Is it just me, or...

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Gracestar12
Gracestar12 Posts: 46 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been eating properly for about a month now and I'm starting to feel much healthier and better within myself. I seem to be losing consistently, which is great (except that new skirt I bought last month now falls off.... *sigh*)... But I seem to have this weird thing where I am surprised - when I catch a glimpse of myself in a store window/ full length mirror etc. - that I am still fat.

It sounds so weird to 'say' that out loud. Intellectually and rationally speaking, I realise that what took a long time to accumulate will also take a long time to lose, but at the same time it feels strange that my outside doesn't match my inside, if that makes any sense? It's kind of disconcerting...

Before I started eating properly, I was ill regularly, with little energy etc. but that in a way matched my outside. Now that I'm feeling good, it feels as though I'm an energetic person stuck in a body that just feels wrong.

I was just curious to see if anyone else gets 'surprised' that they're still fat?

Replies

  • amywhite8809
    amywhite8809 Posts: 60
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    I know exactly what you mean!! I feel soo much healthier exercising and eating right.. But when I look into a mirror its discouraging! I feel soo mch better, now i just want to LOOK better :)
  • Kristyjoy
    Kristyjoy Posts: 2 Member
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    I get surprised all the time, feeling skinny then seeing myself in a picture and realize I still have a long way to go. I've done this before though (Dropped 50 pounds after a prolonged sickness- now trying to take off after baby weight) and I distinctly remember getting to a point where I just had so much energy I literally had to run around my office building at break instead of getting a cup of coffee!
  • KickingDarkness
    KickingDarkness Posts: 82
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    I know the feeling of looking in the mirror and being surprised yes. I put my weight on rather quickly because of a medication I was on. In my head I'm still skinny - when I look in the mirror I'm always like wait what? Who is that?
  • swimmchick87
    swimmchick87 Posts: 458 Member
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    Yes! A lot of the weight I've gained is pretty recent, and I'm just not used to it! I've been eating healthy and exercising for a few weeks, have lost 8 pounds and am starting to feel pretty good. I'm in that "healthy" mindset. Yet even with the 8 pounds gone, I'm still heavier than I've ever been before recently. I went to put on a pair of jeans today (that always fit before I gained this sudden weight) and was shocked when I still couldn't even button them.
  • laporter62
    laporter62 Posts: 73 Member
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    I feel the same way, I feel great on the inside, I have more energy and I feel smaller/thinner, my clothes are loose
    the scales have gone down 20lb, I can pull my jeans down and off without undoing the button or zip
    when I look in the mirror, it seems that I have lost weight in the face, but my body is still fat and flabby
    I know that I am doing ok and that is all that I need to focus on
  • tagben
    tagben Posts: 72
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    I can totally relate!!! And thats what frustrate me the most, it takes soooo long to see changes !!!! I actually gained all the weight in a short period of time, so in my head im still the skinny girl, I lost 8 lbs right now, a year back if I would have lost that much, my skinny jeans would have been falling off me, now i can't even imagine trying them on let alone closing them!

    So yeah, my body reflection still doesn't reflect the person I imagine in my head!

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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • cottonball77
    cottonball77 Posts: 27
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    I'm so happy to hear I'm not alone in this! I've been working out every day in one way or another since joining about 2 weeks ago (ish) and I feel so good- my abs are tight, I have more endurance and more energy but I look the same!!! It's so aggravating! It's not fair that I can feel it when I gain a pound or two, but it takes 10 times that to feel it when its a loss! I just keep telling myself that I AM a skinny girl underneath ;-)
  • iHEARTcardiacnurses
    iHEARTcardiacnurses Posts: 437 Member
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    I bust my *kitten* on the elliptical to the mantra of "Am I skinny yet?"
  • Angelabec
    Angelabec Posts: 505 Member
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    I absolutely know how you feel, I've been at this a year, already lost more weight than most people even need to, and I'm only half way there! I'm so much fitter than I was, but I still get surprised when I actually look at myself in the mirror!
  • rachelleahsmom
    rachelleahsmom Posts: 442 Member
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    I have this experience a lot! I think that I'm not that bad and then I see a fat girl in the mirror or pictures (especially in pictures!) and I can't believe it's me.
  • sexymewannabee
    sexymewannabee Posts: 16
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    I guess mine is similar tho maybe is in reverse - I have lost 50lb but when I look in the mirror I still expect that bigger person to be there, my brain/memory has not caught up with me, I still look to the back of the clothes rail where the larger sizes are, and do a double take at my slimmer body in a reflection

    its wierd getting used to a different me - I still think like a fatter version of me and have to try hard to remember that the slimmer me can run, go swimming and do anything I want to
  • PrairieRoseNE
    PrairieRoseNE Posts: 265 Member
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    Ok, here's a twist - I've lost 68 lbs - I look in the mirror and see that I look thinner (YAY WooHoo) People that know me say I look great :) And I look at other people that I think look slender and approx. the same weight as me and I feel great!!

    BUT, I step on the scale and it says 222 lbs yet!!!! YIKES, I can't be that heavy???? But the scale doesn't lie :(

    Sad part is I'm supposed to get down to 150 per my Doctor - OK......more work to do.......sigh......
  • pupcamper
    pupcamper Posts: 415 Member
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    Totally feel the same way! I think it has something to do with the fact that you carry the mental picture of your finished product in mind and even though part of you is proud of what you have achieved the other part still judges you against where you want to be! I hope by sticking with it I'm going to have the body that matches! :drinker:
  • ladyphoto
    ladyphoto Posts: 192 Member
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    Yup me too. In addition to that for me, I still think I'm 24! I catch my reflection in the mirror and think "who's that chubby middle aged lady?" oh..... that's me. lol
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    I know I have lost over 30 lbs but yesterday I saw a picture of myself and still look the same. I know I'm not, but I guess that's who I am. I do feel thinner and have gone from a size 8 to a 4 but that picture bugs me.
  • Gosser
    Gosser Posts: 178 Member
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    Get a friend to help you measure yourself, bust, waist, thighs, biceps, hips. Do this once in a while and keep a record of it. Everytime you think you are still fat pull the figures out and see the inches you have lost. Put up an old photo of yourself and take a new one once in a while to put next to it.

    This way you'll never forget that you are winning, no matter how small the loss or how long it takes :happy:
  • hebbby
    hebbby Posts: 70
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    Get a friend to help you measure yourself, bust, waist, thighs, biceps, hips. Do this once in a while and keep a record of it. Everytime you think you are still fat pull the figures out and see the inches you have lost. Put up an old photo of yourself and take a new one once in a while to put next to it.

    This way you'll never forget that you are winning, no matter how small the loss or how long it takes :happy:

    This is great advice, I saw a recent photo of myself the other day and was dissapointed i still looked so big but then i looked at one of myself from six months ago and there was a huge difference.
  • PrairieRoseNE
    PrairieRoseNE Posts: 265 Member
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    Get a friend to help you measure yourself, bust, waist, thighs, biceps, hips. Do this once in a while and keep a record of it. Everytime you think you are still fat pull the figures out and see the inches you have lost. Put up an old photo of yourself and take a new one once in a while to put next to it.

    This way you'll never forget that you are winning, no matter how small the loss or how long it takes :happy:

    This is great advice, I saw a recent photo of myself the other day and was dissapointed i still looked so big but then i looked at one of myself from six months ago and there was a huge difference.

    I keep a family photo of us right in front of my work computer's screen. Back when I had the photo taken I was happy with the 3 smiling faces - but now all I see is how FAT my face was then - so compared to now - there's a huge difference. When I get those mid-afternoon munchies - I look at that photo and my hunger pains go away!!!!!

    Btw - I love the avatar of the fat tabby cat face Gosser used just 2 posts above this one - THAT"s what I looked like - LOL

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