I've lost weight in the past but it was never nearly this much (much lower starting weights). Anyway, because I've lost as much as I've had and I simply have a different body now after having a kid I find that it's like I feel/notice my body more, does that make sense?
For isntance, lately I've noticed how thin my hands feel and that they feel cold ALL THE TIME now, it's crazy! And my stomach has been driving me nuts because the front looks normal but I have a huge belly from the side. It's like I notice every little part of my body that I never paid attention to before. Does anybody else do this? Does it get better over time? Maybe it's just because I'm older now and am more aware of myself?
I have to say that at this weight I still don't notice to much about my body because frankly I am still avoiding mirrors to a certain extent. However I did notice last night when I was on my porch and I saw my reflection in the sliding glass door that when I finally shed all of this weight I am quite happy with my curves. When I was younger I thought they were hideous since everyone I knew was a twig but now in retrospect I actually had a pretty nice curvy figure. Its all perception I guess.
Personally I think that when you spend enough "me" time to lose that amount of weight you are bound to be obsessive. Your body and well being is the main thing on your mind and every little change seems huge.
Congrats on the loss so far and together we can conquer the rest.
I notice my body quite a bit more now that I'm losing weight. It's easy to nitpick and think I don't look any better than I did 70 pounds ago. Then I realize it's just that since I spend a majority of my time thinking about weight, fitness, calories, etc I am more focused on my physical being. Before, I avoided paying too much attention to it because it was so depressing to be fully aware of how it felt to be in my body.
A few times I've tried closing my eyes and really visualizing what it was like at 230 pounds - how I felt moving, standing in line, sitting in a church pew - and then I appreciate how much more comfortable it is now.
I actually spend more time criticizing my body now than I did when I was 300+ pounds. Weird. Probably because I actually look in the mirror now, lol. Oh and the coldness, I'm cold all the time and I used to be very hot. I used to keep the AC at 68 now I keep it at 72 and have to bump it up to 73 sometimes.
I, too, notice things now. Thank goodness I'm still the last one to put on a jacket - I'd hate being cold all the time! A while ago, though, I realized I could put my fingers around my other wrist and touch finger tips. It was a little "aha" moment. And I was sitting at my brother's house and all of a sudden noticed I was sitting with my legs crossed. Hadn't done that in a million years. Stretching in the gym after a class one day, I realized I could actually feel my hamstring (through a pretty good layer of fat - but I felt it none the less!) I LOVE WHEN THIS STUFF HAPPENS! I think we all need these small victories that no one else even notices to keep us going.
As someone else said, we are more aware right now of what we are doing with our bodies. We can't help but notice this stuff. If we weren't in tune, we'd probably still be where we were before we started. Just don't let the self criticism get in the way. Take EVERY victory and keep it in mind. We earn these victories. We have to learn to appreciate them for what they are and allow them to pull us along to the big victory of a healthy weight.
Everyone - Keep up the fantastic work. We're all going to make it sooner or later.
Thanks everyone for the thoughts so far, I really loved hearing your feedback!
I especially loved this
Quote:
Originally Posted by linJber
We can't help but notice this stuff. If we weren't in tune, we'd probably still be where we were before we started.
that really hit home for me.
Oh, and one other cool thing that I did notice. When I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt and I flex I can see my biceps, how cool is that?
Like other have said I also find myself criticzing more because I'm just looking at myself more (and, well, those gyms have so many mirrors!!). Plus, I'm trying to pay more attention to my body so I wear clothes that are more flattering.
I think I avoided / denied/ stopped caring about how my body looked before. I never really noticed. Now though, I over scrutinize EVERYTHING. Every outfit I put on I run by my husband and go to the mirror many times. I'm constantly tugging on loose skin, or pushing at my new found bones, or poking a finger into a flab bubble. It is ridiculous.
Oh and the cold thing, mega-ditto. It is almost July and I am still using a heating blanket on my bed. I have a heater running in my office space, wear a sweater almost all the time, and drink hot tea like it is going out of style. It suuuucks.
Ha, I do this too! When I was at my heaviest, I didn't compare one part of my body to the other because every inch of me was awful. Not one part was better than the other. But as certain parts of my body were molding and shaping nicely such as my tummy and shoulders, the other parts that lagged only seemed more pronouced to me. Such as my hips and thighs. And now that I am happy with the upper part of me, that leaves me more time to obsess about the lower half. LOL -- it makes me sound like a crazy person but this is really why I think I obsess more now than before. That and I preferred to be in denial.
Pacifica Bee "I'm constantly tugging on loose skin, or pushing at my new found bones, or poking a finger into a flab bubble. It is ridiculous."
This is hillarious! I do this ALLLLLLL the time!! baahahaha
Im also hyper critical, maybe because I need to aknowledge the diff in my bodt from all the work and will power
Ha, I do this too! When I was at my heaviest, I didn't compare one part of my body to the other because every inch of me was awful. Not one part was better than the other. But as certain parts of my body were molding and shaping nicely such as my tummy and shoulders, the other parts that lagged only seemed more pronouced to me. Such as my hips and thighs. And now that I am happy with the upper part of me, that leaves me more time to obsess about the lower half. LOL -- it makes me sound like a crazy person but this is really why I think I obsess more now than before. That and I preferred to be in denial.
Yes to this too! I'm starting to be pretty happy about the way my arms/shoulders/chest/thighs look. However, it's like the part of my body between my belly button down to the top of my thighs belongs on a different body completely! It's hard not to obsess over it because it looks so different than the rest of me.
I'm going to jump in with another observation. When I was at my heaviest, I swear, my eyes still saw me at 150 pounds. Well, maybe not that low, but not as big as I was. I was always shocked to see full body photos of myself. I'm not stupid - I know that 250 doesn't look like 150 - but in a mirror, I didn't see just how big I was. Mirrors at the gym bring in the harsh reality! But I didn't see others as fat, either. Now I notice everything. I think what was my way before was self preservation, in a way. Now that we're aware, we realize what we WANT to see and what we SHOULD see in a healthy person, and we want it to be perfect.
Let's just remember to really celebrate who we are. Accept ourselves and do what we can to improve ourselves. Take pride in the small accomplishments and encourage each other. Get back up immediately when we fall (not tomorrow - right now!) and keep on keeping on! Life's a journey, not a destination. We might as well enjoy all aspects of it while we can.
Good luck to all of us. Stay focused. We can do this!
I agree, don't think I ever see how fat I actually am - just not compute.
Even yesterday when I attempted to take some progress photos I thought I look OK in the mirror, and then looked at the photos and saw someone 50 lbs heavier than I saw....
Weird but all part of the reason I ended up over 320 lbs.
Wonder when my body and brain wll get back in sync...
When I was younger I thought they were hideous since everyone I knew was a twig but now in retrospect I actually had a pretty nice curvy figure. Its all perception I guess.
So true! I saw pics of my when I was a teenager and thought wow I had a good figure that I'd love to have now. But at the time I was fat because I was the biggest out of my friends. But really I wasn't that fat at all. Now I'm aiming to get down to that weight again!
I notice things this time around now that I've had kids. Like that I am not losing weight in my stomach, I guess it got stretched out and the fat is quite comfy under there -LOL-
Obsessing about your body
