I was looking back at some photos of myself at my highest ever weight of 230 lbs and noticed something.

My hair was usually straightened (I have naturally curly hair), I had makeup on, my outfits were meticulously picked out, I carried a nice handbag, and even painted my nails-I put a lot more effort into my looks then than I ever do now.

Maybe it is because I am a full time college student, who works, makes time to workout, and on top of that I am a calorie counter (so every meal is planned and measured out), but I don't put forth a lot of effort in my looks- I simply don't spend time on my looks anymore.
Or maybe it is because I felt so self-councsiouse about myself and my weight (not that I don't now) that I felt I had to compensate for it in other ways by trying to make myself feel better with makeup, expensive handbags, and brand name clothes.


Either way today I am lucky if I get time to brush my hair. Don't get me wrong, I am not a slob, but I certainly do not spend time each night picking out my outfit for the next day. Hahah I never wear a full face of makeup, or ever paint my nails (this probably has to due with the fact that I am going to school to be in the medical field and for practicums and labs we can't have heavy makeup or any nail polish of any kind). I don't feel bad or bitter about it at all, I just spend less time now on my looks than I did before my weight loss journey.

Anybody else notice this about themselves or maybe even the opposite where you spend more time on your looks now than before your weight loss journey?

Wow! I am almost exactly like you! I started losing weight while I was a freshman in college, but was overweight all through high school and middle school, well I guess any time after going through puberty times :P For me I noticed I straightened my hair a lot, wore more makeup, and things like that. I think it is because I felt I did not have a nice body and those things would distract from that or make me look better despite not being truly pretty, which is kind of sad :\

Now, I hardly wear makeup or tight clothes or fix my hair. But I think I am more comfortable in my own skin and with my own flaws and am not trying to fix them or think constantly "if only I were thin I'd be perfect." because that is definitely not true ^^ I like being in workout clothes half the time and planning my day around meals and workout. Well I don't LIKE it, but I sure as heck like it more than being fat and unhappy!


Sometimes it's nice to go through your clothes and try them all on and see how they look on your " new" body. I also like to occasionally set a date of something special to do or just dress up for no occasion and do my makeup pretty and take time, etc. Then I feel like I am putting myself together to feel even better about myself and as a special treat, not just that I have to "fix" myself everyday to be good enough. Sometimes that's a nice thing to look forward to. Maybe it's just me though :P

I think it's definitely great that you've done some self-searching though to get to this realization! Kudos!

I think everyone thinks about how they look more in middle school and high school than they do later.

and maybe you were compensating for the fact that you were overweight and now you don't feel the need.

It sounds like we do have similar stories! (:
Yeah, I never wear makeup or tight clothes or any sort of things like that anymore. I really know what you mean about how you thought straightening your hair and putting on makeup would almost "distract" people form noticing what you were insecure about. When I wore nice clothes, and makeup and all that It's like I thought people would be like "oh she's not that fat, and besides, look at her nice jeans and her hair looks nice". I thought it would hide the fact that I was obese.

I love trying on my old clothes (size 18 jeans, old coats and stuff) and thinking wow, I couldn't wear these today they fall off, or this coat is huge it used to be tight! Talk about motivation!
I completely agree spending time in workout clothes and planning all my meals is way better than being fat and hating myself!

I totally know what you mean about setting a special day aside to maybe fix yourself up for reason, it's fun to do and definitely something to look forward to! It's definitely not just you!

Thank you, I have done some self research and I realize just how bad I felt about myself back then and mostly how much I was in denial about it. I was so materialistic back then (which is so not me) and now I realize why, because I needed materialistic things to hide behind.

For me it's been the other way around, in a way...

Before starting to lose weight this time, I really didn't care. I think I felt like "I'll look awful anyway, so what's the point?"... Until i felt more like I had to make myself look better while waiting to look really great! lol.

So I never ever wear sweats outside the house unless I'm going to the gym, I always make sure my hair looks clean and tidy, and I usually wear make-up when I go out. If I feel like I'm looking shabby in public now, I get very uncomfortable. So I want to avoid that.

I think that's it, I felt the need to compensate for being overweight. I still am obese but I am more at terms about it. I think because I am doing something about it; it always helps.

I wasn't too overweight in high school about 140, I did three sports a year (fall, winter, spring) and was far more active. And I never wore makeup or anything like that. I didn't care about brand names or anything. But after I graduated in 2007 the sports ended and the weight started packing on, especially my freshman year of college-for me it was more like freshman 40! So about 2 years ago at my highest weight was when I started caring more about brand names and designer bags, materialistic things. I was for sure compensating.

This is awesome! I am so happy that you don't feel like you look aweful anyway, so what's the point, because that is definitly not the truth!

I have friends that have lost weight and are more like you where they started wearing a little bit more makeup and getting their hair done and all of that fun stuff!

This is how I felt too. I didn't care what I looked like because everything looked bad on me anyway. I didn't own cute clothes because nothing fit. Since I got under 200, though, I've finally found a couple of things that I think look good on me, just in case I have a date or need to dress up for something. But even then, about half the time I'll get partway dressed and get discouraged. I'll hate how I look and think, "What's the point?".