I know the "pretty face" compliment may feel like a backhanded one, but it IS a compliment. Not every heavy girl gets told she has a pretty face, so don't assume that people just say that because they don't know how else to compliment a big girl.

I still find it difficult, too, to convince myself I'm "normal" and not "fat". Perhaps it has to do with how long we were "fat" before? I was chubby since the age of 8-9, so the image of "fat" keeps sticking in my mind as being one feature that was always associated to me. If I had been overweight for "only" a couple of years, and reverted back to normal weight after that, I don't know if restoring a healthy self-image would've been easier, or not.

Having been overweight for almost my entire life, it has been a challenge. A lot of great advice here! I too, have struggled with seeing my body for what it really looks like now, as opposed to what it USED to look like. This happened just again yesterday. I needed to buy a nice dress for an upcoming fundraiser and ended up at a bridal shop. A consultant there picked out a dress that I would have never thought to try and it looked fabulous on me. I had on a size six and I was like "It fits perfect!" She came up behind me, grabbed the excess fabric behind my back and was like "No, you actually need a size four." Sure enough, the size four fit like a glove, even though I was convinced it would never zip.

One thing that I will say that has at least helped with the "being convinced I am beautiful" issue: If you haven't tried yoga, I highly recommend it. There is something very grounding that comes with increased body-consciousness. When I focus on what my body can do, and not just what it looks like, I feel particularly good about myself.