How's your body image changing as you lose weight?

Sued0nim
Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
OK - I admit I've been overweight for a number of years but I was always happy with my body shape, traditional hourglass and I always felt ..well, for want of a better word, sexy.

I've lost 37lbs over the last 6 months, still have about 10 to go to hit a BMI of 25 (I'm 5'8 and I carry weight well), more importantly I've trained hard and my body shape is changing alongside it.

Only I look in the mirror now and I'm not sure I feel 'sexy' any more .. I look slimmer and stronger, I have more visible musculature in my arms, abs and legs .. and I do love the strong look .. but it's not me, not the soft curves I've been used to for the last humpty-dumpty and 2 years. I haven't lost my hourglass (although down from a 36DD to a 34D so I'm down 2 cup sizes) but it's definitely not as markedly curvy

So the question is .. will my perception adjust alongside this new body? did yours?

anybody know what I'm waffling about?

Replies

  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 683 Member
    Absolutely ok bit of quick background I started the other way started uk 6-8 (no boobs) didn't feel womanly had baby young (17) boobs and sexy size 10 then roll on I had 2 children within 4 yrs and went up to 16 huge boobs and curves and now back at a 10 I like what I see as im more defined its sexy but not as we know it, buy new smaller sexy lingerie and things that show off your new amazing assets and it will come in time
  • Whiskeytub
    Whiskeytub Posts: 96 Member
    I feel like all the tracking and logging makes me a lot more critical of my body. This is fine when I'm at my goal weight but when my weight starts to creep up I feel much less attractive than I should considering for the most part no one else can tell when I gain 5 pounds. Still working on that whole aspect of things.
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
    I understand what you are saying, but never forget, many many people believe that there is no greater sexy than fit.

    As for me, I cant stop touching myself. Not in that way! Just feeling the muscle definition that I have never really had before, the tightness of my ab muscles, the distinct lack of flab where there used to be... and neither can my wife... which rocks. Except when she comes to bed late and wakes me up... not that its that bad either. :)
  • Zohar94
    Zohar94 Posts: 25 Member
    I think i feel generraly more sexy now. I have more waist, and just generally more of a feminine figure. Before this i woar a lot of baggy clothes and now i sometimes wear more tight stuff. I also feel better about my body because i know it is strong(er) and asked really a lot of it by gaining weight, losing, starting to sport a lot etc. But my body has been strong most of the time along. So I really started to appreciate my body (like telling to my legs: you did this whole 20 km walk, thank you legs for never letting me down) But there is also stuff i am more insecure about. My breasts stayed the same while my body became smaller so my cupsized was upped by two. which means i have now cup H (which is really big and heavy). But my breasts also became really saggy and my belly looks a litle bit like a balloon with not enough air in it so it is saggy too... But i hope that will change.
  • TJR88
    TJR88 Posts: 37 Member
    It took a while for me to psychologically adjust to the fact that I was obese and not just carrying a few extra pounds so I'm sure it will be true in reverse! I'm now quite used to my "softness" and I'm not sure how my body will change and how I'll feel about it.

    Right now however, even though I haven't lost much weight yet (11lb down, 50ish to go) just being in control of how much I'm eating and doing a bit more exercise is making me feel better in my body. I'm seeing the beauty in my body now as it is and have more pride in my 190+ body now than I did in my younger lighter body that I didn't really take care of. Make any sense?

  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 683 Member
    yes ^ makes real sense I guess as you work for it you do appreciate it more
  • Megan101792
    Megan101792 Posts: 3,194 Member
    Mine has to a point, but I feel like I've gotten more self conscious about my weight when people compliment me. I like people noticing and everything, but when they say great job, you have lost so much or wow you look so different, my own sabotage is there saying, well they must of thought you were fat before (which I was and still am, but improving)...To me, I just find it weird because I don't know what to say back except thank you, but then people want to discuss it and I'm like nope, or they want to just keep complimenting me...to which I just get more self conscious because I don't like my weight being on the spotlight
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    I think before, I just kind of took my body shape for granted, it is what it is sort of thing. NOW, even though I still have a couple of years to go with my re-comp, I made this shape with my sweat and tears.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    So you all feel better in your bodies then? I do in a sense, it's a fitter, stronger body, but in another sense I need to adjust my perceptions of self I s'pose
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    So many changes - feeling bones and muscles that had been buried under piles of fat...it's a whole new me. Not feeling sexy, but am still a long way from skinny.

    I do have more energy and don't have to lug my body around like I used to. I didn't really even realize how hard it was until I was no longer doing it.

    The loose skin SUCKS, but everything else is good. Strange and new, but good, :)
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    I have to watch becoming too critical of my body. I find it hard to accept my body and find it beautiful now when I know I am not done changing it yet. I try to focus on the things I can do now that I couldn't before vs how I look. Remember all the non vanity reasons I am getting in shape and healthy. I do need to spend more time doing sexy things like bubble baths, dressing up, wearing flattering clothing, etc.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    I do feel better about myself and more confident, but I also feel more critical of myself. I see the many changes and I'm so happy, but then I see how much there is left to be done! Before I started losing weight, I accepted myself for the most part. I didn't realize how overweight I was so maybe it was just blissful ignorance.
  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »
    I do feel better about myself and more confident, but I also feel more critical of myself. I see the many changes and I'm so happy, but then I see how much there is left to be done!

    Yeah I agree, I'm certainly enjoying the new me (72lbs down) but I'm still see room for improvement and won't be happy until I've finished.
  • missdibs1
    missdibs1 Posts: 1,092 Member
    Well let's see the last trip to the store to try on bathing suits had me running out the door. I think I wasn't ready yet
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    A slight body dismorphia ( for want of a better word) is what I had until Thursday.
    I had always been the chubby middle sister growing up and just accepted it as my basic build was different. I have known that for the past couple of years that I was no longer the chubby one, but still saw myself as that even looking in the mirror.
    On Thursday I was at my first Zumba class, and there was a wall of mirror that we faced ( a new concept for me) while we Zumbad. Part way through the class I spotted this lean looking person wearing the same top as me in the mirror and was shocked when I realized that it was me!
    That is now the body image that is in my head. It has over written the one I have had for so many years.
    It took an out of context glimpse of myself to recognize and accept the body I have rather than the body I had.
    Cheers, h.
  • llUndecidedll
    llUndecidedll Posts: 724 Member
    I still have a long, long way to go, but I've never had a positive body image. It's still pretty much the same. My body image issues revolve more around my body as a whole-- its shape, asymmetry, proportions, etc. Rather than the amount of fat on it.

    I've done irreversible damage to my body, but I'm learning to deal with it.
  • threnjen
    threnjen Posts: 687 Member
    edited November 2014
    This is an interesting topic and one that I have been thinking about myself. I find that my body image lately has been worse than it used to be which makes no sense. I used to have a kind of reverse body dysmorphia where I THOUGHT I looked ok in the mirror, but then I saw pictures of myself and realized the truth :( I'm now 34 pounds lighter than that (and only 5'1") but I'm now not happy with the person in the mirror OR the person in photos which makes no sense. My husband constantly reassures me that I look amazing, and it's objectively true that I am now as small as he has ever seen me. I guess my expectations are not matching reality. I thought I would be even smaller at this weight I guess and I hate that I still have batwings and tummy flab and a dimply butt and all that, and I hate that at my height I probably need to weigh 105 pounds to have the athletic, fit build that I imagine in my head (plus I think 105 is impossible for me). I can't seem to stop feeling bad about myself even though I KNOW on a rational level that my accomplishments are amazing and that I am healthier and more fit than I have been in 11 years.

    So... I don't know how to improve my body image, either.
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