Hello,

Have any of you noticed that losing weight is seriously messing with your head??

I have lost between 50 and 60 pounds and I swear that I feel bigger now then I did then. I think it might be because people are constantly commenting on how I look in turn making me more self conscious then before.

I have never had a very good idea of what I look like, and now it seems to be even more distorted...

Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with this....

thanks

shannon

I don't know exactly... unfortunately. Perhaps keeping a set of before & after photos with you and looking at them when you're feeling like this would help? So that you can see that you are *not* bigger than before (pictures are very good at not lying and at throwing the raw truth in our faces!).

Somehow, it may be like when we're at our highest, we're often sort of in denial regarding our weight and body (avoiding mirrors, avoiding the scales... that kind of things), and once we start doing what it takes, we get more in touch with it and notice it more, hence maybe what makes us feel huge. I'm not sure if it's a right explanation though.

gosh. i feel exactly the same way. logically i know i am smaller, but i feel bigger. and think i have so far to go still. for me, i think its that i never looked in the mirror before and wasn't in touch with my body at all. i was in denial. now i look in the mirror more, i have to try on clothes etc. i know it makes no sense..and that it's messing with my head, but it sure sucks.

i don't have many answers, but sometimes i put on my old pair of jeans. and laugh at how ridiculous i am being. old pictures help sometimes too.

i think i'm expecting to be perfect all of a sudden or something. weird. i just want to feel good about my body already. is that too much to ask? huh? is it? haha

I agree with both of you...

funny enough I have no after pictures...I have been sick for about 8 months and have never really been all that interested in being in photos...I think because the beginning of my weight loss "journey" wasn't by choice, it is weird for me to say that I have lost weight. Kind of like I cheated..I have in the past tried to lose weight and been unsuccessful...this time Im concentating on being healthy and happy...

I do put on old clothes sometimes...that's when I can look down and say to myself..okay so these pants are falling off of me when I walk, obviously I am not a size 24 anymore..

thanks again ladies I really appreciate

Im going to a family bbq today..and will take a picture.. (good suggestion)

shannon

I have to second (or third!) the pix.. it REALLY helps.. I still feel freaking HUGE.. and am still very fat.. but the pix made me recognize how far I have come.. do it and post them if you would?
Shannon.. enjoy that BBQ.. yum...

I recently created a split photo where I took a photo of myself at 300 pounds and myself at 195 and wow could I see the difference.

I have been having a lot of trouble when I look in the mirror because I still picture myself at 300 pounds and then I am shocked because I am so much smaller. I posted this a while ago and the best responce is that your mind has trouble dealing with dramatic changes like weight loss and it just takes time.

Good job at your weight loss so far!

I have problems with the picture thing.... You guys have lost way more weight than I have but I still think 20 pounds would be a noticable amount. Everyone I see is like "wow you have lost soo much weight" But I just don't see it... I can see it sometimes in the mirror, but when I look at my before and during pictures, I don't see much of a change at all... I have thought about posting my pics on here just to see if someone I don't know can see a difference, but I just don't know how I feel about you guys seeing me in my underwear lol!

It's the craziest thing..this whole process...

From what I can tell posting pictures is a big thing on here...like I said earlier I will be taking pics at my families bbq..I already warned my sister that I'll be modeling for most of the evening..got to love that digital camera...

20lbs is amazing...heck.even 1lbs is 1 less then it was before...

there will however never ever be any before, during or after shots of me sans clothing....besides at this point even most of my undies are getting too big..and no one should have to see that...

I was just thinking about this self image distortion issues today. I have lost about 15 lbs. and 4 pant sizes in a little over a month, so it is sometimes hard to absorb.

My thoughts/emotions are all over the board now. It seems like I am going through constant ups and downs.

Shopping is so strange. I still head straight for the plus sizes.
I get excited when I have to change gears and head to juniors.
Then, I am sad at how big my new "skinny" size looks next to that size 4.

It amazes me that one moment I will catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror and say 'Hey! That's me! I look great!" and do the butt look. (We all know the butt look.)
Yet, the next time I see a mirror, all I can see is my chubby belly.

Has anyone else been feeling the same way? It's almost like bi-polar body image?!!

~Erica

that is how I feel exactly...

One mintue I can look at myself and be like...wow, you look good. 10 mins later I can look and see flabby arms and cankles...

I think what surprises me the most is I was quite confident when I was bigger..( I was a 24 now I am an 18) I dressed how I wanted to, and was only concerned with how I felt...Now I find myself sometimes wondering what others will think...

bi-polar body image issues is a spot on way to describe what happens..

I think we just have to stay in the moment and be positive...congratulate ourselves on where we are in our journeys...always easier said than done

and keep trucking..I was a perfectly happy 24 and I refuse to be an unahppy size 18...

shannon

Yep, I deffinitly know where you're coming from... when I get like this I often wonder if I will ever be satisfied which is really quite depressing. I think it's important to just keep reminding ourselves that what we are doing is awesome and it takes great courage and drive to lose weight and become healthy. Healthy is the key word, it's not all about how we look it's about our health too... what we are doing is a great thing and we shouldn't be so negative about it. But I really do know how hard that can be sometimes.

Um, seriously, are you in my head?!?!

I could have written literally every single word of that post, from not wanting the internet to see me in my underwear to not seeing a big difference when I look at pics to people telling me I've lost so much weight, to losing 20 pounds. Geesh!

I, personally, do feel smaller. But when I look in the mirror, I don't see all the weight I've lost - I still see a fat person. Apparently, this isn't healthy. So I'm working on it! And it's coming off slowly, so I'm used to my body - which could also be why I'm seeing a fat chick in the mirror - I still have about 20 pounds to lose.