I Don't Feel Thinner!

I've been on a 1200 calorie Optifast program for three weeks. My surgeon and HMO required a 10% weight loss before I could attend the pre-surgery classes. I've already reached that goal, and the Optifast is surprisingly easy (heck, I'm eating every two hrs), so we're now working to see if I can lose another 10% by June. Thing is, even though the scale says I've lost 50 lbs, I don't feel 50 lbs lighter. I guess when you start out at 530 lbs, 50 lbs is just a drop in the bucket. I feel more like I've lost 10 lbs. Am I really that unaware, or has anyone else felt this way? Kix

I know what you mean! 2 years ago I was 357 and now weigh 277 (I had surgery 2 months ago, so most of the weight I lost myself PreOp)... and I really dont feel any thiner. I don't see it either... but I am sure that is a mind over matter thing.

I know how you feel. I started out at 416. I have lost 59 pounds and don't feel it either. Other people ARE noticing, so for now, I just have to take their word for it. Hang in there, and I will do the same. Huggs, Ruth

Hi Kix, I know what you mean... I've lost a little over 50lbs pre-op and I don't see a difference. It kind of makes me mad.. cause someone smaller would be so impressive if they lost that much!! I notice it in my lower legs a lot.. since I stopped drinking Pepsi especially. I guess it was a lot of fluid from the sodium in it... The other place it's noticeable is my poor little boobs... didn't have a lot before and now it's just sad!!!! When I go to the Dr and hairdresser they always notice. My ob-gyn hadn't seen me in about a year and thought I'd finally had my surgery.. So I guess it does show. I try to think of it as that thing they said in school. Even a walk around the world begins with one step... ohhhhhhhh but these baby steps are killin' me... I have changed everything about my diet and life and sometimes feel as if I should have lost 300lbs by now. I know I didn't gain it all at once and I can't lose it that fast .. but that doesn't stop me from wanting too...

Kix, Hang in there, it takes time. I'm 9 months out and have lost 134 lbs. I went out clothes shopping today because everything is hanging on me. I could not believe I could actually fit into a 1X, I even have one size 18 pants...is this me???? I can physically do so much more, but, when I'll shake the fat girl self image, I have no idea....I still have 80 lbs to lose...but, from what I hear it takes a year or two at goal weight to start believing it. Lori 384/250.5/168

I know what you mean. I don't feel like I have lost 57 lbs. I have had the surgery and it was Dec. 22, 2005 so since I started at 325 lbs. the 57 seems like just a drop in the bucket to me too and I feel like I will never get to a normal weight. I am doing all the right things but am getting depressed because I am working so hard at my job and dealing with everything else too and time and money are such issues that I am stressed all the time. I feel like I should be thinner and not throwing up and that I should not have to struggle with everything in life like even simple things of keeping what food I can eat in the house and buying all my vitamins and not being able to buy even a new pair of pants. I wonder if anyone else has this problem of working full time and wanting to devote more time to their recovery but real life gets in the way. I am trying to do all the right things and managing somehow but it seems so difficult. I am not hungry and not eating anything I am not supposed to but it is so hard with my job to get all the water in and all the exercise. I am exhausted going back to work after only 4 weeks of surgery. I get up to a 6:30 am alarm and am gone til 5:00 pm and still can't afford a new pair of pants. Can anyone relate to this? I feel like all I do is work and the pay off isn't as good as it should be. I feel like I should be happier. I don't have any family here, being an only child with no children and both parents deceased. I have a husband but often he is not there for me. I feel isolated, alone and detached in what should be the most exciting and happy journey of my life. I guess I just need to win the lottery but I can't even afford to buy a ticket. I am [email protected]

greetings kix i think most everyone feels this way (which in my opinion is one of the GREATEST things about these message boards). i've been up and down (mostly UP) with my weight over the course of my 49 years of life, and i've always felt alone and isolated in the struggle. like i was the only one like me. it's wonderful to have found a place where so many people who are like me have gathered. anyhow, i've lost 236 lbs. in the past 13 months, and i still don't really see it. i buy smaller and smaller size clothes, but i'm still amazed every morning when i get dressed and they fit onto MY BODY! i know i'm smaller -- i see the space between my stomach and my truck steering wheel that didn't used to be there; i get on a plane and don't need the seat belt extension; i walk all over walmart and don't get out of breath and sweaty; i feel bones that i surely didn't feel before...but still, in my head, i'm the same as i used to be. it must just take time for your head to catch up to reality. hang in there! best wishes to you! deb

Hi Kix I am down 118 and I still dont feel like I've lost anything. I look in the mirror and dont see a difference. I know I have body dysmorphic disorder, because as a teenager I was anorexic. My surgery day weight was 425. Congrats on your weight loss thus far, you are doing great