Scale says 166, my mind thinks of me as 136

That's interesting because most people, especially women, usually feel that they are much larger then they really are.

Our own self image is a powerful thing, so I would say use that positively. In other words most women don't see themselves as pretty or attractive, or whatever word you want to use, when they are above their "ideal" weight, so since you see yourself at a certain weight you can use that as motivation to actually get there.

My wife and I have been married for almost 19 years and she is the total opposite. She was around 105 pounds for most of her adult life even after two kids. Just in the last few years she gained some weight and now is working on losing it. I can tell she only needs to lose about five more to get to where she wants to be but she sees herself as needing to lose 50, not really 50 but you get the point. It has taken a long time for her to actually see that she is not as big as she sees herself.

Hope that makes sense. Just a guy's perspective.

I am just the opposite: I am 50, 5'6"/168 cm and started at 287 lbs/130kg 16 month ago. I have now been about 170-175 lbs/77.5-79.5kg for 6 month. My doc says for my body type/ bone structure-frame/age I am good at that weight (I would like to get to 160lbs/72.5kg). I have to say the last time I was at this weight was when I was around 18. I was always the chubby one even asa child. My 22 year old son was in for a major shock when he saw me for the first time after loosing over 110 lbs (he knew of course due to talking, facebook pictures etc., but he had not seen me in person for the 10 month it took me to loose the weight - he lives in California and I in Texas. After all this timeI still look in the mirror expecting to see 200+ lbs. When shopping I always drift towards the plus sizes where nothing fits me. When people tell me they think I look skinny I have to remind myself that I have lost all that weight. Just yesterday I was told that after comenting on feeling chilly after getting out of the pool (it was 90F/42C with a good breeze) before drying off: that is because you do not have no fat....The bottom line is that it is really hard to loose the thinking about oneself that we are used to. We need to keep in mind that not all of us can look like models, the weight/ height scales are not taking our body composition/frame in account (we should go by our docs there) and our goal should not be a certain size (the one we used to be or the one we wish we were), but our overall health - things like the cholesterol level, blood sugar etc. Remember the body changes with age!!!!

I'm like that too! Some days I'm startled by the butt in the mirror! I guess I still see myself as younger/thinner. I figure it's a good thing though. Keep that in mind though as you eat and exercise. I'm a big believer in what you envision becomes your reality. If you assume you'll never succeed or will always be overweight, or whatever that's what happens. If you can see yourself successful you can accomplish that!

I started out thin, then quickly packed on more than 50lbs...during that time I still saw myself as 125lbs. When I saw a picture of myself (my before on my profile pic) I saw I was NOT 125, but MASSIVE! Now, I'm 129 (struggling to lose 5 lbs) and I see myself as big. Though, my clothing size says I'm petite, I have a very hard time seeing it. This whole weight loss thing is more mental than anything. Soon our minds will catch up to where we are and can see ourselves as others see us. But if you feel like your a size 4 and aren't.....Good for you for rocking that confidence!

I pretty much just ignore the scale anyway. I weigh 10 pounds more right now than I did 3 years ago at the end of my 55 pound weight loss, but I wear on average a size 4 or Small clothes. At the end of my weight loss I was wearing a size 10. So thankful for strength training and the changes it has made in my physique

I find this very interesting. I wonder if it has any impact on our ability to succeed at weight loss? I am also one of those who feels thin, because hell, that's me, I have always been thin! I look in the mirror and see this chubby person or feel my belly hanging over my jeans and I just feel annoyed, rather than resigned. I feel as though the norm I need to get back to is thin and I am driven to "fix" this anomaly, by continuing to lose weight.

What about the people though, who feel that their norm is fat? Is it easier for them or harder for them? I see many stories about people who have lost tons of weight and still feel fat, is it more of a struggle to keep it off? Does a part of you want to reset to the "norm"?

I don't have any answers. I just find it very interesting and I look forward to hearing more stories.

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Soopatt wrote: »

I find this very interesting. I wonder if it has any impact on our ability to succeed at weight loss? I am also one of those who feels thin, because hell, that's me, I have always been thin! I look in the mirror and see this chubby person or feel my belly hanging over my jeans and I just feel annoyed, rather than resigned. I feel as though the norm I need to get back to is thin and I am driven to "fix" this anomaly, by continuing to lose weight.

What about the people though, who feel that their norm is fat? Is it easier for them or harder for them? I see many stories about people who have lost tons of weight and still feel fat, is it more of a struggle to keep it off? Does a part of you want to reset to the "norm"?

I don't have any answers. I just find it very interesting and I look forward to hearing more stories.

Now that I've lost a large amount of weight, it's the opposite for me. When I was obese, I used to see a much smaller person in the mirror and be shocked at how big I looked in pictures. Now I'm shocked at how "thin" I look when I see pictures of myself. It's weird.

Yeah I'm struggling with this too. I worked so hard to accept myself I didn't realize I became overweight. But numbers don't lie. I guess I'm always going to have to monitor my weight somewhat.

I think it's whether you grew up overweight or thin and that's the picture you have of yourself in your mind. I am like OP and a lot of people on here- I was very thin growing up- usually one of the smallest most petite kids in the class and even was teased for being so tiny. I even got down to 125 after two children (5'4"). Over the past several years I just slowly put on weight and like others, I never really saw it in the mirror because somehow I was still that thin person in my mind. It was only when I saw myself in a photo that I would think "who is that?" and "how did she get so overweight?" I know others (like on here) who are the opposite and after losing weight still see themselves as very overweight because they grew up as "the fat one" and that's their image of themselves in their mind.

I was slim after elementary school. But I have a full length mirror by my door, and being horrified by my own reflection walking past is why I started to lose.

That and I was tired of not fitting in any pants without elastic waist bands!