How long did it take for your mind to catch up to the scale?

I am so pleased for those that haven't had too hard a time with their mind catching up with their new physical appearance and lower weight.

For me, I think I will ALWAYS struggle. I suffer with body dysmorphia - It was instilled in me from a very young age by my family that I was fat (even though looking back a pics that just isn't the case).....ironically my obese older Sister was the main protagonist.

I have struggled with subsequent ED's and had many years of Counselling and CBT....it has mitigated the trauma and lessened the daily impact and for that I am grateful but still though....If I am having a tough day and mentally low the old disordered thinking rears its ugly head.

I still find myself astounded when I catch a glimpse of myself in a window or a mirror.....I don't recognise myself and I do believe that I have a permanent mental picture of myself at least 30 lbs heavier than I really am.....and I am nearly 3 years into successful maintenance.

Thank God for good, honest friends and Husband, and MFP which has given me so many useful tools to help combat this way of thinking. Daily weighing, measuring and logging have really put my actual reality into focus.....I'm not fighting those thoughts anywhere near as much.

HippySkoppy wrote: »

I am so pleased for those that haven't had too hard a time with their mind catching up with their new physical appearance and lower weight.

For me, I think I will ALWAYS struggle. I suffer with body dysmorphia - It was instilled in me from a very young age by my family that I was fat (even though looking back a pics that just isn't the case).....ironically my obese older Sister was the main protagonist.

I have struggled with subsequent ED's and had many years of Counselling and CBT....it has mitigated the trauma and lessened the daily impact and for that I am grateful but still though....If I am having a tough day and mentally low the old disordered thinking rears its ugly head.

I still find myself astounded when I catch a glimpse of myself in a window or a mirror.....I don't recognise myself and I do believe that I have a permanent mental picture of myself at least 30 lbs heavier than I really am.....and I am nearly 3 years into successful maintenance.

Thank God for good, honest friends and Husband, and MFP which has given me so many useful tools to help combat this way of thinking. Daily weighing, measuring and logging have really put my actual reality into focus.....I'm not fighting those thoughts anywhere near as much.

just to add that if that's you, on your profile picture, you look amazing!

I'm 25 lbs down and yes I have a problem... even in pictures I feel there's nothing major. Like yes I see little differences; but I still "see me".

I think I just notice my remaining fat more that I've slimmed down. Before I was big all over and pretty well distributed. Now I have a few annoying stomach areas that are taking their time coming off while most other areas look fine.Since I'm focused on specific areas like that, I definitely notice them more.

Because of that I often feel more self conscious about my body now than I did when I was obese.

@karyabc Thank you so very much for your kind words....I'm truly touched.

I have lost almost 35 pounds in the past 6 months. I am 5'10 F down to 155 pounds. I still feel chubby and don't feel like I look too much different from starting point

I only lost 13 pounds so far (well, after restarting in June - I also had a 20 pound loss a few years ago but then had to take time out for 2 surgeries). I haven't quite hit Onederland yet, but I see and feel a difference every single day. I was always fit and at a healthy weight in my younger years, and gaining weight after a long illness was a big shock. I guess my mental image is still as a smaller person, because I'm always surprised at my larger reflection in a mirror. But definitely seeing & feeling some bones emerging, the fat layer melting away, flatter abdomen, clothes fitting looser all the time, moving a lot more comfortably, etc. It's encouraging, because I can already see where I will be in another 25 or 30 pounds.

the scale and my clothing show a 27 pound loss, the mirror doesn't yet.

I've lost 95 pounds over two years -- and unless I'm looking at a picture of myself from before I lost weight, I still think I look the same pretty often. ("Oh, well, I grew my hair out, but I don't look different.") And some of that is that I still have the same general body type. I never really took in my whole weight before -- I picked out the parts of my body I didn't like. I do the same thing now.

It's a dysfunctional habit that I try actively to break, but it still happens. The more I don't do that, the most I realize that I've changed.

I still have days where I feel big, or like I'm not where I want to be, or like absolutely nothing has changed. I agree with others, pictures help. I've lost a little over 80lbs and I'm not in a healthy range for my height, CLEARLY everything has changed, my mind just doesn't always agree.

I actually had one of those days yesterday, so I delved through social media and found pictures of when I was at my heaviest and threw a few in my profile. And yeah, things have really changed. Now I'm just working on consistently seeing that in the mirror.

I'm down 90, and I don't see a difference yet. Logically, yes, my clothes are smaller and I can see a difference in pictures, but when I look in the mirror I see what I've always seen.