Okay, I've lost 70 pounds now, I'm shopping in the "normal" stores, according to DKNY and Tommy Hilfiger I'm a 10, and I can wear the shirts now in the "normal" stores, mostly Large, in some stores I'm needing a medium (OMG) but why do I still feel fat? I have about 30 pounds to go to my goal of 140, but when I started off, I thought under 200 would be a dream come true! So you can all imagine that I'm smaller now than I was my senior year of high school I'm totally ecstatic about it, now I can't wait for my 10 year reunion this year! BUT, everyone still looks so much smaller to me, and I still feel like I'm a really big person...is anyone going through the same thing, and does it go away and do you just start feeling normal anytime?

SOOOOO normal.

I had these same feelings for a long time too. Tell your close friends or boyfriend/husband to point out people who look the same (body wise) as you, and that might help. I still have a scewed sense of what my body looks like, but I no longer feel fat, just bigger then I am. I wish there was something that could make me realize what I really look like, though I am a 5, I still feel like a size 8 or 9. I think that really looking at my body and noticing the little differences (like emergence of new bones, and new muscles) has really helped.
Appreciate all the compliments and things you can do now that you couldnt do before (like shopping at "normal stores", and wearing a medium).

Thanks! :hug: I'm wishing I didn't get rid of my old clothes, I'm going to have to ask my mom for an old pair of pants and a shirt so I can really understand I'm not that big anymore, and I'll ask my husband to point out people who look about the same size as me, and promise him I'm not putting him on the spot! He prefers to avoid all weight related questions I ask him except to point out now that if I lose any more weight I'll be shopping for bras in the little girls section, and if I come home with a Spongebob or Barbie bra he's leaving me!

I'm still going through that phase (hoping it's a phase!) I've gone from a 40x32 pant to a 33x30 and I still feel big, even though I know I shouldn't. I'm also down below what I was in HS (below even grade 9 weight) but I feel big still. I'm where I wanted to be, but I look at smaller people or more toned people and I'm like well why can't I be there. I hope it phases out *fingers crossed*

I'm heading your way folks, but I've got a long road ahead of me. I'm going to make a suggestion however. Last time I dieted I lost 75 pounds - from 295 down to 220. At 220 I felt wonderful and I had people tell me I didn't have to lose any more. I still shopped at plus size stores, but I was down in the smallest size range, and I knew I had more to lose. I was heading to 120 - but didn't make it.

I did a lot of exercising while I was losing the weight. Walking, cycling, lots of floor exercises and weights. It really toned my body and I started feeling strong and thin. Maybe that would help?

Hugs
Mugs

Also making sure you are wearing clothes that fit helps. I know I was stuck wearing the same gym clothes since may. I didnt buy new ones, and so until a week and a half ago I was still wearing a size XL, then I went shopping and boiught all ym new size Smalls... it makes a big difference on how I feel. Also I often wear a pair of 13 jeans I have and would wear the same large sweaters or shirts, and so I looked bigger then I was, and felt bigger then I was. When I went out and bought clothes that fit me, I got rid of a lot of the mental fat. Now people are complimenting me and saying "wow you haev lost a lot of weight" even though I have been losing weight the whole time, they just now noticed it because of my clothes choices. I usually hit the clearance rack at nordstrom rack, adn make sure I have at least 1 outfit when i drop a size, so I have something that fits and looks good.

Yep, it's a pretty normal feeling.

And I agree with elsie 100% - clothes that fit well make a really big difference in how you look and feel.

If you've been working out, btw, the clothes that fit you previously may fit quite differently at the same weight currently (does that make any sense at all?) so be sure to try on some different styles and brands from time to time.

I think Elsie's idea of asking friends and family is a good one. It helps put your self criticism in check! Last weekend I went clothes shopping with a girlfriend and was so upset at how i looked because the junior size 7 wasn't fitting right and normally i'm a junior size 5! On the way back to the car she said, "don't worry, i'm a size 0 or 2 in most stores and the 7 size was too small for me". well that really helped me since i think she's completely skinny, 5'10 and 123lbs! she's been trying to add 10-20 lbs all her life since she's just normally skinny. Friends always help you see clearly! She's a Phd student and another thing she said was "I see girls walking around campus in cut off tops that have fat bellys hanging out,totally unaware how gross they look, at least you have great abs!" :)

I went shopping yesterday and I went crazy with my hubby's ATM card, and happily left the mall with about six big, full, shopping bags in my hands, and today at my brother's graduation my family kept telling me how little I was, and they all saw me about two weeks ago.... The new clothes made a big difference, there was a pretty good sale over at Old Navy, I always had a problem wearing their clothes comfortably, but I was a 10 pants/ large shirt over there too, and they were a nice loose fit, and I bought a more form fitting jogging suit I hope will look good in about a month. I could have worn an 8, but they were still a little snug around the waist. Darn tummy! I know right now I'm not exercising enough, I really got to crack down on it and get down to business! :whip: Shopping for new clothes definitely helped, with the new outfits I really could see the difference, I really can see how much I've changed when it comes to shirts! I could NEVER wear a stretch button down shirt, and the large fit fine! I could even button it all the way without looking like one of the buttons was going to pop off and ricochet off the walls!

I think shopping for new clothes definetely helps...I think ppl who have lost a large amount of weight are trapped in the perception of their old self...I lost approx 40 lbs but I still see myself as the old me...one thing that really helped me realize I changed was when I saw myself in a window reflection...for a split second I did not recognize myself I expected to see a much bigger person...and I came to terms of what I am now....

Just keep God in your life. He will help you loose the weight that you've wanted to loose all the 4 years that you were in high school. I actually have that problem now I"m 158.5 at 5ft 3 you can just imagine where my wieght is. Its normally in my thighs stomach luv handles butt and breast. I use to weigh 127lbs and I was in a size 6-7 but that went out of the window I'm now a 10/12. But you should keep up with your determination and you're going to shock those ppl at your 10 year high school Reunion. They may think of you as that big girl but you're going to show them that you're not that person anymore you're in a new skin and you're a new person and keep that same mind and you will acheive your goal before you know it and if you have any questions don't be afraid to im me or email me at www.ChristianSista45@aol.com or im me at ChristianSista45 Thanks and you Keep up the good work girl

I was pretty little in high school I started freshman year 5'4 120 pounds and graduated 5'7 170 pounds. I was prettly little until I quit my dance team my junior year (it was a 25 hour/week commitment so I had no social life, just a great figure) and got boyfriends (all about the same time the braces came off and I could eat whatever I wanted) and went from a 5 to a 9, but I also grew a few inches in that time, and I left high school a size 11, but I never really felt fat and no one ever said anything about my weight because I always wore loose clothing...
I went to the Doctor on Tuesday and I'm at 175, but when I went to my regular doctor for allergy medicine on Friday I was back between 173-174, hopefully the running and gardening (lots of lifting and pulling things!) helped and I make it through superbowl without blowing it too much....I'd really like to be 170 before the 14th.

The new clothes are feeling really good right now too, I feel great in them, I went to help my husband set up his new office at work and one of his co workers was telling me how great I looked and my husband told him to quit staring at me or her was fired, and every time his brother comments on how cute my outfit is my husband tells him I'm already taken, and to go find his own wife.
I asked my husband how I look and he said my arms and legs were bigger than they are now than when he met me, my chest is alot smaller, and that most of the weight that I'm still carrying around is mostly around my hips and stomach, when he met me I was about 20 pounds lighter than I am now. So, that was helpful, but he still feels uncomfortable comparing my body size to other people, he just points out who I'm smaller than, which still isn't too helpful, but maybe I'll see it myself soon!
Its also hard that i'm a lot taller than most of my friends, but my sister and I are about the same size now, but I still think I'm way bigger than she is. She said my arms are smaller than hers and wer're about the same around the stomach, and our legs are about the same, and her shoulders are smaller than mine, but she said I have more definition around mine, and she said I'm bigger around the back, but her butt's bigger than mine....so we're like the same but totally different! :laugh:
Well, I'll get the idea someday!

I am having a huge problem with this too.

I've lost almost 35 pounds now, however I feel WORSE now that I did before. I feel bigger and grosser than ever. What gives?? It also sucks that my size hasn't dropped too much... my hips, butt and thighs are just big so I've only dropped in size a little bit.. although my new jeans do make me feel somewhat skinny.

I wish I could just be PROUD of myself and my hard work! Is this just my mind trying to push me harder to lose the rest of the weight?

Nico

Nico, unfortunately I think it doesnt push you to want to lose more weight, it more pushes you to want to give up. Wear clothes you used to wear and see how different your body actually is. Try them on and see if they stay. Also remember we all lose weight in different places. The stomach is one of the hardest places to drop the flab. I had to take some serious time looking at my body and really paying attention to it, to see how much it has changed, and I think that helped a lot. You should be proud, even if you are only half way there, that is a tremendous accomplishment. Give it another 15 pounds, adn I think you will feel differently. I know I feel much different about myself now then when I weighed 150.

Honestly I've never felt very attractive in my life, so my perception of how I look is pretty strange. For years at a heavier weight I thought I still looked like I did when I was in college... then gradually I realized that I did not. I always thought I was not pretty at all in college-- but I went to an all women's college, and its easy to get your perception of your own attractiveness distorted when the available guys at parties have at least 10 women each to pick from.

The most shocking revelation of how fat I had gotten really came with the purchase of a digital camera. With the ability to see instant results... I started to see, my god... I was indeed unattractively fat. This echoed what my mother had been saying for some years... and what a boyfriend who dumped me because I was 'too fat' said too.

So I decided to change. Mostly the change was to change my life-- not to change my body. I was really concerned that all my fat was going to make me infertile and unable to have a child. The perk was that the life change and eating change got the body change to work too. I've used the camera to track my weight loss progress. I make a picture in a swimsuit every 10lbs I lose. I do feel like I look better now than I used to mostly because my family and friends... and well just about anyone who's ever seen me has said so.

Its weird though, now I again feel like I look like how I did in college... and I'm pretty much the same weight as then (I fit into my jeans from college)... but I actually think I look more attractive than I did in college (I have better hair now!).

But I don't feel pretty really... I think I'm satisfied with feeling average.

Perfectly normal, I think. I've dropped down to 128lbs and a size 5 and I still get that feeling because I'm so used to being obese. It's still talking a while for me to make myself realize that I'm slim and good looking and the guys aren't gawking at me in horror because I'm fat, they're checking me out because they think I look good. :o I still even refer to myself a plus-size model . . .just habit.

I got a pretty good dose of how small I've gotten yesterday, my daughter had a cheer competition yesterday and my friend Liz and I were sitting down in the parents section our team had sectioned off for ourselves (because all cheerleading parents are psychotic and we make a mad dash to save ourselves seats and we all have to sit together), and while we were waiting for the competition to start I got a little warm and took off my jacket and stood up, and I had all these parents freaking out about how little I got, and they almost didn't recognize me from the back, and my 10's have gotten a little big so yesterday I was wearing an 8 stretch jean, and I was wearing a tank top under my team rhinestone fitted shirt because it was a little sheer, and they were all telling me how baggy shirt was, and they couldn't believe how I got so little in such a short amount of time, and I said, yeah, I've got about 15 pounds to go before I'm in the high end of healthy on the BMI chart, and they all started laughing at how impossible it is to actually be in the healthy weight range, and saying I didn't have anything else to lose, and I was saying, I still had some to lose around my hips and my stomach and my thighs, and they all started saying again that I didn't have any hips left to hold up my pants, and when I got home my husband said that I looked tiny in my stretch jeans and my fitted shirt, and how good I looked in them, and how I shouldn't wear sweatshirts and jackets so much to hide it. (Never mind that its cold and raining!!) I've lost another 2 pounds over the weekend, I really think I'll be in the high 160s on March 1st. :D I got a balance ball and after my morning run this morning I did a 15 minute DVD that came with the balance ball and so hopefully that will help with the tummy and strengthen my back! Hot mama here I come!