I've been taking pictures of myself, recording my weight loss, and so far it's been the most useful tool I've been using to track my weight loss. That's because (unedited) pictures don't lie, the progress is consistent and shows things that a number on the scale or even measurements don't show. The scale is fickle and doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle, it's very easy to take measurements incorrectly and clothes fit differently everywhere you go. Above all, the smaller you get the more you get used to that, and you forget that you used to be bigger. Also it takes more guts to take pictures of your body, you have to be completely accepting of the reality of your situation in order to take photos and record your progress.

When I look at photos of myself, I think "yeah I'm fat but I'm not as fat as I imagine myself to be". I just think of myself as being way bigger than I am. It makes me kind of sad, because no matter how many pictures I take, I still imagine myself to be extremely huge (bigger than I am anyway). I compare myself to people who are 300+ lbs. I feel like even if I get below 200, even if I become 150, I'll still feel this way to an extent. I'll always feel very, very fat.

I know exactly what you mean, but I promise you...its something that will start to fade...

I posted this in a thread earlier today...

"Thanks for the support everyone! It definitely does feel amazing...and I feel like I'm seeing all these differences too...

Today I noticed a bone on the outer part of my wrist that I can't ever remember sticking out as prominently as it does now before.

The other day I was rubbing lotion on my arms and I noticed that I can feel the bone in my arm now....before my arms were too squishy and I could barely even tell there was a bone there.

I can feel my hip bones now...before I had to push down and dig around to even find them...and now I can feel them, even when I'm standing up.

I can see my collar bones again...and my cheek bones are starting to show.

It's just really crazy...it's like all the sudden I'm starting to not see the fat girl anymore. I mean, when I take off my clothes I still have MAJOR self confidence issues, but if I focus on what I look like now with clothes ON, I feel SO MUCH better!

I'm definitely finding the motivation that I need to keep going, JUST by looking in the mirror =D "


and that's all stuff that I NEVER thought I would say. I used to feel exactly like you...sometimes I still do. I go to the mall with my bf and point to a girl and say "I'm bigger then her, right?" and he's always like "are you insane? you're half her size"....and I think part of it is that we're always harder on ourselves then anyone else...and of course our image of the "average" sized girl is warped by the media...anyways I'm getting OT...

What I'm trying to say is that perception is something that will eventually change. Of course we're all going to have "fat days" where we just feel like what we're doing has no affect...where we can't see a difference....but then you'll have one of those days where you notice a bone you didn't know you had before...or a roll you used to have disappeared...and it makes everything worth it.

Just keep at it, you'll see the changes in no time.

Arumaru....I am STILL like this sometimes... I call it being "mentally fat" like once you've been fat a part of you will always be "mentally fat".

I have skinny jeans that took me MONTHS to wear...and I still feel a little uncomfortable in. One day a girl at work said to me " my goodness you look so tiny in that outfit"..and here I was feeling so HUGE. It was a strange feeling.

Sometimes I just have to tell myself to "SHUT UP" lol and look at some before/after pics of myself.

I also feel fat often.

Yes, yes, yes...I think I'm much larger than I really am. I look in the mirror and I still see myself at 300 lbs, not me at 200 lbs.

I went shopping the other day (first time I bought new clothes in months) and all the clothes I picked-out to try on were sooooo much bigger than my actual size. I kept choosing larger sizes because I honestly thought the sizes were off, clothes in my current size (14/16) looked too freakin' small. I still see myself as a 24W, it was a shock buying workout pants in a large.

After that little surprise, I decided to start taking progress pictures. Without those pics, I'd have no idea what I truly look like. What I see in the mirror and in the pictures are so different. I honestly was SHOCKED when I compared my before/current pictures. I thought I was a lot larger (I'm still heavy, just not as bad as I imagined).

I do hope these issues eventually go away, because I have no idea what I'll be thinking when I reach my goal, lol.

Whenever I look in the mirror, I always see the same thing. I always feel the same size, whether I'm a size 10 (my current size) or a size 2 (size I was in high school) or, well, whatever the size I was when I was pregnant...a large in maternity pants. I always thought I would get over it, but apparently not.

I definitely still feel like a larger person most of the time. I have days where I look in the mirror and can see a difference, but most days I still feel bigger. Lately, more people have been telling me that I look slimmer, so I'm kinda starting to believe it. It's even been to the extent that I've bought clothing too big (that I actually tried on) and I get home and realize this is too big for me. I think it's a slow process, but soon enough the mental part will catch up. Pictures do help a lot, and I go back to mine when I feel I haven't made any progress.

The only time I can tell that I've lost is when I put on my clothes. Like today I had a button down shirt on that was swimming on me and last year I couldn't even button past the 3rd button and it bulged everywhere. Otherwise its very hard for me to tell, but its always been like that. I remember being 145 lbs and thinking GOD I'M SO FAT when really, not so much.

I live in a city, and I do this thing when I'm on the train and I ALWAYYYYYYYYYS try to find someone that I think would have the same measurements as me, or has the body that I think I will have when I'm at goal. Or who wears the same size pants as I do.

I feel like it's totally weird and semi-obsessive....does anyone else do this?

I actually often picture myself smaller than I am (although I'm getting closer to the size I picture myself now, it was way off at my highest weight). I think I always picture myself the way I looked around a size 18. At my largest I was a size 24. It almost seems more depressing that way because I look at pictures and am shocked at how big I am!

And yes, artsnsmarts, I do that too.

I am a loose 16/slightly tight 14, which isn't great, but it isn't awful but in my head, I am this huge beast which I KNOW isn't true, but I always picture myself as enormous. Which is weird, considering that 14 is the average for an American woman. I am getting closer!

I think I'm opposite too. I usually think of myself smaller than I am and then I see a picture and think..."whoa! i'm fat!" I really need to do progress pictures. I can never remember and now it's too late to go into the bedroom and get out the necessary clothes because my hubby is asleep and I don't want to hear him fussing when I wake him up...haha!

Eh, it depends on the day for me. Some days I feel much larger than I am. Others much smaller. Both are terrible. I wish I could just find a happy medium

I definitely think I must perceive myself differently from what I am, as some days I feel quite thin and others I feel bloated and fat and gross, and I'm sure there's not actually that much difference between how I look or how much I weigh.

I think it does take a while to realise that you're smaller than you were. Like sometimes now people make comments about me being small, and I just don't conceptualise myself like that, as I've always been big. Sometimes even in photos I don't notice that much difference, but things like clothes that I've had to get rid of because they now just don't fit me, or that my watch is really loose on my wrist when it never used to be are the biggest indicators to me that I am smaller than I was before.
I worry that maybe I'll never truly think of myself as thin unless I get the flat stomach I've always wanted, and I don't know if that's achievable or not.

I guess that just like losing weight, it's a long process to mentally, emotionally, spiritually coming to terms with losing weight. Maybe it just takes a while for your brain to catch up with your body.

Arts - I do that ALL THE TIME.