We have chatted about the inner fat chick but does anyone "feel" the inner skinny woman trying to come out? Sometimes I imagine her like one of those actresses wearing a fat suit. I feel the skinny woman in this suit and the zipper is stuck. Each pull (pound loss) of the zipper brings the suit down just a little more and she can start to feel a little more free. I picture her lithe and elegant as she moves with grace through a crowd. She has confidence and does not care about what anyone thinks of her body. The only thing that is important is what she thinks. I see her knocking on the fat suits zipper a little more and more each day.

Right now however I think she went out to the market to get some soap to make that zipper start to budge. Hopefully she will be back soon!......

Does anyone else ever imagine her inner skinny woman?

Yes. I've always seen this more as becoming the person I wanted to be rather than leaving behind the person I didn't want to be. I realised quite early on that there was an exercise junkie hiding in there somewhere, and that if I just humoured her she'd do all the hard work for me! I don't necessarily think of her as thin, but I do think of her as fit which seems to be doing the trick.

This is a weird one. My inner skinny woman is also 17 years old. Problem is my outer fat woman is 50! So what happens when I let her out? Does she look horrible? Does she have a great body but an aged looking drawn face because the old woman wasn't meant to be that thin?

Absolutely. She has bright red hair (which I do have), wears sensual clothes, and isn't afraid. Most of all, she isn't afraid. Of anything. Of being who she is, of meeting or being with new people, of any experience. And she's proud of herself.

If you've seen the movie The Wiz, there's a scene very much like you describe. The ugly minions of Evileen, the Wicked Witch of the West, work in her sweatshop. THey're all lumpy, ugly, baggy. Then, once she is dissolved, they dance around for joy. Halfway through the dance, they pause, and you see them reaching up for the zippers of their costumes. Slowly, the lean, lithe, fit dancers emerge from the heavy, ugly costumes, and the dance takes on a much more graceful cast.

It's an inspiration. (Though the rest of the movie leaves a lot to be desired. It's still fun.))

This is how I have been looking at it as well. Everyday I strive a little more to become the woman that I want to be. I try to keep reminding myself if I am about to go on a binge or comtemplating downing a whole gallon of ice cream; "Is this what the thin Charlotte would do?" and the answer is usually "NO". I try to eat and try (hesitantly) to live my life as "the Thin Charlotte" rather than the one with a weight problem.

Great thread! I too have the "skinny" chick inside fighting like **** to get out and live. She is toned, smiling and standing tall. Funny, I tend to feel like her alot (mentally), until I can't zip my pants, see a picture of myself or eat too much.