I knew (remembered) what I'd look like -- and right now, close to goal, I pretty much look like I expected.
Despite this, some things are still a little bit of a shock.
Like -- the other day I was at the dmv for a new license, and they had to do a new picture, too (good thing, as it shows me at least 109 lbs higher). The woman who did my paperwork and snapped the picture exclaimed over my apparent weight loss (she was very sweet) and motioned me over to see what she called my "before and afters." I then saw the old license photo of my face alongside the new one. To me, neither photo looked like me! One looked overfat to me, and the other looked sunken. I think of myself as somewhere in the middle? I told this to my husband, who assured me that my face looks normal.
I literally think about this ALL THE TIME! I have no idea what to expect, so it's hard to say what I'll look like, but I am constantly pondering (and maybe hoping and wishing a bit too?)
I have a decent frame of reference from about 7 years ago when I was a normal teen (overweight, but still very healthy and attractive) and I just imagine myself like that. I figure I will have saggy skin and my body will be different thanks to having children, but I still think I'll look great. I see so many changes already, from my highest weight, that I know whatever I look like will just be a bigger improvement on where I am now.
It is thinking about those changes that I find really exciting and motivating. I lose weight regardless, but being young and hot is a definite upside in my mind
I have some pictures from when I was in the 140's range: but I was much younger, then. I've no idea what this body will look like.
But I bet it will FEEL FANTASTIC!
I was lying in bed this morning thinking how great it will be to wake up on a day when I have a lot of housework to do (a day like today) and not even give it a thought--instead of dreading it (as I did today).
oh gosh i always wonder and part of why i am losing weight is to put away my curiousity so i can find out for myself by shedding weight this journey will take forever but i am trying to take steps each day to create a new me so i can see how i will look like in the next year
I really don't know, the least I've weighed since I was 18 was maybe 180. Body-wise I will look much better at 180 now than I did when I was a teenager, because I have much bigger boobs and a much smaller waist. Face-wise I think I will also look better because in my teens I still had some babyfat on my face which with age has gone. One of the GREAT things about this weightloss journey is when my dimples re-appeared, around 275 or so. They are very apparent now. I had them until I was about 7-8 then they disappeared into all the fat and never really came back until 2003 when I lost over 100 lbs, and then again recently.
I don't know, it's a fun journey and I can't wait to see. Two new things that showed up recently were prominent hip bones and RIBS. Wow, and at this weight. Weird. Nice, but weird.
It is amazing how fat distorts ones face. Amazing. Even the eyes change. I have had numerous people that I know walk right past me, that's how unrecognizable I was to them, having lost the weight.
I think I do look similar to how I was when I was younger. Only "more mature". And I'm perfectly fine with it. I actually love how I turned out. I feel like I was hidden under the fat for so long and I finally emerged - and there I was. ME. I still do a double take sometimes when I catch a glance of me, because I can't believe that I look like I do. Yup, despite those very common "commas" on the sides of my mouth, and some pretty deep wrinkles on my forehead that most likely wouldn't have been there had I never been super morbidly obese, , I'm quite pleased with the results. Quite.
I was normal weight in my teens and slim in my mid-twenties, but I've been at my present weight or higher since my first pregnancy (my oldest is eighteen)...
I imagine myself looking just like I look now, with all the bulges and rolls, only smaller. I guess it's kind of irrational...
I had an unbelievably horrible self-image when I was young, and I thought I was hideously fat and ugly even though I wasn't...
Objectively speaking, I'm not unattractive, but I don't have a terrific image of my own looks.
Although, I just remembered something... the other day I went out with a belt and my shirt tucked in, with a blazer over it-- the first time I've tucked in a shirt in YEARS!!!! My daughter told me that it wasn't a terrific look for me (she's thirteen, and not always tactful...) but she also happened to take a picture of me wearing the outfit.
When I saw it, I was SO SURPRISED. There I was looking very AVERAGE... I mean, I looked heavyset, but nothing like the images I'm carrying around in my head. I had a waist, my clothes fit... I looked like a middle-aged lady carrying a little extra weight. I did not look like the great white whale.
Ooooh dimples. I know I have some there, and they flash through sometimes. Can't wait to see them much more.
I guess in high school...I didn't weigh myself, but I was around... 175 or so? I do look at the picture and think I'm pretty cute. Just imagine 50 more pounds past that....I need to find it again and post it up in my room.
Glad to see Im not the only one It's constantly on my thoughts now. It does keep me going...even if it utterly scares me too. Guess I'm used to the "me" I am now, even if I don't like the way I look.
I did have a little bit of a surprise recently. I was out hiking with a friend. While he was off taking pictures of water striders, I decided to take self portraits. I ended up taking like 50 of them...and some of them didn't look like me. I hit the right angle where the chin, etc, didn't show the pudge and I looked...skinnier. It was fun
Now I just need my ticker - just 4 more days or so...anxious
Last edited by Tibouchina; 10-12-2009 at 08:27 PM.
I really wonder what I will look like, too. It's kind of like being this sculptor, you have a vague idea of the result, but none of the specifics. Plus, I'm sure no matter what I look like I'll feel like a work of art (with the emphasis on WORK )
I LOVE the fact that I have found an hourglass figure - one that is fit and strong and ready to carry me into the next 50 years of my life.
And, I chose to wear my new-found wrinkles and saggy-baggy skin with pride -as a badge of honor. People keep telling me how much younger I look now, but I still see ALL of the wrinkles that I never had when they were filled with fat. Gotta tell ya though - I wouldn't go back for anything - I'm loving the new "me".
I LOVE the fact that I have found an hourglass figure - one that is fit and strong and ready to carry me into the next 50 years of my life.
And, I chose to wear my new-found wrinkles and saggy-baggy skin with pride -as a badge of honor. People keep telling me how much younger I look now, but I still see ALL of the wrinkles that I never had when they were filled with fat. Gotta tell ya though - I wouldn't go back for anything - I'm loving the new "me".
This is great! I love the concept of a badge of honor... it's like when people embrace their stretch marks from pregnancies as symbols of strength.
Being, er, ahem, not such a spring chicken anymore, I did look at a new picture of my face today and notice both how much thinner it was and how many new wrinkles I seem to have... sigh... I'm going to definitely embrace the badge of honor concept.
I literally think about this ALL THE TIME! I have no idea what to expect, so it's hard to say what I'll look like, but I am constantly pondering (and maybe hoping and wishing a bit too?)
(with the emphasis on WORK 
)
