How do you develop a "thin" frame of mind?

I don't know that you do, really. At 144 lbs & just under 5'8, I still feel fat most of the time! I catch my reflection somewhere & for a second I'm like, who is that? It's weird. I guess eventually you get used to it? I hope I think it's hard when we spend our whole lives being heavy & just accepting it, & then when we want to change that, it's hard because it's already imprinted in our brains! Congrats on making a lifestyle change & good luck to you!

fake it til you make it

Elphie, set your goal weight loss at 40 lbs. Visuaize 8, 5 lb. bags of sugar. Make a goal of losing one five pound bag of fat at a time. So, if your weight is around 180, your goal weight should be, at first, 175 lbs., each five lb. bag of fat is a mini victory until you real your last. Tray yourself along the way with a new Pilates DVD, makeup, workout clothes or bubble bath instead of food!

Look at this as a long range plan with mini victories all along the way!

I've done this and it works. You need to let go of your past negative thinking. I know that's not easy, we all get in ruts and repeat old patterns. Shed the negative patterns and create new healthy goals to lose the weight and maintain it thereafter.

Treat it like a game that you are going to win because you will!

I would get on the scale every single,morning, before I ate breakfast, in just my underwear to weigh in.

Susan

It seems that from what I hear from anecdotes, people fall into one of two categories - people who always feel like a fat person inside and people that always feel like a thin person inside.

The person who feels like a fat person inside has the issue you and other posters describe - when you are not looking at yourself directly in the mirror, you still feel fat. You identify with being fat. Fat has become a part of what describes you, even when the weight is gone. Fat is written in permanent marker in your book and it feels as though it fits you more naturally than thin. You can feel this way for years and it does not mean you are going to sabotage yourself or fail, it is just where your head is at.

Those who feel thin inside are just as likely to get fat, but their head reacts to it differently. The thin inside person is the one who goes out thinking "I look fabulous!" and then is shocked and surprised when they see the pictures of themselves - a fat person at the party - not looking fabulous. These people identify with being thin. The fat is just some annoying suit that somehow they put on, but does not belong on their body. I am one of these people. I put on a lot of weight in the last four years and I have lost most of it, but I am still irritated that I when I look in the mirror I see something other than the thin person I know I am. I still expect to fit into smaller jeans and reach for them at the store.

Our brains are fascinating things. I wish I knew more about how these things are set and where they started.

Soopatt wrote: »

It seems that from what I hear from anecdotes, people fall into one of two categories - people who always feel like a fat person inside and people that always feel like a thin person inside.

The person who feels like a fat person inside has the issue you and other posters describe - when you are not looking at yourself directly in the mirror, you still feel fat. You identify with being fat. Fat has become a part of what describes you, even when the weight is gone. Fat is written in permanent marker in your book and it feels as though it fits you more naturally than thin. You can feel this way for years and it does not mean you are going to sabotage yourself or fail, it is just where your head is at.

Those who feel thin inside are just as likely to get fat, but their head reacts to it differently. The thin inside person is the one who goes out thinking "I look fabulous!" and then is shocked and surprised when they see the pictures of themselves - a fat person at the party - not looking fabulous. These people identify with being thin. The fat is just some annoying suit that somehow they put on, but does not belong on their body. I am one of these people. I put on a lot of weight in the last four years and I have lost most of it, but I am still irritated that I when I look in the mirror I see something other than the thin person I know I am. I still expect to fit into smaller jeans and reach for them at the store.

Our brains are fascinating things. I wish I knew more about how these things are set and where they started.

I love how this captures it! I have both of these. At one point a few years back, I'd lost 83 lbs (from 220) and sometimes literally didn't believe the numbers on the scale or the size of clothes that fit. Even though the weight loss was gradual and hard earned, it didn't seem real. After the past few years of gaining and losing the same 30-50 lbs, I always find myself thinking thinner in my heavier body and feeling heavier when weighing less... Like magically waking up one day in a reverse body. I know that isn't how it happens but right around 30 lbs is when any of my losses or gains become noticeable. It's weird to find myself justifying it, going up sizes and thinking they make clothes smaller. I know better but my sense of denial is strong I guess.

And to the OP, although I never have wrapped my head around the mindset, what has helped is thinking how my body felt at a healthier time in my life. Not carrying around an extra 83 lbs gave me more energy, made me feel better when trying on clothes (after kind of coming to terms that I had a different body) and in a weird way changed my self value. I didn't feel like I had to make up for, or distract from being heavy by being the funniest, most agreeable, self sacrificing etc. I allowed myself the freedom to just be. Keep pushing for healthy, even if your mind plays tricks on you, know that you're worth healthy choices.