I'm in my third week of dieting and exercising. Yesterday morning I really looked at my naked body in a full length mirror for the first time in I don't know how long and I didn't like what a saw. I've obviously been in denial. I felt lower than a snake's belly all day long.

This morning as I washed my face it actually felt smaller. And I noticed in that very same wicked mirror that my clothes looked looser. Now I'm feeling high.

I'm wondering if these crazy rapid mood swings and changing opinions about my body are typical in the beginning of a weight loss program. Has anyone else felt unstable in the beginning?

i get this EVERY DAY> one day i think i look slimmer, then i take a photo and look huge, i dont know what the truth actually is!

I still do (9 months later) :???:

They're typical throughout...in the beginning, in the middle, and if my experience is any judge, for a year or two out.

Your brain is used to your body looking a certain way. When you look at yourself, what you actually see is some combination of the signals received by your eyes (ie, what is actually there) and the parts your brain fills in for you automatically. When you gain or lose weight, those two are in conflict, so you'll see one or the other, or you'll see some hybrid. It takes a long time to adjust.

I completely understand. Everyday its a different feeling for me. Today was terrible for me. I've felt disgusting all day and its so hard to deal with sometimes. Hopefully tomorrow it'll be the opposite but who knows. I know I've made progress but it doesn't even matter on the days I feel like this.

Yup, been there, done that, got the either-way-too-baggy-or-too-tight T-Shirt...

Amanda's explanation makes a lot of sense to me, and I would add that the intense scrutiny we subject our body to does its part, especially if until now we have tried our best *not* to acknowledge the true shape we're in...

...as I wrote in an earlier thread (that fell victim to the Great Crash of '08) that only now, five to six months into this journey, I feel like I'm seeing my body for the first time in years as it really, truly is, and be OK with it. But I fully expect to have "fat" days again - they're like bad hair days .

Trust me, I'm also one of those who experience this phenomenon on a daily basis. One day I think I look great, the next(or sometimes even within a few hours ) I think I look like a disgusting slob. It's insane!

Unfortunately, I have to report that it's been that constant high and low throughout my entire weight loss experience- the whole 5+ months so far. I really think that you have to be very well into maintenance for there to be more stability in your thoughts when looking into that dreaded mirror.

I feel good- until I attempt that size smaller I think I can fit into..only to find out I'm not quite there yet..and then I go back to feeling low..talk about a roller coaster of emotions!