Do you still feel "fat" mentally after a lot of weight loss?

depends on what I'm wearing...I've changed my style of clothing dramatically and as such, i've got a new wardrobe of different things. All I used to be able to wear was polo knit shirts, now I can wear whatever, and I'm my most comfortable in my button down "hipsterish??" shirts and bowling shirts with my dark, worn looking jeans. It's the days that I switch back to wearing the drab light jeans and knit polos (both of which are new as well, properly sized) to work that I feel frumpy and fat. I also still feel that way when I look in the mirror naked...I see the flabby skin still on me and think "geez, i'm still fat" even though I've lost 80+ pounds.

That changes though, when I have my "sexy" clothes on...my wife says she has never seen me look at myself in the mirror as much as I do now in our 6 years together...I tell her it's cause i'm attracted to myself..lmao


^side shot of me in my "sexy" clothes and my new, very nice fitting, riding jacket

Gray

i lost 60 and feel it sometimes because i guess the belly is the last to go

I think that's my problem too, I have a massive 'apron' that only surgery will fix, and I'm so conscious of it as I walk.

Yeah I don't think I look any different when I look in the mirror even though other people say they can really see it.

Yes! I weighed about 285 pounds when I started my journey. This morning, I was just under 223. I look in the mirror and think, jeezum, I'm so fat. Then I wonder, how bad did I look 60+ pounds ago? I hope when I get to my goal weight, I don't still see the 285 pound guy looking back at me.

I think I will always feel like a fat girl. I started gaining weight around puberty, lost the weight at 16, then gained again, then lost, then gained, then lost...then gained BIG time and was up to 212...now I'm back on my way down and this time, it really IS forever. I'm getting close to 30 and I know it will be even more difficult as I age, and besides, up and down is not good for your body! I'm striving for health.

But, when I go shopping, I automatically look at bigger sizes, and often forget that I can pull off different styles now. Even this morning I was looking for something to wear and pulled out this shirt and immediately thought "can't wear that it's too tight on the stomach"--and then realized thatn my stomach is fairly flat and I look really freakin' good in this shirt!

I feel your pain.

According to my ticker, I've lost about 57lbs. Since I started losing weight, it's closer to 100lbs. I'm currently at 147.

I was feeling amazing. That is, until I got used to my weight now. Now, I feel fat most days and am unhappy with how I am looking in the mirror and clothes. While I feel A LOT better than I used to, that feeling of me feeling ugly is still gnawing at me constantly.

Part of me recognizes that I do look good. I am getting tons of compliments and plenty of looks. The other side of me is beginning to prevail.

Absolutely, yes!!! I still feel much much heavier than I am.

Since I spent so much of my life avoiding mirrors I only have a dresser mirror in my bedroom and it's not like I'm getting a full-body view in that thing. The only other mirror I come into contact with daily is the one in my office's bathroom and seriously, an office bathroom with florescent lighting isn't doing me ANY favors. EVERY DAY I look in that mirror as I was my hands and EVERY DAY I can't figure out how in that mirror I look the same as I did 43 pounds ago! I went from a 12 to a 4 and when I see myself in that mirror it's like time stands still...at the beginning of my changes!

People have been calling me "so skinny" for a few sizes now and I'm quick to tell them, "I'm not, BELIEVE me!" Which is ridiculous! But the fat me that still lives within has to keep reminding me and everyone that she's still there. I hate her! And because I wanted to prove that voice wrong and because I've always said pictures are undeniable (knew that when I was heavier and avoided them AT ALL COST) I took one when I started losing weight and just last weekend I asked my daughter to snap a quick pic of me. She was, of course, shocked to hear me go from "Don't take a picture of me!" to, "Hey, snap a quick full pic of me before we leave, ok?" Granted, I'm still not fond of pictures because she said, "It's dark!" and I said, "I don't care - let's go!"

But when I look at the pictures - and only the pictures - can I really and truly SEE my accomplishments. But day to day, no way, still the heavy girl, no doubt.

I've been dealing with that problem and have tried to talk to friends about it but they didn't understand. Reading through these, I'm glad I'm not alone. I look at myself in the mirror and see an XL on a bad day, and an L on a good one. Today I went shopping and had to go back and get a small shirt because the medium was too big. I still think it's just vanity sizing. My close friends act like they're worried about me, but I think it's just because they want me to stop obsessing and be happy with myself. My boyfriend pointed out my ribs today and my mom pointed out my hipbones and a friend hugged me the other day and sounded upset and called me a twig, but I see so many thin, gorgeous women on here who worked hard to have those bodies and I want one, too. I weigh less than my original goal weight and I'll probably just keep losing until I don't see a fat person in the mirror. I just hope that happens someday.

Absolutely! Sometimes at work people will call me skinny, and while it feels great, I feel like if they saw me not in scrubs then they wouldn't be saying that. I know when I look at pictures I can see the difference, but when I look in the mirror most of the time I still see myself at 193..

During my 15 month weight loss journey, I've found that my self image lagged behind my physical image 3 months or so. I won't stop until i achieve the body of my dreams.

I feel this way too....strive for perfection is my motto!!! Some days I look in the mirror and think I look good...and some days I look in the mirror and feel like my hips are huge or face looks fat that day...it's a hard image to break! So untilthe day i can look in the mirror EVERY DAY and think that I look good...I will keep working towards the "perfect" results!

I still feel that way all the time. It helps when I see myself in photos next to my skinny friends and I realize I'm not the giant one anymore....but even then I usually just think it must have been a good camera angle. It takes time.

BUMP

Having lost a whole person, I can tell you that YES I still feel fat, I look in the mirror and my new body does not register at all, I still see the old me. When I grab one of my new shirts out of the dryer and go to put it on I still look at it and panic "This is NEVER going to fit" (and usually it's too big once I get it on), I still look at booths in restaurants or rides in theme parks and think "No way, I won't fit".

So yeah, I am still waiting for my brain to catch up.

YES!!!
I didn't "mentally" realize I lost weight until I did a before and after picture. Then my jaw dropped and it put everything in perspective. Our minds can be silly at times. :-)

That happened to me also. Just a week ago I thought that I'm still a "skinny-fat" despite lifting heavy weights until I took some pics of me & my abs and actually I was shocked to see that my abs are becoming more visible in pics even from the camera phones.

Yes, very. I don't feel like I've lost any weight.