I don't see myself as fat or thin right now as I'm not. I definitely don't feel fat when I'm dressed. I feel a bit fat when I'm naked and I see my droopy stomach and bat wings. My husband thinks I'm about perfect and thinks 165 will be perfect. I'm not sure.

The scale right now is saying I'm between 24-32 percent body fat (24% if I am on my feet all day - 32 percent when I'm mostly a couch potato) Seems to be about 30-31. I would love to get consisently at 24-25 percent. When I get there, no matter the actual weight on the scale, I'll feel fit and healthy. I'm not stuck on a number as I am not a waif. I'm not built like one and never will look tiny and petite.

I'm still fat in my head. Well, I suppose I'm still fat in my body, too, technically (5 feet tall and 155 pounds is still overweight, so...yeah.) But I've found that, even though I've lost almost 50 pounds at this point, I'm still convinced I'm bigger than I am.

Case in point: A relative gave me a sweater last week that was too small for her. I looked at the tag (it was a medium) and said, "Are you kidding? There's no way this will ever fit me!" (I started out in a 2XL in a shirt, and the last shirt I bought was still an XL...granted, that was almost three months ago). Tried the sweater on and, lo and behold...it fit perfectly. I guess I'm just still not able to realize that, yes, I am smaller now.

I think being "fat in the head" (LOL) is common among people who have lost weight, especially if you've been heavy all your life.

Ooh this has been interesting to read. In my own head, I'm neither fat nor thin. I'm just average. When I look at the scale and see numbers in the 230's, it's shocking. I just feel like there's NO WAY I weigh that much, but I do. It's weird, I feel exactly the same as I did at 170 pounds. Maybe because I gained 70 pounds in a very short timeframe (like 10 months) so my mind never caught up with my body? I don't know. I just feel like I'm not as heavy as the scale says I am!

Exactly! I joined Facebook and realized ... uh oh ... I'm obese!

I always see myself as fat. Logically, I know that other people do not see me the way I "see" myself when I look in the mirror. Logically, I know that I am not overweight but that is not the same thing as not seeing myself as fat. My uncle passed away last month and I saw folks that I haven't seen in 10 years (30 years in a couple of instances) and they were all shocked at my weight. I had several ask, "Don't you think you are thin enough?" My stock answer is always the same, "No such creature."

Having said that, I didn't realize how big I was until I lost weight and looked back at pictures of myself at my heaviest (208). A few years ago, I managed to briefly get down to 124.5 and just kept thinking, "If I could just get to 118, life would be so perfect." I look back at that sadly now, even though I am about 132-134 and probably in a slightly smaller size that I was then.

I think that, in my case, exercise is the key to my mental picture of myself. Having lost over 80 pounds 9 years ago but not exercising, I ruined my metabolism and became "skinny fat." Now I am playing catch-up in that regard. I know that when I go to the gym or do my Turbo Jam DVDs, I feel "smaller"--does that make any sense to anyone? It may just be yet another instance of my disordered thinking.

:hug: You are not fat by any means. I know it's in your head and I wish I could fix that for you. This resonates with me because I am outside cycling a lot and it never occurred to me that someone would ever yell anything nasty to me because I'm a chunky monkey on a bike wearing a lot of lycra. (I am on the side that thinks I am thinner than what I really am!)



This is not directed at you, but comment made me think about something that was critical to my success with my weight loss for the last two years (and why I still keep at it even if it's slow going).

I did not lose the weight because I thought at some day I would feel different because I lost weight. I never imagined that my life would get better or that I would have better self-esteem because I lost weight. I guess I'm thankful for that, because I won't be disappointed if my cellulite doesn't disappear.

I don't think weight loss fixes other issues. Weight loss is literally that -- weight loss. Better body or better life don't come with it.

I'm thin in my head. The irony is that when I weighed between 125 to 135 lbs and was between a size 7 to size 10 for all of my 20s, I thought I was fat. I'm now 175lbs and wear size 14/16 pants. I keep on thinking that I'm not "THAT fat"...after all, I still get positive attention from men, so I can't be fat, right? My friend took a picture of me just the other day on Thanksgiving. OH MY GOD! I'm living in denial. I'm definitely fooling myself into thinking that I'm thinner than I actually am. I'll be happy if I weighed 150lbs at this point in my life.

In my head I'm close to my normal weight. No matter how fat I get, I have a vison of how I want to look in clothes. Certain styles and cuts that I want to wear. Problem is that designers have no idea how to dress fat people. Big flowers and prints, clown pockets, elastic waist bands, boxey cuts. Uggg just because I'm big doesn't mean I want to dress frumpy... please!

Over the years, they've gotton a little better but not much. When I was in plus sizes it irked me to no end that there is only one little section in most department stores devoted to plus sizes and it is usually on the second floor way in the back somewhere. And their idea of career clothes for fat people is ALWAYS A JOKE!


So my problem is that when I was fat, I still wanted to dress like a thin person. Mentally I've always seen myself as a thin person. Nevertheless, the mirrors and the scales don't lie. Lol!

I have major issues. I seem to live in denial no matter what my size is. When I'm fat I don't think I'm "that" fat and when I'm thin I think I'm fat. I just can't win with myself so I'm just going to try and accept me at any size and concentrate on my health this time around. I'm basing it on my pant size and my fitness goals. Cause my head is messed LOL

I used to be thin in my head, then I caught a glimpse of some unflattering photos and learned otherwise.

I've thought about this a lot actually :) For all my life I thought I was fat. Horribly fat. Huge. A whale.
But I also had an eating disorder for a long time. After therapy I gained a TON of weight. So now I technically am fat, but its hard for me to accept it. I always was making excuses saying there was something wrong with the sizing, I was bloated, the scale was broken ect.
So yeah, its kind of strange. Its almost like I became too comfortable/lax with food and my weight. I think now though I really am seeing myself much more honestly though. Maybe for the first time in my life ;)

My mom and my boyfriend both think I have body dysmorphic disorder. My mom used to pick out people off of TV and ask me if I thought I was bigger or smaller then whoever she pointed out to me. My answer was always bigger.

Even down 40lbs, I see no change in my body. When I look in the mirror I see the same person I saw when I started this. My stomach is still flabby, my thighs and calves are still huge and I am still giggly. I have extremely low self esteem so it is going to be a huge struggle but I am trying to feel better about my self. I fear I will always be fat in my head though.

fat fat fat

i'm always surprised when i see recent pictures of myself

In my head I'm still over 300 pounds... my mental image of my body hasn't yet changed.

What a fascinating thread!

When I was at my heaviest last year, I somewhat lived in denial that I was obese. I didn't realize that it affected me as much as it did as I was told 'I carried my weight well', and no one would guess how much I weighed.

I knew deep down that I was nowhere close to what I weighed 20 years ago which was close to 140pounds. Back then I felt normal (size 10).

I feel fat these days, which motivates me to lose more weight. I can see how easy it can be to live in denial though. I also don't think it is always about a number on a scale because I know people who are happy with themselves at different weights.

I think in some ways I have always imagined myself the way I look around 180. Which was thin when I was 239, and now, but fat when I was 140. What's funny about it is that I saw myself that size years before I actually got to that size.

Most of the time, I guess it's nice that I don't see how big I really am. But, I do think it made it easier for me to gain as much as I did. And it's also hard for me because when I do realize how big I am, it's devastating.

It changes a lot... most of the time, I feel "thick". I don't think I look *fat* anymore, but I know I don't look thin so I put myself in a "thick" category. However, when I see pictures of myself - I feel fat. Or if I go to the hair dresser and I sit down in front of the mirror, I see my belly fat roll and I feel fat again.

Every now and then I walk over in front of the mirror at home and get a glance and I feel downright SKINNY.

I try not to let myself feel like I'm thin or satisfied with myself because I feel like if I let myself be content with how I look, I will lose focus on the goal....

I have denial issues as well. One of my biggest problems is that I think I look great and that everything all perfect. I love the way I look but unfortunately my health is at stake. It's hard to make good choices when you don't have the willpower or drive to lose weight.

^^^ This! I never think I'm as fat as I am. I keep yo-yoing up and down some 15 -20lbs or so (I'm yo-yoed up a.t.m.) but still think 'oh, I don't look too bad' or 'oh, I don't look any different from when I weighed less'. Yeah, right. I was out clothes shopping with my youngest the other day and caught a glimpse of clothed self in the mirror. Gaaaaa, I look like a bloody beach ball. That prompted me to actually get on the damn scale Monday. <sigh> Who did I think I was fooling? I had to go buy a pair of jeans two sizes bigger about a month ago because I couldn't squeeze into my old jeans. . . . so how could I possibly think I looked the same as I did 20 lbs. ago? :ink:

I will forever be overweight in my head!
I didn't think there were so many people with the same kind of mind set as I have.
I've lost almost 70 lbs. now and have about 30 left to lose. But I can't see the difference. People in my life keep telling me they see the changes in my body, But I just Don't see it!!!! It's so frustrating!!!!
I'm glad to know I'm not alone!

i don't know if this is the same thing, but i've been overweight my whole life...three times i've lost weight to the point where i was thin...in my mind i always feel like those three times are normal and the other 99% is the exception...i also notice that when i lose a little bit of weight i tend to feel fatter than before i start losing weight

It depends on the day. Some days I feel like a million bucks and think that I look like it, too. Some days I feel extra squishy and blobby and those aren't my favorite days.

I always referred to those kinds of days as my 'fugly' days. My youngest recently exclaimed 'Mom!' when I said that. Apparently it doesn't mean 'fat and ugly' anymore. lol

I've lost almost three sizes (from a 20 to a 14- some 14's are still too tight) and when I look in the mirror I don't see anything different. I had a physical on Tuesday and when I mentioned I was still a little overweight to the dr. she said that I looked like a healthy weight (I'm still 14 lbs over a "healthy weight"). I don't "see" that. It drives my husband nuts. My goal is to be the weight/size I was before kids (158-163 and size 10-12). Maybe when I get there I will feel differently.

I feel fat in my head.

Which is funny, cause I never think I'm as fat as I look in pictures.

Darn those pictures.

this is actually an amazing thread to read! good idea.

for me,
dressed, showered, and good results on the scale, standing on my own: skinny

after yoga: big, but muscular and fit - healthy

dressed, beside other people, large- but not fat.

naked- somewhere between fat and damaged. i understand that stretch marks are beautiful, and they tell a story- but i just recently started developing the "pooch" of saggy belly skin, and it's REALLY started to bug me.

mind you- lb wise- i still weigh more then i should, but clothes size wise, i am very little, i attribute it to muscle. the only place that i can really still pick out fat is in my arms and tummy.

Fat, totally. I KNOW from looking at pictures that I look drastically different and yet, I still act like I'm 400 lbs sometimes. I go to restaurants and always try to look for the table, I get on an airplane and ask for an extender that I never need and I still buy my clothes 1-2 sizes too big.

TMI(ish) but I was kissing my, uh, special friend over the weekend on a sofa and at one point, he said "come sit on my lap". Now he's an amateur bodybuilder ('cause I had to work that into the conversation somehow, right?) but still, only about 5'10" and at most, 180-190. I told him I didn't want to crush him. He was all "I can leg press 700 lbs and besides, you're not that big" and I was like "Oh yeahhhhhh, you're NOT that much heavier than him these days..." It's mind-boggling

I'm pretty sure I'm thin in my head. I'm always surprised when I see pictures of myself, lol...like "Who's that chunker?"

I don't feel like this fat is part of me. Its just a parasite that attached itself through me because of yummy food and bad decisions. :p

When I was my heaviest at 255 lbs I didn't feel that fat. But boy did the pictures tell another story!

Now that I have lost 71 lbs I don't know what I look like. I had my husband take pictures of me so I could look at them. But, even with the pictures showing me much smaller...I don't really feel any different except that I know it is much easier to move around.

I hope that some day my body and my mind will be in agreement.

I just wanted to say, as the one that started this thread, that I've read every reply as they've been posted. This has been a very interesting thread. I wonder where we get our self perception from?

There are a lot of factors as far as whether I feel fat or thin. If I'm in clothes that fit closely (not tight, not baggy), I feel normal...until I look in the mirror. I tend to think that I'm a lot more compact that I actually am. I don't think of myself as HUGE alone, but then I go to work and am considerably larger than all my co-workers (not just weight but also at least a couple...or several...inches taller). I run into things because I have a no concept of where my body parts are. When I look in the mirror, I am generally disgusted by what I see...more now, after having been working out than I did before, since the blubber just hangs there now. Tried eating healthy when I first started exercising and gained 10 lbs in 2 months...kept exercising but ate whatever and have lost most of that, but basically stuck. So sick of my body...and the tricks my mind plays about it! :sorry:

thin and fat :D
 

When I was a teen I was a lifeguard with a healthy body weight and in very good condition! For many years I always saw myself in this body as "thin"... Even after I gain some weight I still saw myself as thin... Then reality set in and I had to see the real me - very obese... FAT!

Now as I am losing weight I have days that I see myself as fat and other days as almost thin.. conflicting thoughts make me feel :dizzy:

Oh well.. Better to think almost thin as very obese :D