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

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  • jody0726
    jody0726 Posts: 34 Member
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    WOW - I just posed this exact question to my MFP friends... now I see this old topic showing up in my feed. While reading through many of these comments, a thought came to my mind. Yesterday, I was at the consignment store, bringing some clothes that I don't fit into any longer. When the gal held up a pair of my old jeans, I honestly gasped at the size. Now, I remember wearing those jeans; I remember how they looked on me and how I felt in them. I also remember the tub of smaller sized clothes I kept tucked away under my bed "just in case" I ever fit into that smaller size again. I remember once going through that tub, holding up one pair of the jeans and thinking how small they looked, compared to the larger sized jeans I was currently wearing.

    Today, I can't wear either pair of jeans (the larger sized or the smaller sized). They are BOTH TOO BIG for me!! Although I do struggle with how I view myself, I have to choose to remember from where I came. I do have a pair of my favorite old jeans in my closet saved for this exact reason.

    I have just crossed the 50 pounds lost mark. I know I have a long way to go before I am "skinny." However, I am healthier, I am stronger and truthfully, I am skinnier this month than last. Many blessings friends!
  • lisasch67
    lisasch67 Posts: 135 Member
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    Yes. It sucks it's the most uncomfortable thing. In the last 4 years I've lost 45 lbs total and I still feel like I weigh what I did when I started even though my clothes are smaller, I get compliments, and can see the difference in photos. My self esteem and confidence just aren't there yet. So frustrating.
  • soontobesam
    soontobesam Posts: 714 Member
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    I sure do. I know how hard I've been working and I know without a doubt that there has definitely been changes to my body but most of the time I can't see it. Every so often I'll catch a glimpse in the mirror (before my brain has a chance to delude me) and i'll think wow - look how much better my so and so looks.

    I also think now I'm much more aware of all fat on me. I ignored it for so long but now I'm acutely aware of it.
  • divinebird
    divinebird Posts: 81 Member
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    I wonder how it will translate to me. I always think I'm thinner than I actually am. In my mind's eye, I am the same shape I was in High School. Every photo of me is a shock! I'll be interested to see how that translates after more than a decade buying plus sizes.
  • heagler870
    heagler870 Posts: 280 Member
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    I am still fat even though I have lost 50 pounds. The only way to know that I am lighter is to look at the pictures I have of before and the ones I have now. I can't tell any difference. I feel like when as I continue to lose weight I will still feel fat. I mean, I have never been thin so I don't know how it will feel nor will I know how to feel. I think that it's going to be quite a mental journey just as it is a physical journey.
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
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    I feel ya. When I look in the mirror I tend to see all the things I don't like rather than my progress. :/
  • alisha232
    alisha232 Posts: 43 Member
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    Yes.
    Everyone is constantly complimenting me on my weight loss. I have lost nearly 60 pounds after my pregnancy. I reached my first goal which was to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I still want to lose 10 pounds. a lot of people look at me crazy when I say that. They try to tell me not to lose any more, but my BMI is still considered overweight. I have always struggled with being self-conscious and I'm hoping to break myself of that, but oh the things a baby does to your body..or at least mine
  • KevDaniel
    KevDaniel Posts: 449 Member
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    Yes.
    Everyone is constantly complimenting me on my weight loss. ...

    I guess my response to everyone is.. what a great problem to have :D
  • autumnbottom8
    autumnbottom8 Posts: 74 Member
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    I absolutely have this problem. I've lost 65+ pounds and somedays I feel like I haven't even lost 5. Taking pictures does help see the difference.
  • joebanker24
    joebanker24 Posts: 8 Member
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    I just recently went shopping and was hoping Stacy and Clinton would pop out and help me! I had a disconnect of what size I should buy and styles I looked good in. I have other friends on MFP and we were just discussing this topic. I don't feel fat. I still have a more to lose but can't get used to the idea of buying smaller clothes. It's mental change as well as physical.
  • directorj
    directorj Posts: 537 Member
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    bump
  • skinnieminniemouse
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    I do quite a lot of the time. You have to remember how far you have come though. You have done ridiculously well to get from an XL/XXL to a medium. You should be proud of how far you have come and how much you have lost. If it helps, compare pictures of you now to your heaviest. It can be quite shocking to see them in close comparison! You see yourself every day so sometimes you won't realise how much you have changed.
    Be proud :)
  • usernamejoe
    usernamejoe Posts: 219 Member
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    I'm down about 60 over a few years. Some days I feel as big mentally as I did when I weighed that much. I guess being larger than normal for so long it wears on you and it takes awhile for your mind to catch up
  • Lize11e
    Lize11e Posts: 419
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    I've been fighting with this recently. Sometimes I look in the mirror and think, "Wow, I really am a good bit smaller than I was." and other times (underwear in the mirror is AWFUL) I feel like I haven't changed much at all. I still have a really long journey ahead of me, over 100 lbs left to go but I had over 200 lbs to lose when I started. To date I'm down 88 pounds total. My old clothes have long ago ceased to fit but, for some reason, it feels like I should still be able to wear them. I'm amazed when I put on something that I'm sure is going to be tight and find that it is actually too loose to wear. My mind definitely has a LOT of catching up to do.
  • splashangel
    splashangel Posts: 494 Member
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    I was goal weight for seversal monthes before I really saw me. I visited a church for revival at wand the bathroom had a wall that was a really big mirror. As I was leaving the bathroom I saw a tall, slim, attractive ( I winced typing this but it is what I thought)well dressed woman traveling at the same rate of speed as me. For a second I didn't understand it was a mirror. Then in an instant it clicked. I stopped, backed up, and really looked at me. Although, I didn't see me the way I did in that split second of time, I did take a closer look at my stomach. No longer poking out. I looked at hips. Yes, narrow. I spun to look at my butt. Thank goodness! It's thestill there just BETTER! I noticed I stood straighter and the dark circles under my eyes were all but gone. I am always slightly taken back when someone says something like I wish I was skinny like you, or you can eat whatever you want and it won't hurt you. I don't know if it will ever permanently click for me.
  • celticmuse
    celticmuse Posts: 492 Member
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    I absolutely have this problem. I've lost 65+ pounds and somedays I feel like I haven't even lost 5. Taking pictures does help see the difference.

    But I find that I still look fat in photos, which is discouraging. I feel as if I should look better than I do in photos.
  • PDLUCKY
    PDLUCKY Posts: 60 Member
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    I have lost really 89 pounds so far and when I look down I still see this big belly but when I look in the mrror it doesn't look like hardly anything but still when I look down I see my belly and think I am still just as fat as I was. I hope this goeas away.
  • Jelly6739
    Jelly6739 Posts: 8
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    Yes that can happen. I dropped 100 lbs with gastric by-pass and still have another 75lbs to go and I still feel huge.
  • chocl8girl
    chocl8girl Posts: 1,968 Member
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    Yes. :( I hold up my size 16 jeans and just KNOW they will not even go over my thighs, even though I actually know that they are too big to wear without a belt, and my newer stuff is now a size 14...
  • crimsoncat
    crimsoncat Posts: 457 Member
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    But I find that I still look fat in photos, which is discouraging. I feel as if I should look better than I do in photos.

    Oh my gosh this. I have 15-20 pounds lost and have kept it off for five years.I can tell the difference between then and now, but I swear that I look fat in many of the photos of me I see taken by other people. I think it's just a bad angle thing, but it can really ruin my day when I stare at my face in pictures and compare myself to my ideal. I have to fight every day to remember I have lost all this weight, toned up and that I should be proud. Instead, I just see "chubby face".
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