Still feeling very fat.

vlwallace87
vlwallace87 Posts: 52 Member
in Motivation and Support
Two years ago I started a weight loss plan that involved a healthy diet and exercise. My heaviest weight was 210lbs but I had lost down to around 190 when I started. I lost 15 pounds the first month and continued to lose steadily through the next year. I saw myself go from a size 18 to a 12, and I am the lightest I've been since 8-9th grade. My ultimate goal was 135lbs and I am 137 (I fluctuate up to 140 and back down), but I am not happy at this weight. I thought 135 would be the perfect weight for me cause I always dreamed of seeing that on the scale, but now I'm told (by fitness experts) that I need to lose 30 more pounds. ( I am 5' 2")

I feel like I've plateaued and I have no motivation to exercise. I'm scared I'll gain all of my weight back instantly when I eat slightly unhealthy food, and I feel really guilty when I eat anything unless it is perfectly healthy. I look in the mirror and still see my "saddlebags" and a not completely flat stomach. I have came so far and yet I still feel unhappy about my appearance. People tell me I'm "so little" and "you don't need to lose anymore weight", but I still feel very very fat.

I need help.

Replies

  • kimiel51
    kimiel51 Posts: 299 Member
    Congratulations on your progress!! I say that you are the only one that you have to please, so If you are not happy, then just keep up with what you have been doing until you are satisfied.
  • mommab23k
    mommab23k Posts: 35
    I understand, right there with you. I've hit my goal weight, but my body still isn't perfect. I still have a poochy tummy, saddlebags, jiggles and wiggles. Know what? I'm working on accepting it and loving my new body. Is it perfect? Heck no. Is it leaps and bounds better? Heck yes!

    Fitness experts, and I'm sure I'm gonna get flack for this, shouldn't be your ruler for how you are doing or wether or not your body is where is should be. You should be. Trust me, even if you were 30 lbs lighter like they said, you'd probably still find things you didn't like or would change about your body. They get paid to work out all day long, eat right all day long and it takes them an incredible amount of time and energy to look the way they do. Is that what you are striving for? Or a body that allows you to live life better? Not a perfect body but a better body? I'm really trying to adopt that mindset, especially when I look at the "non-perfect" parts and get discouraged.
  • llaurall
    llaurall Posts: 32
    I've had a very identical experience. Few years ago I started off at roughly around 200 lbs. Back then, my 'ideal' weight on the scale was 182 lbs. I did it slowly, going on and off diets. And I did get there, but like you I still felt fat. The weight on the scale didn't correlate with the body I wanted. A nutritionist said I should lose another stone and to me that felt like light years away. Suffice to say, at this present time I've lost way more than just a stone and I still am not entirely happy! I think what I learned is to focus less on the reading on the scale, because I could still be a low weight and be 'skinny fat'. Now I concentrate on making my body stronger and physically fitter by eating clean and weights training. So to you, I say if you're not happy then don't settle because everyone around you says you should. It's not like they have to live in your body at the end of the day.
  • vlwallace87
    vlwallace87 Posts: 52 Member
    Congratulations on your progress!! I say that you are the only one that you have to please, so If you are not happy, then just keep up with what you have been doing until you are satisfied.

    Thanks. I still eat fairly good, but the exercises I used to do don't pull the weight off anymore. I'm currently in nursing school and the stress combined with little time makes it hard. I just hate feeling big when I'm technically not. When I search for clothes I sometimes forget that I'm smaller. I guess it's common to feel this way?
  • vlwallace87
    vlwallace87 Posts: 52 Member
    I understand, right there with you. I've hit my goal weight, but my body still isn't perfect. I still have a poochy tummy, saddlebags, jiggles and wiggles. Know what? I'm working on accepting it and loving my new body. Is it perfect? Heck no. Is it leaps and bounds better? Heck yes!

    Fitness experts, and I'm sure I'm gonna get flack for this, shouldn't be your ruler for how you are doing or wether or not your body is where is should be. You should be. Trust me, even if you were 30 lbs lighter like they said, you'd probably still find things you didn't like or would change about your body. They get paid to work out all day long, eat right all day long and it takes them an incredible amount of time and energy to look the way they do. Is that what you are striving for? Or a body that allows you to live life better? Not a perfect body but a better body? I'm really trying to adopt that mindset, especially when I look at the "non-perfect" parts and get discouraged.

    I know I shouldn't let others be the judge of how I feel about myself, it's something I'll have to work on. I was made fun of a lot in school so I "take things to heart" so to speak when someone says something about me.
  • vlwallace87
    vlwallace87 Posts: 52 Member
    I've had a very identical experience. Few years ago I started off at roughly around 200 lbs. Back then, my 'ideal' weight on the scale was 182 lbs. I did it slowly, going on and off diets. And I did get there, but like you I still felt fat. The weight on the scale didn't correlate with the body I wanted. A nutritionist said I should lose another stone and to me that felt like light years away. Suffice to say, at this present time I've lost way more than just a stone and I still am not entirely happy! I think what I learned is to focus less on the reading on the scale, because I could still be a low weight and be 'skinny fat'. Now I concentrate on making my body stronger and physically fitter by eating clean and weights training. So to you, I say if you're not happy then don't settle because everyone around you says you should. It's not like they have to live in your body at the end of the day.

    Congrats on your weight loss!
  • mommab23k
    mommab23k Posts: 35
    I know I shouldn't let others be the judge of how I feel about myself, it's something I'll have to work on. I was made fun of a lot in school so I "take things to heart" so to speak when someone says something about me.

    Right there with you, understand completely. Have been "chubby" pretty much from 3rd grade through college. Lost weight when I got married, gained a TON with pregnancies, didn't lose it all and it accumulated. I was made fun of a LOT, for all sorts of things, weight was only one of them. I understand about letting people's words go to heart and it hurts. I understand how people's words make you think less of yourself.

    If the "fitness expert" didn't recommend losing an additional 30 pds past your "goal weight", do you think you'd be happy with where you were at? If they didn't point out what still needed "tightening, toning, sculpting, etc" when working out, would you notice it as much? Think about it. If you honestly think you'd still have issues w/your body and want to continue on, then do so. As long as you are doing it safely and you make a reasonable goal for yourself. If you think their "suggestions" are coloring your self judgement of youself, then maybe you need to rethink it and be more accepting of where you are at or where you will be when those last few pounds come off and you hit your original goal weight.

    I am working on not letting what others say hurt me like it did for so long. What others say, good or bad, right or wrong, is just what they say. It doesn't mean that you have to feel what they think.

Categories