What nobody tells you about losing weight
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ExistingFish wrote: »Being cold all the time!! It will be nice in summer
Reducing a bra-size! As a person who had a breast reduction, that was unexpected.
Reduce my snoring, even if I only lost 10kg.
More energy!
Sleep better.
As someone that had a breast reduction myself, I completely relate. After it was done my doctor told me very sweetly that if I wanted to go down even lower (I did but he took me as far down as he legally could) I would just have to lose about 10lbs. I wasn’t even that overweight yet... a little fluff. But it’s true. My breasts is where I lose it first and I don’t mind at all 😂
Before I lost weight I saw a reduction in my future, now I'm not sure. A lift would be nice but a reduction is no longer "necessary".
I was a 32N. I'm down to a 28H. It's manageable now. That is 8 sizes down. I may actually be a size smaller if I were to buy a new bra, as the cups are starting to feel loose again.
My sizing isn't quite on the same level, but I echo your first sentiment. I used to think I might one day need a reduction... Don't think that's necessary anymore, but a lift or some kind of reshaping might be nice.6 -
Well, today is 60 pounds gone. Having a hard time coping with “smaller me”. It kind of hit me today when my trainer just about forced my chin up to make me look at myself in the mirror. I can’t bear to see myself. I still feel fat, make the same old apologetic fat jokes, etc.
I was very surprised in that instant. It was like seeing a stranger. I was the first time I had thought of myself as (dare I say it?) thin.
I keep thinking, naw, “thin” was the 120 I weighed when I got married, and 161 just doesn’t “sound” thin, and these smalls I’m wearing are just the result of vanity sizing.
As I sit here typing this, I still feel like same old same old “me”, as if nothing’s changed, right? It’s just all so confusing. When I first got on MFP, I read the posts and secretly thought Body Dismorphia was BS. It’s a thing, y’all. This whole weight thing, the beating myself up for being up or down, the refusing to look at myself in the mirror, to see or acknowledge the changes in my body, wanting to crawl under a rock when someone says something nice, it all makes my brain feel so disassociated with my body.33 -
TheRedQueen1981 wrote: »lleeann2001 wrote: »Umm how.come when you lose weight and you look good some people come to you and the FIRST thing they say is "Are you sick?"
Probably because it takes about a year for your face to tighten back up and not have the slight sag that does look like you may just been sick.
It is the common look after the flu or chemo skin sag.
Also, it happens to be that some people are sick and are offended when they are congratulated on looking better when they are actually dying. A coworker lost a ton Of weight, we all hoorayed for her and with her, and turns out she had major liver disease and was dead in a few months.lleeann2001 wrote: »Umm how.come when you lose weight and you look good some people come to you and the FIRST thing they say is "Are you sick?"
Probably because it takes about a year for your face to tighten back up and not have the slight sag that does look like you may just been sick.
It is the common look after the flu or chemo skin sag.
Also, it happens to be that some people are sick and are offended when they are congratulated on looking better when they are actually dying. A coworker lost a ton Of weight, we all hoorayed for her and with her, and turns out she had major liver disease and was dead in a few months.
I don’t understand why a couple of people thought this comment is ‘woo’?
Because it’s awful to congratulate approaching death. Irony - finally look great too bad it’s because you are dying....that’s why I said woo - its terrible6 -
I'm thicker through the middle now than when I was the same weight in college, 25 years ago. The unexpected cool thing (what qualifies as my 'what nobody told you') is that everybody thinks I look amazing now, as compared with by family members and girlfriends who maintained steady weights but now in their 40s are self-evidently thicker through the middle (fat-to-muscle ratio has shifted over the years even if weight hasn't changed much). It's a weird psychological tricke middle aged and 'getting hotter' as opposed to looking like you're starting to be middle aged ...17
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12Sarah2015 wrote: »The last pound is elusive, can't get it off!
I'm having some trouble with the last 5. ugh.
You'll get there. Took me three months to lose four kg, but the results are amazing!4 -
that I would plateau and be stuck the past six months staying on count!15
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That you will look back at your clothes and think : "Did I really wear this? Did I really look like that?" and that this will continue while you are losing weight.7
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That your clothes will get longer. I am tall and now at 40+ have a few dresses and trousers that I thought are too short. As I lost few pounds, they are not as short any more.19
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long_for_me wrote: »That your clothes will get longer. I am tall and now at 40+ have a few dresses and trousers that I thought are too short. As I lost few pounds, they are not as short any more.
Ah, but as you buy new clothes they will get shorter! Apparently if you're a UK10 (US 6 or 8), you want everyone to see your knickers.11 -
I realize this differs a lot from person to person, but.. yes period/pms can cause fluctuation, but being on track and getting more exercise has made it way less impactful for me! Turns out it was probably just changing my hunger/cravings during those times so I would not lose weight but just go back and forth between the same few pounds.
Anyway now that I've been more accountable and not seeing it as an excuse I've actually lost before/during/after and I'm very happy about that!7 -
Man, the body dysmorphia is strong with this one this time around. I definitely wouldn't say it's at the level to be considered a disorder, so don't worry about me, it's more of an annoyance than an anxiety. I took a picture of myself wearing a dress I hadn't been able to fit into in years. Thought about putting a "before" picture next to it for comparison (40 pounds heavier). Didn't think the difference was strong enough to warrant a before-and-after. I can pull my old underwear up to my armpits and yet I don't really see much of a difference in pictures. I do see some difference in the mirror, though, so that's good. I'm wearing a size 8 when before I was squeezing into 14s and 16s. Brain, get with the game.
It does help to write it down here, to recognize that I'm going through it. Stops it from getting worse. Not the first time I've mentioned it in this thread, but yesterday felt more concrete because this dress was THE dress. The "skinny" dress that many people hold onto in the hopes of fitting into again. And I succeeded, but I don't see my body as much different from what it was before. Don't worry, I got myself a therapist that I go to regularly, I'll make a note to talk about it with him.29 -
@RelCanonical Your words resonate so much. I have a lot of the same similar feelings with how I think I look versus what really has changed. Every day I walk into work and as I'm coming up the walk and towards the glass double-door entry, there's one door that gives me a "plumper" vision and another door that gives me the "skinny" vision (obviously, the glass is shaped just different enough to make the images different) and I wonder "am I closer to the plump side or the skinny side?" every single morning.
I have yet to think that I'm closer to the "skinny" side. I always think I'm closer to the "plumper" side and I still find it hard to see the "thinner" me. To me, I feel like I'm the same now as I was at least... a year ago. I'm working on trying to sort out the funhouse mirror of how I see myself -- and trying to be comfortable in clothing that isn't sacks. I really wish my brain would get into the game too! Especially since my brain seems to want to HYPER FOCUS on my inner rubber duckie floatie that likes to pooch out over any pants I wear -- tight or loose.
Btw, you are beautiful in your dress! Slayed that dragon AND took his loot pile! Good luck to you!
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It's so nice to go to a restaurant or doctor's office and not worry about fitting into chairs with arms or booths.13
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RelCanonical wrote: »Man, the body dysmorphia is strong with this one this time around. I definitely wouldn't say it's at the level to be considered a disorder, so don't worry about me, it's more of an annoyance than an anxiety. I took a picture of myself wearing a dress I hadn't been able to fit into in years. Thought about putting a "before" picture next to it for comparison (40 pounds heavier). Didn't think the difference was strong enough to warrant a before-and-after. I can pull my old underwear up to my armpits and yet I don't really see much of a difference in pictures. I do see some difference in the mirror, though, so that's good. I'm wearing a size 8 when before I was squeezing into 14s and 16s. Brain, get with the game.
It does help to write it down here, to recognize that I'm going through it. Stops it from getting worse. Not the first time I've mentioned it in this thread, but yesterday felt more concrete because this dress was THE dress. The "skinny" dress that many people hold onto in the hopes of fitting into again. And I succeeded, but I don't see my body as much different from what it was before. Don't worry, I got myself a therapist that I go to regularly, I'll make a note to talk about it with him.
I think you and I have very similar stats (including height). This is also my second time around the weight loss merry-go-round. I've lost about 55 pounds, and my former 'skinny' goal clothes (the ones I thought I'd NEVER for into again) are too big. It's a very odd thing, because I don't feel all that different.
In my case, I believe it's because I never fully internalized how overweight I truly was. "Oh, lots of people weigh more than me and look ok, so I must too." Except the lots of people I was comparing myself to weren't 5'2 (and a half )10 -
RelCanonical wrote: »Man, the body dysmorphia is strong with this one this time around. I definitely wouldn't say it's at the level to be considered a disorder, so don't worry about me, it's more of an annoyance than an anxiety. I took a picture of myself wearing a dress I hadn't been able to fit into in years. Thought about putting a "before" picture next to it for comparison (40 pounds heavier). Didn't think the difference was strong enough to warrant a before-and-after. I can pull my old underwear up to my armpits and yet I don't really see much of a difference in pictures. I do see some difference in the mirror, though, so that's good. I'm wearing a size 8 when before I was squeezing into 14s and 16s. Brain, get with the game.
It does help to write it down here, to recognize that I'm going through it. Stops it from getting worse. Not the first time I've mentioned it in this thread, but yesterday felt more concrete because this dress was THE dress. The "skinny" dress that many people hold onto in the hopes of fitting into again. And I succeeded, but I don't see my body as much different from what it was before. Don't worry, I got myself a therapist that I go to regularly, I'll make a note to talk about it with him.
I think you and I have very similar stats (including height). This is also my second time around the weight loss merry-go-round. I've lost about 55 pounds, and my former 'skinny' goal clothes (the ones I thought I'd NEVER for into again) are too big. It's a very odd thing, because I don't feel all that different.
In my case, I believe it's because I never fully internalized how overweight I truly was. "Oh, lots of people weigh more than me and look ok, so I must too." Except the lots of people I was comparing myself to weren't 5'2 (and a half )
Haha, we are definitely weight loss experience twins, because I think that's the case with me too. I think I even had a post in here that talked about how I expected to lose 3-4 sizes, but only lost 1-2 because I thought I was a size 14 the whole time, but was probably more like a 16-18.7 -
Also 5'2" here. I've lost almost 20 lbs., which in the past hasn't made a huge difference in how I look, but this time I incorporated lifting heavy weights and it seems to be making a bigger difference. I'm down 2 jean sizes, which in the past took closer to a 40 lb. loss, and even then my boss at the time didn't even notice. A friend drove by while I was out walking yesterday, rolled down her window and said, "Looking skinny!"
I think for years I just kidded myself that I wear my weight well because I'm an hourglass shape. I figured as long as I had a defined waist, I couldn't be that much overweight.9 -
How it becomes an addiction. In a good way. I used to dread the idea of going to the gym, now I can't wait for my next workout, and get upset if something stops me from being able to go.TeresaMarie2015 wrote: »Your morning breadth will be just horrific!+ That it can be an emotional roller-coaster. Some days you are happy with yourself and other days you get upset because you ate too much or you don't look right or you haven't lost any weight this week, etc. Learn to ride the roller-coaster and don't get off.
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tl;dr: Hit some milestones, it's making me revisit my thought processes regarding food.
Here's another thing I've been thinking about. I've been able to start identifying the reasons I decide to eat, and categorizing them has helped me cope. I didn't realize there could be so many different reasons why I eat, and how many of them contributed to my weight gain. Certainly not all are bad reasons, and distinguishing them really helps me with food anxiety, as I'm able to decide if eating the food is really important or not (sometimes it's a life experience I don't want to miss, sometimes it's not really important to my life and I can skip).
Some would be:- Being thirsty (misconstruing it as hunger)
- Mindless eating (not thinking, just habit)
- Boredom eating (eating because I don't know what else to waste time on)
- Social pressure (eating because others are, and I want to fit in)
- Reward eating (eating because something good happened, or I accomplished something)
- Stress eating (eating because something bad happened)
- Celebration eating (eating because it's a holiday, and that's tradition)
- Nostalgia eating (I haven't eaten that in a while/eating for nostalgia's sake)
- Novelty eating (I want to try the new product)
- Emotional eating (usually related to hormones, i.e. cravings or comfort eating. Different from stress eating, which has an acute source)
- Nutritional eating (eating because I have calories left so why not)
- Binge eating (eating because I hate myself)
And last but not least- Eating because I'm hungry (food tastes the best here)
Some of the differences are kind of subtle, like mindless and boredom eating, but they feel different enough to me. Unlike some who use binge eating interchangeably with overeating or stress eating, binge eating is quite a distinct feeling for me, and something I don't wish on my enemies.
I don't know, just understanding that there's so many reasons that I choose to eat really helps me understand just how important food has been in my life, and part of this journey has been making it less important. And like, not necessarily to "food is fuel" status, but deciding, from the list above, which ones are actually worth considering food. For me, novelty eating is fun and a joy in my life, but for celebrations? Maybe not so much. And, of course, boredom, stress, and social pressure are just never worth it.
I am kind of just full of these thoughts today. I think it has to do with me hitting some major milestones the past couple days (fitting into a special dress, am also halfway to my goal weight) and dealing with the fact that my mind refuses to catch up. It's really nice to have this site to let it out without judgement but with a lot more empathy. Like, I have a therapist and he's helpful, but he also just kind of doesn't get it. He doesn't specialize in eating disorders because I didn't seek him out for that reason, so sometimes he can't quite fully understand my thought processes regarding eating. I think the regulars on MFP understand a bit more. He's certainly not a bad therapist at all, and I will definitely still talk to him about this stuff, but the word vomit has been super helpful to get out. Maybe it'll help me during appointments to write it out first so I'm not trying to figure this out when I only got 50 minutes with him.
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Wow, @RelCanonical that was really well said. I think you got into a lot of our heads that way.
I thought you looked lovely in your dress, but you look remarkably like my daughter, so that’s some automatic warm fuzzy accrual right there.
You express yourself extremely well, and in a very reasonable and honest manner, and I always enjoy your posts. I sincerely wish I could wave my mom wand and make some of the self doubt go away.
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I have been wearing my beloved leather jacket because I keep saying "It's a jacket, it doesn't matter". I saw a video of me (I was in a parade with the kids in my Sunday School class, parent video) and it swallows me completely. I look like I'm wearing my dad or husband's clothes.
I need to wear clothes that fit. Including a jacket. In my head it wasn't that big on me.27
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