Just NOT seeing it!!!

[Sandyjean 0]

I have been getting alot of comments about how great I look. I enjoy the comments and they encourage me to keep on keeping on....but....when I look in the mirror I still see the 301lb woman I was just a few months ago. I can tell that my bras are bigger and some of my clothes are looser, but I can't look at myself and see any change! Do any of you have the same problem?

[ladybug97 0]

Hang in there Sandy, you are doing great! I am a year and a half past surgery and still sometimes see myself at 298lbs. It is a head game, one that still beats me, sometimes. Keep up the great work. Trust me, it is worth it!

[kiz 1]

I had the opposite problem in that whenever I would catch an accidental glimpse of myself in a store window or mirror, I was always taken aback by how much weight I had gained over the years. I definitely never expected to see a skinny gal staring me back, but I had never wrapped my mind around the fact that I was so overweight. Our minds are funny things aren't they?

It also sounds like you have some great support from friends &/or family who are letting you know that they're seeing the positive results from your hard work. I hope you take their compliments to heart, and that it encourages you to stay committed to this new lifestyle, even if it takes awhile for your eyes to catch up to your new thinner self.

[kkarryall 0]

I think a lot of people struggle with that. I have lost 117 lbs and I still struggle with it!! I am getting better--I just think I am an all or nothing type of person....it's like I am thin or fat...nothing in between. Very weird....I did buy this book that has been helping me a lot --it's called Body Esteem and it is a workbook that comes with a CD. I wish I had started using it earlier, but it is a great book!

[canadagirl33 0]

I've asked lots of people about this and it seems to vary greatly from person to person...

I'm like you in the sense that as I was losing weight people would comment and altho in my mind I KNEW I had to be looking different, I just did not see it. I was always gracious and thanked them...and then went somewhere to have a look to see if I could see what they saw.....nope I didn't.

And after 3 years with my band.... I still don't !!! Yup, I said 3 years !!! The first year I lost 100lbs, in the past 2 years I have maintained that....and when I look in the mirror I see the same person I did when I had surgery.

I'm hopeful that it will improve with time...but maybe it won't. I'm a pretty rational person and I know that I can't have lost that weight and there not have been a huge change, so maybe one day I'll look into a mirror and see a healthier, fitter, thinner person than I saw yesterday.

Congrats on the loss and keep up the good work !!!

Patricia

[kslessar 0]

36lb loss is a great loss, and while you may not see it yet, it's great others are complimenting you.

I liken the mind catching up to the loss like the mind catching up to your hunger. As we know, it takes 20 mins for the mind to register you're full. It takes a lot longer for your mind to register the weight loss, but hang in there... it will happen

[ocotillo 0]

I have been getting alot of comments about how great I look. I enjoy the comments and they encourage me to keep on keeping on....but....when I look in the mirror I still see the 301lb woman I was just a few months ago. I can tell that my bras are bigger and some of my clothes are looser, but I can't look at myself and see any change! Do any of you have the same problem?

You were banded a week or so before me!! One thing I've noticed as I've lost weight besides my bras are a lot more comfortable is I still have the same body shape. It's not quite as big and I'm wearing smaller pants (not really tops yet) but it's still large. I think that is something we have to get our minds around....it's smaller, but it's the same shape.

You are doing fine....in a few months you will have to buy new clothes because the ones you are wearing now will fall off you. It will happen.

The last time I went through the diet process and I lost around 30 pounds, I wore the same size clothes....I never did change sizes although things fit better. When I gained that weight back plus a lot more I completely skipped a size. I went from a size 22 to 26. I don't know where 24 went. I am wearing a 24 now, but when I was this weight before, I was in a 22. My stomach is bigger and it's not getting much smaller yet. It's weird. Of course it could have something to do with my age too.

Anyway, hang in there. You will notice a change soon and it will be really encouraging. You just need to be patient, which is hard but you can do it.

[Alice0592 0]

I dont think our minds catch up with our bodys as fast as we would like I am a year and a half out and have lost 100 pounds and ther are days I just dont see it

[Sandyjean 0]

It weird how we want instant results after being banded...But our eyes can't yet see the results!:thumbup:

[Lana24 10]

I have been getting alot of comments about how great I look. I enjoy the comments and they encourage me to keep on keeping on....but....when I look in the mirror I still see the 301lb woman I was just a few months ago. I can tell that my bras are bigger and some of my clothes are looser, but I can't look at myself and see any change! Do any of you have the same problem?

Um, yeah! I not only can't see it, the longer I stand in front of the mirror the fatter I get.

I know its just my mind playing cruel tricks on me, but its the truth. Weightloss is more psycological then physical in my opinion. The mind has the power and ability to see what it wants.

[tapshoes 2]

It is freaky/annoying/mysterious isn't it? I just came back from presenting at a conference where most people there hadn't seen me since I have lost weight. Their first reactions were always "I didn't recognize you". Now, I see me as the same...in the mirror, and in my minds eye. I wish I could see the much thinner person that others do, but to myself I see the same old fat person.

And I suspect llike Canadagirl, it will be years before I see myself differently.

Edited October 7, 2009 by tapshoes
typo - ;haven't got my morning caffeine in, yet!