Since I've started on my weight loss journey in October, I've been trying to remember what I look like as a "skinny" me. And for the life of me I can't. The lowest adult weight I've been is about 145lbs (freshman year of college), that was over ten years ago! The only weight I can kind of remember is my wedding weight (approx. 170-175lbs), but that was seven years ago. So when I look at all these calculators that tell me for my height I should be between 120-140lbs, in my head I CAN NOT PICTURE IT. I honestly would be thrilled to be back in onederland period, I'd be ecstatic to hit 175, but 140? It's not even on my radar of possibilities!
Does anyone else have a hard time imagining a skinny version of themselves???
Previously, my skinny weight was also early in college (sophmore year, 136 lbs). That was almost a decade and two children ago! I started trying to lose weight in early 2011 right after having my daughter... i was in the 160s and set a goal of 140 wondering if I'd ever make it down that low again! Low and behold, once I got there, I realized that I didn't have the body I wanted yet, so I kept lowering my goal in small increments - First 138, then 135, then 130. I made it to 130, then my husband came home from deployment and life got in the way. My goal is now 125-128.
So what I'm trying to say is, don't be afraid to adjust your goal up OR down, depending on how you feel.
I've never been "skinny". I have no idea what my body will look like. Anything under 198, I'll be in uncharted waters. Pretty excited for what could be.
Edit: lol same as funnycanadiangirl
Last edited by KellinaKatrina; 12-01-2012 at 09:29 PM.
I don't think I've been a normal weight since I was in elementary school, so I'm having a lot of trouble picturing it too. My lowest adult weight prior to starting to diet in June was about 170-180lbs in high school, so even now when I look in the mirror, I see myself as very overweight even though I'm on the cusp of being at a normal BMI.
I got a little pick-me-up yesterday when I grabbed a pair of pants from the bottom of the drawer, not realizing that they were from when I left the US in March...I pulled them up, and they fell right back down without even pausing at my butt for a hello. It took my brain a second to process, then I realized that the pants were probably a good 8'' too big for me, so if I was seeing a fat person in the mirror, it was a much skinnier fat person than I'd been.
Maybe you should dig out some old photos and keep them handy. If that's depressing or still seems too far off, go put on some clothes that you wore in September. 21 lbs in 2 months is kinda ridiculously awesome. If you're panicking over the fact that 140 seems super far away, take a step back and think about the fact that you've lost 20% of the difference between that and your high weight in 2 months. That's amazing. Take it a step at a time and just keep plugging along. You'll get there eventually if you just stick with it.
If you reeeeally want help visualizing it, you might want to go to My Body Gallery . You can plug in the height and weight you're trying to picture along with your body type and it'll show you pictures of different women in that weight range. Of course everyone is different (as you'll notice from looking at the results), but if you want a ballpark idea, that'll show you what some people look like at your goal.
I chose my goal weight based on the fact that it was about 5 lb below the top end of "normal" bmi. It's so hard to get used to new versions of yourself as you are losing. For a long, long time, I still saw myself as the same shape. Even now, if I see rolls or I think my thighs look big, I start thinking that "oh I don't look that different." And then logic kicks in, or I look at pics, or something. It's just strange. When I was losing, I started thinking I looked pretty darn good at about size 18 (I started at 26w). Each size I went down, I had that feeling again. Now when I look at my size 18 or 16 or 14 pics, I see an overweight girl. But when I look at my current (size 8) pics, I see a "normal" girl.
After I started secondary school, I just gained weight as the years went on. My lowest weight was around 127lbs when I was 16. But I hardly remember what I looked like then.
I have never been skinny either, so I have no idea what I'll look/feel like at my goal weight. My lowest adult weight so far was around 200lbs., but that was 7+ years ago when I was around 20. Even as a teenager, I was overweight. I can remember being able to shop in trendy stores when I was around 14, but even then I was in their highest size.
It will definitely be interesting to see what it feels like to carry that much less weight!
I have no idea what I look like at a normal weight. Everything under the high 180s has been new territory for me. Plus it's still hard to see what I actually look like under the massive amount of loose skin I have.
Kind of. I suppose I was skinny in high school although I didn't always feel that way. I can remember sucking in my stomach since like 4th grade though, on the real. So even though I might have been normal weight by society's standards I haven't felt comfortable in my own skin very much.
Man I wish I was as "fat" as I was in high school.
example:
Last edited by valalltogether; 12-02-2012 at 03:24 PM.
I have never been a normal weight as an adult, so no, I don't remember being anywhere near skinny! I am the smallest I have been as an adult right now, but can't wait to get to goal weight and reassess the situation.
I keep looking at all the work all of you have done with your tickers and counters. I'm really impressed. For a while I thought being fat was Karma for all the times I thought or commented on a girl at a size 8 or so as being chubby. At a size 6 I still felt chubby myself. Then I got fat in my early 20's and just kept getting bigger and bigger.
I don't remember what it felt like to be the small weight, because when I was small I didn't think about being small, I just thought about getting smaller. Now I look back at pictures of my at 110-120 and think "Wow, that girl needs a latte and a burger... fast!" I recently spoke with 2 doctors here in the Bay Area who both said that at my height. (5'3", short but not that short) They would feel best with me in the weight ranges of 91-108 pounds. 91!!!! Seriously!!
I decided to shoot for 130. Last time I was 130 I was a "Chubby" size 6. Oh the horror of not being a 0, 2, or 4. Honestly these days 160 sounds amazing! I'm inspired seeing all the work each of you are doing. It doesn't matter if your goal is 100lbs. or 200lbs. Nothing would make me happier than seeing each of you hit your own skinny dream. Every person should know what it's like to look in the mirror and have an overwhelming urge to smile when she looks at herself.
The lowest weight I remember being, when I actually cared, was 160. That was between 13-16 years old and I thought I was terribly, horribly fat! Although, I had a fun time wearing short skirts, high heels and showing off my chest. I enjoyed the attention from boys, and now that I'm much larger, I realize I had much more of it than I'd appreciated at the time. I thought I wasn't good enough because I had 'rolls' on my stomach and it wasn't flat. I hated my bare arms and the fact that my boobs were smaller than most. I hated my larger thighs...
Now I just wish to be under 200! I don't actually think I look bad these days. I have a 'shape', by which I mean my stomach is smaller than my hips. Although my breasts are still small. I'm like the ultimate pear shape.
I do know that at 160 I looked relatively normal and, had I dressed better for my body type, I could've felt very sexy. I was into the goth scene so I wore lots of tiny clothes with ripped/fishnet/weird stockings and huge boots or tall high heels. I didn't really know much about fashion and I suppose I didn't care, as I was full of angst and wanted everyone to know it. I now can dress better for my body type, but I still dream of the day I see 160 again, and then(gasp!) 159.
Although, I do plan on busting out some fishnets, high heels and a slinky dress to match some black eyeshadow when I hit 159! You can take the darkness off the goth, but you can't take the darkness out of the goth...or something like that. ^.^
Though, I'm much less depressed and angsty. I suppose I just grew to love the style and I always imagined I'd grow up to dress professionally at work but go all out with the style in my free time. I just don't do it so often right now, because I feel silly at such a high weight trying to go out in spiked collars and black lipstick. I am much more comfortable keeping attention away from my obesity.
Last edited by thewalrus0; 12-02-2012 at 08:26 PM.
Do you remember being "skinny"???
