I was thinking of buying one of those balance thingies that you stand on (not sure what they are called) or one of those big plastic balls you can sit on and do exercises on. But then I thought I would pop them because I was so huge. Then I realized that I'm not so huge anymore and would probably do just fine on it.

I was worrying because I have to travel on business this coming week and I had to take a Southwest flight. I worry that I will be kicked off the flight or be forced to buy two seats because of SW's anti-fat policies. I also worried about making sure unpack my belt extender. But now I realize that I no longer need an extender, and I probably won't even e noticed for my size when I get on board.

I'm doing an icebreaker for a team session in a couple of weeks where it would be a contest. My boss suggested that I go to Foot Locker and buy a referee shirt to make it funny. My first thought was that it was stupid. My second thought s that there probably isn't a shirt that would fit e because I'm so big. Then I realized that I can wear a men's XL now and am close to a men's large.

I am still in the mindset that I am enormous. While I am not yet "normal" weight, I'm not the same size I once was, yet I have a hard time remembering that.

Is anybody lse still adjusting their mindset?

I am right there with you. My body image is so distorted that I think that I'm bigger than I was even at my highest weight! When I look in the mirror, I see all the weight I need to lose; not the weight that I've lost.

I specifically do not fly southwest because I don't like how they treat some of their overweight passengers. Asking someone to wear an extender is fine - degrading them in front of other people is not.

I just flew on Delta about a month ago at 204 and had more than enough room in my seat belt, so I'm sure you'll be fine. I didn't need an extender at 281 either, but it was pretty dang snug.

I literally was just thinking about this too... Glad its not just me...

Since losing half of my body weight (300-150) I have serious problems with this. Bought a skirt in a size 4-6 (I was a 26) still feels weird after being at this size for a year. Be kind to yourself, major life adjustment really needs some time.

You're not alone trust me! Today I was talking to my mum. The one thing you have to understand is that my mum lost a whole load of weight, regained it, then lost it again and she has successfully kept it off for 5 years. It sounds weird but my ideal is my mums figure (not so strange perhaps as we have the exact same, build, height, physique etc) today she said "I think you're now smaller than me" AND I DIDN'T BELIEVE HER! I don't know why, as she's very honest, brutally honest you might say, she's definitely not afraid of offending or causing a scene (out of love obviously, she's been nothing but supportive and helpful of my weight loss.)

I know that I'm not smaller than her if the scale is anything to go by, but after thinking about it, I do A LOT of exercise, so much so, that many people comment on how slim and toned I look. despite all the comments, I don't believe them, thats how screwed my body image is at the moment. I still think I'm the same size as your average hippo, even though common sense tells me I'm not. I think it takes time, and the amount of time it takes is different for everyone. Maybe, for me that'll happen when I'm at my ultimate goal of 160lbs. Who knows.

Oh yes! My body image is very odd. Some days I feel like I look really great, maybe not entire days, but parts of the day. Then I'll catch a glimpse of myself and feel terrible and think I look exactly the same as I used to. Then some days I feel awful and huge and then see myself in the mirror and barely recognize myself. I don't think I ever truly see myself for the way I am. I hope one day I will. But then again, when I was bigger I didn't know I was as big as I was. I knew I was obese, and looked fat, and I dressed in very baggy clothes to cover myself; but when I see pictures of back then I am in horror of how big I actually was.

I don't really understand exactly how that works -- how does one not really see oneself the way they really are; whether that be bigger or smaller than reality. It fascinates me (and frustrates me).

My DH says I do this too -- still think of myself as larger than I am. I know that I still hesitate & wonder if I can sit on certain things (chairs, etc) like the opening post. It may be becuz I know that I still have lots of weight to lose yet, but I know it will take time for me to adjust to the smaller & lighter me ...


ISOBEL ~ now, you see -- that comment is very telling. How you saw yourself before and how you still see yourself now. This is sad really; that we compare ourselves to animals that we don't really look like at all. My goodness, you are such a pretty young lady! It is possible that your exercising has toned you up so much that you do look trimmer than your mother (so believe her).

Like LockItUp said, I never saw myself as being as big as I was, and that inability to see myself continues now. I just posted then and now pics over in the mini goal thread and looking at myself from a year ago is a bit horrifying.

I still feel like me, only lighter - not necessarily smaller, if that makes any sense. A couple of months ago, I was at my brother's house and it was chilly, so my sister in law gave me a jacket and I thought - no way this will fit me, she's a normal-sized person! But it did fit. I occasionally ask my young, slim co-workers to stand next to me at the bathroom sinks so I can compare myself to them. Luckily for me, they're very nice and don't roll their eyes at me!

I think the passing of time will help, but I think a lot of us are going to have ongoing trouble with this.

I know the feeling...I haven't lost nearly as much as most people having this issue (I'm only just over 25 lbs so far), but I think my body image to start may have been worse than a lot of people's. Everyone in my family was big growing up, but my parents always picked on me about it more (even though I was smaller than my brother) and told me that I'd be 400 lbs in no time if I didn't "cut it out." Mind you the "it" that I was supposed to be cutting was eating the same things and amounts as everyone else while being the only one in the house with active hobbies like softball and basketball. I've been cheated on in 5 out of my 8 relationships and while questioning where I'd gone wrong, inevitably the thing that I would come upon was how fat and unattractive I am.

At my highest I was a little over 200 lbs...not massive, but I certainly felt that way. I have extremely wide shoulders after years of competitive swimming, so every time I tried to buy shirts, I'd need to get them 3-4 sizes larger than my pants...the first time I had to buy a shirt in the plus section, I think that cemented the image of me being a narwhal firmly in my mind.

It blows my mind that I'm 30 lbs less than 200 now, and I still see girls in the 230-250 range losing fast and get disappointed in myself for not keeping up with them. While I was never even actually that close to 250 (I think the highest number I saw was 207 on an badly calibrated scale that was usually 3-5 lbs high), somehow I have the image that it's not that far off from me even though it's actually 80 lbs away.

I'm slowly recognizing my size, but I'm not quite there yet (nor do I ever expect to be).

I went clothes shopping today and just like any other time I go, I always worry that when I go to the dressing room or when I go to the register that the clerks will think: "wtf is she doing with a size 0?"

I can pick out my size for the most part...ok, that's not true entirely. I grabbed a size 0 in the clearance rack that I totally expected NOT to fit in a million years because it looked so small and it wound up fitting nicely.

That was utterly profound.

I'm struggling with this big time, right now.

I keep buying clothes that are too big, because I can't wrap my head around my actual size. I feel like I'm cheating somehow. I don't know how else to explain it. The person I see in the mirror, and my clothing size don't match....

I wish what I see would catch up. It's playing games with my head lately .

This is me too! Last time I went shopping, I couldn't find a size I wanted to try on the rack and so the sales assistant asked what size I needed and I was embarrassed to say, in case they burst out laughing and said "YOU??? A size X????"

I have moments when I feel smaller. Like when I see myself in pictures, but in the mirror, I always think I look like I have a long way to go. The funny thing is at my heaviest it was the reverse and I was less picky about things like how my stomach looked or my thighs... I didn't really notice. I do now though, unfortunately. Hopefully my mind catches up soon. It's not fun.

I had exactly this problem yesterday. I was ordering some clothes online, and had put a bunch of UK size 16s in my basket. Then I thought, "I'll just check the size charts in case I need an 18...", only to find I needed a size 10. I got my hubby to check because I didn't belive it. I am 30 or so pounds lighter, so why I think I am still the same size as I was when I stared loosing I have no idea.

It concerns me slightly that my body image is this warped. I wonder of folks who have always been healthy weight have a similar problem?