Getting Used to Your New Face

rebprest · June 2014

For all those who have had major success and gone from obese to a healthy weight, did your new face and body take getting used to? I'm a long way off from the point where this would become an issue, but I have been overweight my whole life, so I don't even know what I would look like at a healthy weight. Some people look like a whole new person. I already find it really weird to see myself getting thinner. Anyone have any issues with this? Stories, please!

xX_PhoenixRising_Xx · June 2014

Definitely. For ages I couldn't see myself in the mirror for the size I actually was - I only ever saw what I used to look like. This slowly changed over time. I still don't think I'm the best at judging my actual size, but I no longer see myself as the fat person that I have always been. Now I look at "before" photos and wonder if it's really me? My face has changed dramatically right along with my body, but both have taken getting used to. Time really was the only way I got used to it. 144lbs lost so far (not quite at "healthy" weight but close!)

LivingtheLeanDream · June 2014

I think my face might look older

rounder faces are inclined to be more youthful...my hubby refers to me as 'dot' cos he thinks its that small I look like a full stop/period!!! hmmmm
but I like how my body is slim so I'm prepared to put up with 'dot' face lol

BeckyMBisMe · June 2014

check out this thread and be amazed and inspired! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1249313-pic-of-freaky-face-change-after-weightloss-post-yours

seltzermint555 · June 2014

I definitely DO look different after losing 128 lb since '08. There's no denying that.

But -- I feel like my face hasn't changed as much as my body. Sure it's changed. I look slimmer and a bit older. Not a problem. But I was kind of the type to have a "normal" face and fat body. There are a couple of beautiful women on my friends list who seriously look like different people altogether after losing 50-80 lb. That's not really me. I didn't have a double chin until I was around 300 lb and it quickly diminished when I was closer to 270-280. I was the type who could take flattering selfies of my face only that would have made you guess me to weigh around 150 lb if you had never met me. That's one reason I never used those flattering photos on dating sites when I was single! I wanted guys to know how big I was so there wouldn't be any surprises upon meeting.

For me the body thing is the weirdest to get used to. I felt, for the most part, that I looked fairly okay/proportional even at my heavier weights. But when I would see myself in photos or mirrors next to average-sized friends, it was a major shock how huge I was by comparison. My best friend is short and on the curvy/chubby side but next to her I was literally 2-3 times her width and just hulkishly larger (I am 5'8"). I don't feel THAT different now, and my body looks SOMEWHAT the same just with less bulges. But now I will catch my reflection in the glass when I'm walking with a couple of girlfriends I'd call "normal size" and I look like them, or maybe a taller version of them but the same width...that is still hard to wrap my head around.

Photos are the best way for me to really grasp the changes. By the same token, photos were the only way I REALLY saw how much weight I'd gained over the years. I have a love/hate relationship with photos.

Getting Used to Your New Face

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