Is it normal that as you lose weight to look more ick to yourself than before you started? Like some things on me look better (i.e. my face since my double chin is leaving, my wrists...lol) but for the most part my stomach seems more enormous now (although I know it's not since pants are getting baggy) and I feel like it looks like *sob, tear* cottage cheese... So, I guess I am just wondering if it is typical to become more aware of your size as you lose than it was when I was a constant 300-ish... Also, is it normal for fat to become so much more jello-ish!? It makes me frustrated that deep under all the jelly I can feel muscle!

Oh well...I guess it's kind of a good thing to be aware of my size so I don't let myself EVER go back to laziness and extreme over eating. I just need to be more patient!!! Anyone that read this... Thanks for *listening* to my crazy ranting! Have a good day!

Hi Sarah,
I didn't have a body image at all before I started to lose weight. I just didn't think about it, or pushed the thought out of my mind as soon as it came there. Now that I'm on track I really notice my body. I see both the good and the bad now.

I can tell where weight has come off and where I would like to see more changes. Sometimes I am disgusted with myself for letting me body get so out of control - and it's only now that I'm losing that I can recognize that I was out of control.

I also sometimes feel really "ick" when I try on new clotes. I've dropped a size so I need some new things to fit me. Before I just didn't buy new things. There would be no disappointments if I didn't even try, right? It feels really good to be able to fit in some of the things I like but when things don't fit, it really hits home that I still have quite a ways to go.

I've been noticing that each day feels differently, some good, some bad. But I'm getting more and more good ones now. I guess what I'm trying to say is, yes,I think it's absolutely normal.

~Dee

At least cottage cheese is healthier than a full-fat slab of cheddar!

I'm a lot more wibbly and dimply than I was at 247 but I feel much thinner. I wonder how much is positive thinking because I remember the last time I dropped a significant amount of weight. I felt and acted fatter at 170 than I do now weighing almost 40 pounds more. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm still obese. I just feel better and more positive about myself in general. Believing I was unattractive went way beyond how big I was.

I agree with Dee. I see good things and not so good things about my body, but whereas they used to be almost exclusively bad, now the good things are in the majority.

what kind of exercise routine do you have?
i'm just wondering because before i fell off the wagon about a year ago (THAT is disgusting) i was doing walk away the pounds (using the resistance bands) nearly every day and all i noticed is that i was getting muscles where i didn't know i had muscles.

i've gained all the weight back i lost and now i'm noticing that i look like a bad car wreck (from all the dents i have).

Shedilbry,

Hi there! I just started doing Taebo again on 6/2. I had used it to lose 30+ pounds in 2001 (I was my lowest weight I can remember since before high school then... 230. ) So, that's what I do now again. M-F before work I get up and Taebo. Eventually, I would like to go back to the gym I had joined in 2001. (Having trouble getting the extra $ to join! Grr!) My ultimate goal for exercise is 1 hour cardio M-F and weight training MWF. On weekends, I'm pretty active anyway so I give myself a break from the daily grind of intentional exercise! I know it sucks falling off the wagon and gaining the weight back. (Clearly I gained it all and then went ahead and doubled it from 2001 til now!) At least we're back on the wagon! So yay us! Anyway, thanks for responding to my post. This forum is making my day! Hope yours is great as well!

I have always have had a really skewed body image for as long as I can remember. Weird as it may sound, I was able to overlook my obesity when I looked in the mirror. In other words, I did not see my body for what it really looked like. Only when I saw photographs that it was brought home to me about how large I had become . I think for the past year and a half I had avoided having my picture taken simply because I did not want to face the truth. Now that I have started on my weight loss journey I have now noticed my body more and more. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. It can be discouraging now that I no longer have the blinders on, but also it is exciting noticing the inches come off, and my stamina starting to get better. I find that basically I have to get reaquainted with myself all over again.

Oh my god, you hit it right on the head choclablover, i did the same thing, i avoided cameras for almost 6 years, but it wasn't till i saw my brothers wedding pictures when I had to stop and say to myself "is that really me" i mean damn i knew i was a big girl but not that big. I had always somehow convinced myself that I wasn't THAT big, now that I am on this journey I have really started to see myself inside and out. and somedays I hate myself so much it hurts, but then I just use my mantra "joie de vivre" and I just start all over again. i have found myself lapsing so many times since I have become serious with this but, the difference this time is after awhile I start all over again. i will not let myself get to be that person in the picture again. i have no idea who that was and I don't want to find out.

ChocLabLover:

That is completely what I meant. The distorted body image... I am the same way but I guess I just didn't realize how to put it. The reason I feel like I look worse than before I started is because I didn't see me! As blah as it feels sometimes, I'm glad I can see myself now.

Thanks for helping me understand!

I avoided cameras for ages. Now I'm desperately hunting for all the fat pictures I can, so that I can remind myself of how far I've come. Because I'm still overweight, even if not as badly as I was, it can sometimes be hard to see what's come off - you still focus on the bad things (the rolls of fat that are still there) rather than the good things (the ones that aren't).

I never really realised quite how big I was until I saw how much weight there is still to lose now I'm 60lb down!

here I was thinking it was just me. The fat on my body is so loose now and wobbly, and I really really hate my stomach. I was trying on skirts today and the 16US fit, but you could see the bottom of my tummy and I just felt so annoyed at myself. But hey ho, I get so many nice comments about my shoulders and arms (and I used to hate those too) and a fellow fat chick in the pool the other day came and touched my collar bones (always wondered what collar bones looked like!!!)

Oh and talk about cottage cheese, you should see my thighs, eek!!!!

I laughed so hard at your cottage cheese/cheddar cheese comment Alli!!!!!

I've found that I'm much more critical of how I look now compared to before, (if that's even possible) and for much the same reasons. I don't think I really ever allowed myself to dwell on my appearance more than was absolutely necessary, so it was essentially like wearing blinders. If I don't think about it then I don't have to change it, right? Now, when I allow myself to go there, I find that I'm full of resentment towards the damage I've caused my skin and body and am easily disgusted with myself for what I've done. Of course this is a horrible place to dwell mentally, and I try not to go there as much as possible, as it has the ability to consume me when I allow it. My advice to you is to focus on the positives as much as possible and to work on accepting your body for whatever it will end up being, because that is the only way you will ever be able to find peace with it. And believe me, I know what a challenge this can be, it's something I still struggle with all the time. Just know that you are doing the best possible thing for your body and health, regardless of the "head stuff" that tends to get in the way.

Beverly