Did the way you carry yourselve change when you gained/lost weight?
 

Hey Ladies!

I was looking at some pictures of myself today, and as always - I cringe when I see current pictures of myself. I took about 20 pictures of myself today and I had an epiphany - I don't only cringe about the way I look, but also the way I carry myself.

I looked at pictures that were taken 5 years ago, when I weighed 180ish pounds - and it is as if I was a totally different person then.

It is as if I slouch more, and there is something in my body language or the way I carry myself that is just aweful to look at - I thought that "wow, that's not me" - or at least, that is not the image I want to project to the world!

Did the way you carry yourself change when you gained weight?

And more importantly - did it change for the better when you lost the weight again?

I was always obese since I was little, but since I've been losing weight I've of course 1) have more confidence, and don't try to hide as much. But 2) I think since my body has lightened up a bit it's easier to walk with my shoulders back and my head high.

I feel like I used to drag my feet but now I have a bit of a swing to my step. Maybe it's all my latin dance/ zumba/ and belly dance classes that I've taken this past year but I can't help but move my hips a bit more and walk much more lightly. My friends tease me because they say I'm always skipping.

Yeah, I don't have that vaguely apologetic, "just don't look at me" posture anymore. And I don't waddle. My thighs don't brush against each other at the top anymore, wearing out my jeans.

Yoga and especially Pilates class helped me immeasurably. Pilates is an exercise that was conceived for rehabilitating injured dancers. You know how dancers carry themselves? That's the posture the Pilates instructor asks us to draw ourselves up into at the start & end of our class. When I think about it, I can feel the stride of my walk all the way up into my stomach muscles. I never, ever thought of such things before. I was mostly oblivious to my body, never mind thinking of certain sets of muscles.

Yes.

I carried myself like I was sorry to be getting in everyone's way. I looked like a person who didn't care about herself....

In retrospect, most of why I looked so awful had to do with the fact that I didn't look after myself, not so much about how fat I was.

Oh, for sure. I used to try my best to be invisible -- and, surprisingly, given my size, a lot of the time it seemed to work. I usually kept my gaze down, and avoided looking directly at people unless there was a specific reason I needed to. Now I'm all shoulders back, head up, firm confident stride -- no more shuffling along apologetically.

I think I carry myself differently. I'm still somewhat overweight, but I feel a LOT better even with just the 40 pound loss. One of the factors that helped me to finally decide to lose weight was that I was moving so slowly and heavily. I felt matronly and big, and I realized that I was starting to move like an obese person. Huffing and puffing and moving heavy and slow. I hated that feeling. Now I feel more like myself. Like my old self. I still have quite a ways to go, but I feel like I am moving better.

And for years, I thought I hated being tall but once I lost of bunch of weight, I realized that I don't mind being tall; it's being tall and fat that I didn't like. Tall is fine.

Oh, Windchime, I hope that is true for me, too! I hate being tall, but I also think that I actually may only hate being 'big'. Once I lose the weight, I may start liking my height again, as I did when I was 17 years old.

Hmmm... interesting. I have always hated being tall, but if I were tall and slim, who knows? Maybe I would like it?

Speaking from a tall and pretty darn slim perspective? I love being tall now. Losing the weight made all the difference in accepting and embracing my height.

I am so jealous of you tall ladies!!

Back to the original question. I do carry myself differently. I don't waddle. I purposely stride with confidence. I love it.

I don't think I carried myself differently. In fact one of the reasons it didn't really sink in how big I'd actually gotten is my walk and posture didn't change.

I honestly don't think I ever thought about it until I read this thread . . . . I think my stance has changed, I tend to have a relaxed lean with one hand on my hip now, I don't know if that's because Im still fascinated by how small my waist has gotten and I want to show it, or if I just like that I CAN put my hand around my waist, not just on it - if that makes any sense at all LOL

YES. I now walk with a straight back, tight tummy, and boobs out! My posture has improved 900%, probably due to a stronger core, but also due to simple pride. :)

Still working on it because I've still got a ways to go but

On Sunday at the Family Birthday Lunch, I wore a pair of moderate heels and walked like I was a pretty woman, not an apologetic sack

Now that I'm lighter/slimmer, I dare to run to catch the little green crossing man light. When I'm heavier I always think I have a Homer Simpson jiggle....ew.