I've been on my diet journey for over two years. At my peak I was 200 pounds. At my lowest I was 148 lbs. Now I'm at 170. For most of last year I was at 160-150. The thing is, at my current weight I often feel thinner than I did at 148 lbs. I realize I'm not smaller-my pants are larger and tighter. My shirts are tighter. But in my mind, I'm smaller. It makes no sense!

And then I'll have these moments where I look in the mirror and I'm like darn, I am way bigger than I think I am! And then I get upset about it....

Has anyone else experienced something like this before? I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing yet....

Oh I totally get ya hun! I guess its a relativity thing. When I was at my biggest I was 260lbs. In high school I was about 160-180 and I feel better about myself now. I guess its also relative to everything else thats going on in your life, how old you are etc etc.

In short yes! I feel better and more confident that I did during my first weight gain where I topped at 175lbs.

I still remember the feeling in grade 12 when I went from 175 to 135 and I still felt so unsure of myself. I did not like wearing swimsuits, rarely wore shorts, and was quite hard on myself. In contrast, when I was in Australia, I was at my heaviest and I did not let that stop me from wearing a swimsuit at the beach.

There are times when I see a recent picture of myself and I realize, although I feel good, and my strength is improving, I still have a journey ahead of me to be healthy.

But I think its important to retain the positive. You feel great, that is awesome!!! Channel that energy and keep moving towards your goals - weight loss and otherwise.

And remember, people see you as you see yourself.

I'm pretty much exactly the same height and weight as you are now and I like my shape - I don't love it, but it's fine! There are things about my figure that I don't like (specific body parts that feel flabby or chunky), but on good days, I think I look decent. I want to lose more weight mainly for health reasons, and sure, I think I'll look a bit better when I'm not technically "overweight", but that's no reason to not be content with what I am now. Sure, I also have days where I think I look really heavy and unattractive too, but I think I can identify that as times when I'm being really picky and quite self-absorbed, like when I'm analysing how I look when I put something on in a changing room.

I definitely think that what you describe is a good thing! It shows that your happiness and confidence with yourself is not really tied to the number on the scale. It's so much nicer and more enjoyable to lose weight and become fitter just because you feel like it, not because you think you can't possibly look good until you weigh less.

I feel that way too! I look in the mirror and feel like I'm not even over 200!

Even my friends guess my weight and say "Oh, you're about 180-190 right?"

I think that is the reason I let myself get so big is due the idea that I looked smaller than my actual weight.

But I seriously understand what you mean!

I have the opposite problem.. now that i've lost weight I still can't see myself as smaller even when I look in the mirror or try on pants, I still get the larger size first, then realize I need to get a smaller one. It's very odd.

sometimes I feel bigger then what i am. Like at my smallest i still considered myself bigger.

yet I also seem to have a different problem in I don't think I'm as heavy as what I am. Like sometimes it still shocks me at how big i let myself get....

This is horrible and something I am trying to stop doing, but if I'm out places, I often compare myself to other girls and try to tell if I'm bigger or smaller than them. According to my boyfriend, I'm always way off - it would appear that I think I'm huge, but then I know how much I weigh and I should be massive.
It's stupid, because on the completely opposite side of the scale to that, there are times when I think I'm pretty small. I'm really short, so that could have something to do with it, and I don't look massive...but I know how much I weigh. Sometimes I wonder where all that weight is hiding but I don't wonder for too long - just a look at my thighs and stomach answer that pretty quickly.
I think I may have gone off topic...haha.

I still see myself as bigger than I really am. When I go to the gym or group classes I always feel like I am the biggest one there. Its really weird because my friends say I'm not but I still feel like I am and everyone notices.

Rainbowstripe - I do that tooo!!!! I compare myself to other girls just to see where I fit in the spectrum of things.