[Misti in Seattle]

Originally Posted by Scotsgal

Misti

Thank you and good luck with onederland, you are nearly there. You have came a very long way.

Thank you, Scotsgal! Yes, I am still hoping to make it!!!

I have to say that I have a fantastic doctor, and her consistent supervision and encouragement has made all the difference!!!

You are doing great, too. Keep up the good work!

[JaimeLT]

I know this post is older but I completely agree. Photos are real eye openers for me! I found a site called MyBodyGallery and you can pick people who have the same body shape, weight, and even height. For me that was kind of the moment I started realizing, "I look like that. That is nearly my body." It really helps boost you into gear. Nothing is worse than being unaware of how big you truly are and I know because I believe I was in denial for a good portion of my life. I wasn't BIG my sisters were just REALLY skinny.

Now I'm taking responsibility and I hope that this time, I can stick with it!

[Misti in Seattle]

Originally Posted by JaimeLT

I know this post is older but I completely agree. Photos are real eye openers for me! I found a site called MyBodyGallery and you can pick people who have the same body shape, weight, and even height. For me that was kind of the moment I started realizing, "I look like that. That is nearly my body." It really helps boost you into gear. Nothing is worse than being unaware of how big you truly are and I know because I believe I was in denial for a good portion of my life. I wasn't BIG my sisters were just REALLY skinny.

Now I'm taking responsibility and I hope that this time, I can stick with it!

Hi JaimeLT: I agree in taking responsibility and not kidding ourselves that we look smaller than we do... but some of us really DO look like we weight a lot less than we do. My DOCTOR checked over every inch of me and said "You just don't have anywhere else to lose it." The exception being my "gut" where all the excess weight is hanging and which will have to be taken off by surgery, which I am looking into. She estimates that to be around 20 pounds (!!!) which is far more than most people have. The good side to that is that I have almost no loose skin, except a bit on my stomach, which most people have after losing this much weight. That is because my arms, legs and butt have always been skinny. It was ALL boobs (which I have had surgery on), stomach and gut.

We need to take responsibility but we also need to not let the world or those in it convince us we need to be a size 3 when our bodies are built to be much larger than that. American culture tells us we have to be bean poles when some us just are not.

I am aiming for Onederland and know I will be in great shape when I get there, especially as much as I work out.

[Jessi901]

I totally do understand what you are talking about, the problem is that I know girls who are the same weigh as me but look better...

[Scotsgal]

When I told my sister how much I weighed she gasped! It's the usual response

[Misti in Seattle]

Originally Posted by Jessi901

I totally do understand what you are talking about, the problem is that I know girls who are the same weigh as me but look better...

Oh that happens, too, unfortunately

But we are all just different (and of course how much we work out matters too). I have learned not to compare myself to others and become discouraged, or to worry about what others think but just do the best I can and keep going. Not caring what people think gets a lot easier as I get older, though.

[Misti in Seattle]

Originally Posted by Scotsgal

When I told my sister how much I weighed she gasped! It's the usual response

Thats' great!!! Sounds as if you are one of the fortunate ones

[Scotsgal]

Fortunate in some ways, but it means that less people understand just how important it is for me to lose weight. I don't get much support.

[mimsyborogoves]

Body composition is a weird thing. I've been on that website "MyBodyGallery" too. I notice it in myself too, and it really is all about body composition. When I hit 200lbs the first time after losing weight the first time, I was in a LOT better shape than I am now and that's simply because I was exercising. And as I gained all this weight back, when I hit the weights I hit before, I kept thinking, "Man, when I was X weight last time, I don't remember being this fat!" And then I would remember that the last time I was that weight, I was a gym rat, lol. Muscles and fat distribution play a huge part in how we look. And everyone carries their weight differently. I think that's why it's so important for us to not compare ourselves to others simply because although we all have the same body parts, they function differently in everyone. Shoot, if everyone was all the same then weight would never be a problem and we wouldn't have to diet! Wouldn't that be a lovely world? lol

[Scotsgal]

Mimsy a world where we wouldn't need to diet sounds amazing lol.

I tried my body gallery a few years back and came back with no results. Thought I would try it again yesterday and still had no results lol. It won't even let me put in my correct measurements once I put in my weight.

Anyway, I'm not bothered, I know that the amount of muscle I have in my legs and arms weigh a significant amount, so as long as at first I am loosing bad fat, instead of my lean pristine I'm happy lol

[Chunkahlunkah]

I'm in between a pear and hourglass shape. I think that contributes to me looking lower than I actually am. I'm only 4'11" and currently weigh 155. That puts me in the obese category. I've told people I'm obese and they don't believe me. In my avatar pic, I was about 160.

I prefer being 107-117. That's the range where I feel best. I think it's what my body also "likes" to be. I look best and most natural at that weight. When I'm in that range, even at the higher end, people guess my weight as 100.

But since I'm so short, on the BMI scale much lower weights fall into the "normal" category too. They look way too thin on me though. A few years ago, I was eating really clean and regularly doing intense exercise. At the start, I was around 110 and wasn't deliberately trying to lose weight, was just into that kind of lifestyle at the time. I ended up dropping down to 102 as my low. People often commented that I was getting too thin. A few even asked if I had cancer! There I was, the most fit and "healthy" I'd ever been, at a "normal" weight, but looking much thinner than I was to the point that people thought I was sick! Oh, the irony.

So this was a long-winded way of saying that I probably fall into the looks lighter than my actual weight category.

I think it should also be noted that people we see in pictures or film would look thinner in person, as there is truth to the camera adding weight.