I have no idea what I'd look like as a thin person.

yiayia12
yiayia12 Posts: 2 Member
in Motivation and Support
I've been having the strangest thoughts lately, and I'm wondering if this is normal. For the first time in my life, I feel in control of my eating habits. I've been trying to get healthy and lose roughly 60 pounds for the past few years now (okay, okay. several years.) I've finally lost the first 15. That's a HUGE deal for me. Now that I'm starting to lose the weight, though, I'm feeling a bit nervous. I don't know what I look like at a healthy weight. I've imagined it, sure, but now that I look at my body, I have no idea what to expect. I can't imagine having a flat(ish) stomach. I can't imagine my face without the chub. All of a sudden I think "No way can this be anything other than what it is", as if my visceral fat is a vital organ and my tummy will never be rid of it. It's a completely backwards thought, and I realize that it's a psychological issue that stems mostly from the reality of living in this body my entire life. I guess I'm just wondering if anybody else has felt this way. Were your expectations of what you'd look like pretty accurate? Were the changes in your appearance a natural process that you slowly became accustomed to? I honestly don't even know what I'm trying to ask, much less describe. BLAH.

Replies

  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    Think of it as an adventure where the prize at the end is a version of yourself you've probably never really thought you could have.
  • tolorii
    tolorii Posts: 21 Member
    You are so not alone, I think about this stuff all. the. time. Will I have cheekbones? What will it be like to never worry about being photographed with a double chin? What's it like having a flat stomach? Will I even get a flat stomach?? What will my breasts look like? Will my calves be lean enough that I'll fit into boots? Will I ever be able to sit on my bf's lap without feeling like I'm crushing him? Will I have a defined waist? Will I be able to have pants for more than three months before I wear out the inner thighs?
  • mimieon
    mimieon Posts: 182 Member
    I felt exactly like that after losing about 15 pounds. I have always been overweight (except when I was two years old, but other than that age I was overweight, even as a baby), so I also didn't know what to expect.

    Now I'm at a normal BMI, but still kind of chubby - but normal. And it is kind of awesome. Because I lost weight gradually I also kinda got used to how I look, it not like I look like a completely different person (I had about 25 kg to lose, still working on the last 5). Now I have three kinds of experiences: 1) I still feel like the fat me, 2) I feel like the weight I am now, and pretty content with it, 3) really realizing how different I look. For instance, I had one moment in the Ikea when I looked in one of their mirrors, and I got emotional because I looked like a 'normal' person. However, usually I experience 1 or 2.

    Losing the last bits of weight I feel is most difficult (for me at least), but also most rewarding, because each pound makes a big difference. Keep going and just let it all come at you :) It is mostly a really enjoyable experience.
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
    I think, this is pretty normal. I was always overweight to obese (BMI 30-40 most of my life), since I was a small child. Never could I have imagined being of normal weight. I've lost 29kg since May 2013 and reached my healthy BMI range in January 2014. I've gone from a German size 48 to a 36/38. If I loose another size, I'll have trouble shopping in normal stores, because I'm to small! I'm short, so that could actually happen. Before I had trouble finding clothes, because normal stores didn't carry a 46 or 48.

    I only see the real difference on fotos and still have to look twice to recognize my new image in the mirror. But I DO like what I see! And my relationship to my body is much better, even to the not so pretty parts (I have quite a bit of loose skin on bust, stomach and upper thighs). Before I hated looking at that, now it's fine.

    Just as others around me have needed time to adjust to the new me, so do I. I'm not to the stage yet, where it's 'normal' for me to be at a healthy weight. But I'll get there.

    Yesterday I went riding with a woman, whom I just met. She didn't know the old me. While riding we talked about alot of stuff and at one point she told me her first impression, was how fit and athletic I looked.

    BIG WOW on my part! Although friends have told me the same thing, this had a huge impact on me. These kind of remarks and reactions from outside, help me to see myself more as I am now and not as I was. It's a process.

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