Can't Imagine Myself Skinny

Do you need to visualize yourself as looking "skinny"? This is a weird concept to me personally (I don't visualize myself as anything really), although I think I understand where you're coming from.

The only thing necessary for success is maintaining a caloric deficit. You'll probably end up hotter than you could ever visualize in any case!!

I'm 163lbs, size 8 at 5'10 and I never never ever was this thin. I was a 165lbs size 12 at 13 years old........ it has taken a lot to get use to this new me...

I know exactly how you feel. I too have been overweight since I was a teenager, and I have a hard time imagining myself as being skinny. But to some extent, that actually encourages me to continue working at it because I'm curious to see how I will look. It also helps to look at some of the success stories on here and see people who have achieved their goals. You can do it too!

Do you live with someone? It is a LOT easier to do this with someone at home, or better yet- someone at work! Work is where you have Breakfast and Lunch, that's 2 out of 3 major meals! Luckily, I have someone both at home and work who are on MFP and invested to make their goal. We keep each other in check. You also need to find what works for you. Some people need to work out while others just need to watch what they eat. Both worked for me so I did both and my weight dropped quickly. I set realistic goals for myself. I wanted to lose 25 lbs but i set it at 5 lbs instead and each time I reached my goal, it would push me to continue on.

Good Luck! I know you'll be able to reach your goal one day, how fast just depends on how badly you want it

What's your definition of "Skinny" though?
Mine is someone looking very bony with hardly any body fat! (i.e most Catwalk/Runway Models).
Not my idea of a great physique. :ohwell:
Looking fit and healthy, now that's different!
Just concentrate on losing the weight slowly, add in some exercise and take it from there.
I think you'll know when you've lost enough.

I never imagined myself as "skinny". My goal was to get healthy and out of the plus sizes

Even now, as a size 4 and 145 lbs, just in the normal BMI range - I don't see myself as skinny - I just see myself as the healthiest I have been my adult life

I would not worry about getting skinny - that is all a matter of perception anyway.

Hey, your own body image is your own, you don't have to feel pressured to be 'skinny'. I have never been skinny either, and I don't ever want to be 'skinny', I have always been more muscular in the thighs/butt. I love my curves (and so does my hubby), I want to lose the extra fat that I have gained from being sedentary and eating horrible, and for me that is getting down to 150, I am 5'3, and naturally 'thick'. bmi says I should be 113, that's ridiculous. When I was 150, had no stomach, just nice butt/thick thighs, my blood presure was normal, my labs cholestrol/sugar ect were all normal. Even now at 197 people don't believe I weigh that much because of my plummpy hourglass figure. Please understand that bmi is actually not that great a measurement of your health, just using height and weight doesn't account for other things like muscle/stomach fat...Like others have said, set realistic long term goals and short term goals, figure out what YOUR goal weight is, not based on how you were in high school or inadequate bmi scales; How you feel in your body, how you want your clothes to fit, what you need to be healthy inside. This site is great for lots of advise, please understand everyone is different, what works for some, doesn't work for others, there is no 'magic' way, you have to find what works for you. :flowerforyou:

Think "healthy," "fit," "strong," "able," not "skinny." Even take it a few steps back, and aim for healthier, fitter, stronger, more able. For me, little things like less body aches, not getting out of breath carrying loads of laundry upstairs, more energy, being able to easily pick up and buy the 50 pound back of rock salt instead of buying it 10 pounds at a time.... all that matters more than a number on a scale or the tag on my jeans.

I get where your coming from. My goal weight is 150lbs. I started at 275lbs. Currently 180lbs. I have no idea what i'll look like. But like everyone else already mentioned, try focusing on healthy and fit. Eventually you'll get there and one day realize "oh, this is me at my goal weight." Good luck and have fun!

As a kid, I was super skinny. Until I hit a very early puberty and blew up in both height and girth. I was very active as teen and very toned and muscular, but was never under 180 lbs at 5' 7". In college I ate horrible and have weighed at least 215 lbs for all of my adult life (I'm 32).

When I see success stories on the message boards, I find it insanely difficult to imagine myself ever being "skinny". To barely slip into the "healthy" BMI range I need to weigh 155 lbs. I don't think I've weighed that since I was 13.

I keep thinking of this imaginary girl who's not actually me being the "skinny" person I'll become if I continue on this journey and I'm afraid I'll be disappointed that I'm not living up to my fantasy and get discouraged, if that makes any sense at all.

I haven't been in the 150 range since 5th grade! that's why I want to get there so bad hahahaha. My first goal is to get under 200 pounds, then to a healthy body fat (NOT BMI!!! I have muscle and I am proud of it!) and go from there you got this!

I totally get it. As I get closer to a Normal BMI, I wonder more what I'll look like when I'm done. Sometimes I push my fat out of the way to see how an area might look.

It's interesting to watch the changes, which I didn't start noticing until I'd lost 55-60 pounds. Seeing bones poking through...and feeling them. They were buried under fat for SO LONG. It almost seems wrong to see my tibia (shinbone) poking out by knee and to feel the bones in my arm.

It's like an adventure. It really is. Some of it seems odd and strange...takes getting used to!...but it's all good.

I can't wait to see the finished product.

I think we are twins. Seriously, you just told my story, literally word for word. Our stats are the same.

Add in the fact that I've got T1 diabetes and I've had 3 c sections. If I can do it, so can you! I believe in you.

I am 6ft tall and have never been under 180. I played Football on the guys football team all throughout Highschool and continued being active up until I got married, then I gained 130 lbs. I have Lost 100 of those pounds total and am now working to get to 170 lbs for the coast guard. I understand how you feel about being anxious getting back down to that smaller weight, but as some of the previous posters have mentioned, dont focus on the finish line, focus on the journey, and when you finally do reach the finish line the victory will be sweet.

I'm the same way. The last time I lost a lot of weight I took these "skinny" pants into the changing room. There was no way they were going to fit, even though the size label said they would. And of course, they fit, and they looked freaking fantastic, and my thighs looked like they belonged to someone else. I actually burst into tears.

And that was at a higher weight than I want and expect to be a year from today.

I think we can sabotage ourselves with these thoughts, like somehow we don't deserve to be thin or "that body's not for me".

That thin body you can barely imagine ... It is for you. It will be you. And once you earn it, you're going to keep it there, because that's the real you.

I can't think of myself skinny either. I know I would feel better about myself but I have to get there. I am 22 years old and I don't want to be overweight forever. I haven't been "slim" since I was like 10 probably..