I've lost 100+ lbs, why do I still feel fat?

I don't know what is wrong with me. I've lost 100 lbs, am very close to goal, have a normal BMI, etc. but I look in the mirror and just feel fat. I'm wearing a size 8, and I know in my mind that a size 8 is small and unimaginable in a way to me. I hate that my body just sags in all the places that used to be filled with fat. I'm so hopeful that my upcoming tummy tuck will help my self body image.

Have any of you had to deal with these same feelings too? What can I do to just feel happy with where I am? One thing that is frustrating me right now is that I did HCG to drop my final 10 lbs, I lost it, felt GREAT, like seriously that last 10 lbs made all the difference in how I looked and the week after going off the HCG I gained 8 lbs back. I want the 8 lbs off, ugh!! I just want to feel good about the new me. I mean I do feel better, of course, but I just wish I could see how I really look. People tell me all the time that I'm thin but I just don't see it. I'm just wondering if this is normal.

Hello, may I ask what your starting weight was?  I have my surgery scheduled with Dr. Aceves on 11/21/09 and am very worried about sagging skin.  May I also ask what the cost is for the tummy tuck?

Congrats on a great job.!!

A lot of us have a problem with not seeing ourselves as we really are.  It is called body dysmorphia.  I look at other people and wonder which of us is bigger because I really don't know

I saw a suggestion on a show to draw what you think you look like on a large piece of paper.  Then have someone draw an outline of your body on the same piece of paper.  i have not been able to do that yet but I plan to. 

Good luck

Rita

What is HCG? 

Yes, it's a strange thing how you feel.  When I was heavy I looked in the mirror and saw what I thought was OK ,not the best, but not fat.  Now I look in the mirror and think just a few pounds more and I will look and feel much better.  It's definitely a head thing, for sure.  I'm in a size 6 and thinking a 4 would be great and not far from it.  But actually is it too small?  Don't want to look like I'm too thin and gaunt.  Luckily I do not need plastics, nothing sagging or hanging.  It went away, how lucky for me.

So that's what I think, it's all in your head and maybe get opinions from friends and family.  Good luck.

Kathy

Kathy...how did the sagging and/or hanging go away for you? I mean..you lost 100 pounds and no skin hangin??

Sometimes our heads are much slower to adapt to the "new reality" of who we are.  We are so used to hiding behind that curtain of fat, it insulated us from the real world for so long, that it just doesn't seem real that we are no longer that person.

I don't feel like I am approaching a normal weight.  Intellectually I know I am, I know exactly how much weight I have lost, but I still don't visualize myself as just being overweight.  I almost cringe when someone says something like "You really don't need to lose any more weight" or "You are really getting thin".

It takes time for the self image to catch up with these massive changes. 

BUT, if you really don't believe that this is real, then you may need some counseling to help you along the way.  It's nothing to be ashamed of, a heck of a lot of us could benefit from counseling.  If you need it in order to learn to accept yourself as something other than a "fat person", then go get it and learn to enjoy life as a normal person!

Life is just too short to go through it feeling miserable about yourself.

I think you look beautiful and that you just need to get your tummy tuck to get rid of the loose skin that will surely make you feel better.

I have not had WLS yet but I can relate because I lost 90 lbs one time on my own.

I remember I was checking out at the grocery store and I buying a bunch of Lean Cuisines. The check out girl kind of whispered to me, "You don't need these. You are beautiful." And I was so shocked. How could she not see what huge fat hippo I was? Was she kidding??? Of course, now I look back at pics and realize that I wasn't a hippo at all and I really was beautiful.

Another instance was when I was on a date with this guy. I told him that I used to be really heavy and recently lost 90 lbs. He asked me "So are done [losing] now?" And I swear my eyes bugged out and I shrieked "NO!! Of course not!!" Like, what do you think, I don't own a mirror? Do you think I'm just planning to stay this fat forever? Seriously?!?! Again, looking back I realize he said that because obviously he thought I looked nice, considering he was on a date with me and all.

I just think it's so hard to wrap our minds around. It's hard to shake that old self-image we have had, for most of us, our whole lives. We don't even know what "normal" or "average" is when it comes to our own bodies.

I will be honest and say without therapy I wouldn't be the person I am. I don't think I would see how good I look in clothes. All I would see is the sagging skin. That's why I am finishing my journey with a tummy tuck. Do what you have to do but I'd suggest talking to someone to help you change your self perception so you see yourself the way others do! (((Hugs)))