Member
    I think if you have spent many years 'fat' and avoided having photos taken and actually looking at yourself in the mirror it then takes a while to see the new you. I would catch glimpses of myself or see a photo and for a short moment not realise that was me! It wasn't until a stranger in a supermarket ( who was choosing ice - cream next to my daughter) made a comment that I realised that actually people didn't see me as a big fat woman anymore either ( he said I didn't have to worry as I was so slim) I told him he didn't realise how much those words meant ( must have thought I was a bit strange ha ha) I'm used to seeing the new me now and am shocked when I see old photos as I don't recognise fat me anymore but it took a long time for it to be that way round!

    Edit - I also realise my transformation when I see people who I haven't for a few years and they meet the slimmer me - the shock factor is still there! My answer is oh I obviously haven't seen you for a few years! I also find it interesting the amount of people I haven't seen in a few months that have said oh your thinner than ever and in fact I am not I am heavier than I have been but maybe due to exercise /toning I look better?
  • TRD66
    TRD66 Posts: 310 Member
    I think my answer would be yes.

    I've reached my goal weight and it's well within the height/weight ratio recommended by my GP - but I still have a 'beer' belly (I don't drink that much beer these days). I think we're now down to exercise and toning to remove some of this, but I'd still class my shape as 'fat'.
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
    No, I no longer see myself as fat. I do see myself as someone who still has more weight to lose, but I feel like I look like a normal, average-weight person now.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    Some days I do, some days I don't. Keeping old "before" pics around helps. I also have a couple of old shirts and pants from my former really fat days. Mirror can play tricks on your mind so I try not to focus to much on it. I instead look for other ways to remind myself that I am no longer as fat as I was like being able to climb a few flights of stairs and not be winded or fitting into booths at restaurants.
  • learnerdriver
    learnerdriver Posts: 298 Member
    am close to goal. I like what I see when I'm clothed, but I always feel like the big girl compared to other people.
  • CherylP67
    CherylP67 Posts: 772 Member
    Im not at my goal weight yet, but I define myself as a success. I went from a size 16 to a size 6, I still have weight to lose, and some of my 6's are baggy.

    I look in the mirror and see fat. I see the tiny bulge where my loose skin is, or that tiny bit of bra bulge and think yuck.

    I tell myself that I need to be better to myself, a year ago I thought a size 6 was beyond my body's capabilities.
  • jfauci
    jfauci Posts: 531 Member
    I don't necessarily see myself as fat, but more out of shape. I see jiggles, which I know is some skin and loss of muscle tone (which I'm working on). Either way, I don't like looking in the mirror, but that's just me.
  • EllennD
    EllennD Posts: 96 Member
    I still see myself as big, even after a massive loss i have days where i look at myself and think i havent changed

    clearly in my profile pic i have but i agree it will take time for my brain to catch up (or so im hoping)

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