when do you stop feeling fat?

Okay I am now down 118pounds and can wear size 18. No longer in obese bmi category but feel as fat as I did before. Yes I know I am in a smaller size but in my head I am still feeling like my old 26. So when did you feel "normal"?  Vets was it when you reached your goal weight or does it ever happen?

I reached goal weight at 14 months out. I'd say it took another 2-2.5 years to get used to it and feel somewhat "normal".

I'm 5.5 years out now and am used to being this size.

We share the same story - wow.  I'm kinda glad to know it's just not me!  Another thing that helped me feel "normal" was when people finally stopped commenting about my weight loss.  I think for me, that fulfilled the biggest wish ever - to just blend in with society and just be me!

 

I'm not sure I want to feel "normal." I'm afraid it will make me complacent. I don't mind continuing to consider myself a fat guy. I don't beat myself up over it or anything.

Some days I feel fat and bloated.  I will never feel thin.  I am happy with being average weight.  I am nine years out on Saturday and weigh 130lbs.

I still feel fat. I still don't understand why my clothes fit me. It is so weird. 

I reached goal --- but still feel like an intruder in the "misses" department.

I'm not as far out as some of the people who have already responded to you, but I've got to agree with their perspective--even though I'm down from 237 to 127, there are times I look in the mirror and think, 'Wow.  you still have a long way to go.'  Part of that is the excess skin, which distorts my silhouette. But part of it is a true issue with perception. 

I went shopping last weekend and saw a cute XS top.  I picked it up and thought to myself, 'Good lord!  That's so small it looks like doll clothes.'  Because I liked it and it was the only size available, I took it in to the dressing room with me anyway.  I figured what the hell--I'd see how far away I was from being able to wear it.  It fit like a glove.  I don't see myself properly.  I wonder if I ever will.

When it happens I'll let you know 

Seriously, I know intellectually that I am not fat but emotionally I still feel like a fat person wearing a thin suit, if that makes sense.  I just act as if I know I am normal size, you know, fake it until you make it.

I feel the same as other posters. I know logically that I'm not considered fat, but when I look in the mirror I still see where I need to lose a little more weight. I'm still fairly new to this lifestyle so don't know how long, or if I want to believe that I'm thin now. I don't want to get complacent either, but also know that I just can't keep losing weight and that I'm going to have to deal with maintenance at some point. I don't obsess over it, I just still cellulite, some loose skin, but I have had plastics, so it's not too bad. I'm hoping that as I get more used to seeing and being myself in this reduced body, that it will become easier to see. Use lf more realistically.

It is difficult for us to see ourselves accurately.  At 440lbs, I did not see myself as that big in the mirror.  But when I saw a picture of myself, then I realized just how big I was.  The same is true for the other side.  We may not see the changes in general, but look at the difference in the clothes.  Look at the differences in pictures.  

I have a long way to go still, but some days I just feel thin.  That is, I feel like I am doing the right things to be the thinner person I want to be.  I feel healthy.  I feel strong.  I feel in control.  Things I have not felt in years.

Sometimes we just have to fake it till we make it.

Best of luck in your journey.