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CarmelaMeyer
CarmelaMeyer Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been here for awhile but not participated in the discussions. Just started looking around and it is great reading the posts. In the past 3 years I've lost 45 lbs. I'm so thrilled but I don't see it when I look in the mirror. I know I'm in smaller sizes but I still see the old me in the mirror. Anyone else have this issue

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  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,634 Member
    edited April 3
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    Takes a while! Look at pictures--especially next to other people you know. Congrats on the loss!🎉
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,154 Member
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    I think a lot of people may have this issue. I sure did. It takes time for internalized body image to update to match the new actual body shape.

    For me, the issue has faded with time, but in a in-and-out sort of way. At first, I didn't recognize my own image immediately when I briefly passed by a mirror or reflection in a window. My actual clothes looked impossibly small. I'd turn sideways in narrow hallways or store aisles to let people pass, feeling like I was still obese.

    Eventually, I started tuning in an accurate self-image, but it took many months at goal weight. Even then, there would be weird returns of self and self-image being out of sync. I'm in about year 8 of maintaining now, but still have the occasional flash of inconsistency, just quite rarely. (However, I still have trouble looking at clothes in a store and thinking they'll fit. They still look improbably small. :D )

    Brains are weird.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,675 Member
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    BTDT I lost 55 lbs. about 10 years ago and still occasionally have issues with how I perceive myself. There are times I look at my belly or thighs and think I'm still fat, but then I see a photo of myself or look at myself in a store window as I approach the store and realize that no, I really am thin after all. Or someone will make a comment about how small I am and I realize that they are right, I am not the big girl I used to be.
  • CarmelaMeyer
    CarmelaMeyer Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you. It just helps knowing I'm not the only one. I still have 20 to go.
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 342 Member
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    With ourselves, it's hard for us to notice the progress unless we do side by side comparisons in photos. We look at ourselves every day and our eyes adjust to that over time. It's hard to remember what we looked like before. Put on some clothes that make you feel slim and have someone take a picture. Look at your old pictures and I'm sure you'll be able to see a difference. 45 lb. is a lot!

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