Weight Loss and Visual Distortion...I look like food

[1Day1Life4Now 882]

I am losing weight and I am happy. The weight is not coming off as quickly as I had hoped but it is coming off and I am seeing results that have caught the eye of my co-workers, my friends, and my family. The problem is... when I look in the mirror I see food. My neck looks like a turkey neck to me. My arms are like Jello, I still have a beer belly, ham hock legs and cottage cheese thighs. I exercise for 30 minutes twice a day. At what point does my body quit resembling food and start to look more like defined muscles? I know, I have a lot more to lose so maybe I shouldn't expect visual changes so soon .... but the visual food thing is very powerful and disturbing to me.... and plays games with my mind. The angel on one shoulder is encouraging and tells me I now look great in that suit I haven't worn in 4 years. The angel on the other shoulder tells me I look like what I ate. I can hide from the scale but I can't hide from the mirrors. How do I get out of the visual food funk????

[SandyM 1,956]

Just keep telling yourself how great you look and how much better its going to get. Eventually, you brain will catch up with your body. Its just part of the process. I believe if we don't allow this to eventually happen, we could end up back where we started as we have done so many times with our years and years of yoyo dieting.

[squeaker31 65]

I haven't been there yet but I'm concerned about becoming obsessed with how I look and what I weigh every day. I'm really trying to stay focused on the non scale victories. Some people in my life are weight obsessed and I'm planning on responding about comments on my looks with "thanks. I feel just great".

You are going through a major change! Good luck!

[Comfy_Blue 285]

It sounds like you have some body dysmorphia. I started at 245lbs (250lbs at my heaviest) and even though I now weigh about 175 and wear a size 10, often times when I look in the mirror I still see a fat person looking back at me. For awhile when I would take pictures of myself it would help and I could see I am smaller but most recently my girlfriend took a few pictures of me during our Spring Break trip and I thought I looked fat. I have to keep reminding myself that I am/have lost weight and like another poster said, the brain does eventually begin to catch up with the body.

I keep a pair of my old sz 18 jeans and a white 1X shirt (which was so tight I had to wear it open like a jacket) in my closest and when I feel like I still look fat, I put them on to remind myself how far I've come. I repeat to my brain while staring at my image, "If you are fat, these clothes would still fit. you are NOT fat anymore, these clothes are super loose. You can't see it but you ARE thinner."

It also helps to talk to a counselor/therapist.