Body Image

I am having trouble with my body image. Even though I've lost a lot of weight, I still feel overweight. Does anyone else have this problem? I am trying to see myself like others do, but it is not working. My brain can comprehend that I am normal size now, but the emotional part is not. I am wearing size 7/8 in pants and skirts, and small and medium tops. The funny thing is that instead of seeing myself as smaller, it seems to me that other people just got bigger. Am I just weird? Lynette

Lynette, I have always had a problem with body image, I think we all have. Unfortunately this type of disproportion led many of us to be the obese people we became. I never realized how big I was, until I saw pictures of myself. When I saw pictures I could never assimilate myself with the woman in the pictures. I wore nice clothes, always wore makeup, my hygeine was excellent and I had a "pretty face". When I drove to work I could only see my eyes, which are one of my best features, but couldn't see the *****ssssss) where the mirror stopped. I don't own a full length mirror so I never knew how heavy I had become I don't even own a mirror in my bedroom, the only mirror in the house is the one in the bathroom. Isn't that horrible? Even now after losing 52 lbs, I still feel huge. I know that everything is less "puffy" but I'm a longgggg way from finished. I still have all this loose skin, which is going to get worse, so that doesn't help the problem. I guess that we have to measure our success by the way we feel, the way we are able to do what we couldn't do in the past, and of course the way our clothes are getting smaller and smaller. Perhaps one day it will all click and you will realize it, Lynette. I think you have done amazingly well and you should be very very proud of yourself. Donna

Hi Donna, I think you are right about that being part of the reason that I have a weight problem. I hope I can overcome it. I really don't want to gain the weight back this time. Congratulations on your weight loss. Lynette