Do You Feel Bigger Then You Really Are??

[ichatter 0]

Hello Ladies, Gents, and Other!

I was banded last August (You can see my Before and Current's if you like ) and since I am starting my Masters program, I have decided to do my Thesis on Bariatric Surgery. This is not like an official survey or anything, but I am trying to get some feedback to see who else feels like me.

:thumbup:I went from a size 20 to a size 10, and I still FEEL like a 20. When I go to sit in a seat on a plane I expect it to be a tight fit, I also think I need to turn sideways to get through areas I can easily walk through now. I always pick up the size thats too big out of habit, and I still call myself a "Big Girl." Do you feel this way too? How long have you been banded, and do you find this to be an awkward/uncomfortable thing, or a funny/weird thing? If you used to feel this way but don't anymore, what changed??? ANy help would be SO great! THANKS!

Nicole

[Jachut 487]

Kind of, but also a bit different.

I know logically I'm thinner and some days I feel fantatic.

I also have days where I still feel big.

so between those extremes, I suspect my own picture of myself in my minds eye is inaccurate. I suspect I think I'm bigger than I am but I just cant quite think of myself as a thin person either.

But I have adjusted to knowing my body's size in any given situation. I know where I'll fit and where I wont, lol.

[2Flyguys 13]

i went from a size 28 to a size 6 in less then a year...my son and i recently went to the beach and he wanted me to climb through this very narrow hole in between some rocks...i honestly didnt think i was going to fit...i thought about getting stuck and people saying "look at that fat girl stuck in that hole"...i said to myself "even if u do get stuck no1 is going to say its bcuz ur too fat...u'll just b stuck...lol"...i went through and didn't get stuck...i'm always terrified about putting my weight back on...i'm trying to figure out what mind set i should have to keep the weight off....should i think that i'll never gain it back...or should i keep the fear that it can always come back....either way i know i'll ALWAYS continue to exercise...i would just like my mind to be at ease a lilttle...huuuummmmmm

[Apples2 19]

When I look in the mirror or think of my size, I think I am fairly realistic. But, I know where that comes from. I was thin (5'6" and about 119lbs) through my 20's and 30's. Hit menopause at 38 and continually gained to get me up to 249lbs. I think because I KNEW what it felt like to be thin and very healthy it was easy for me to accept my size because I had been there for so many years. Make sense?

At the beginning of this process I made a promise to myself. That promise was to ACCEPT the body I ended up with and be happy. I think my body image is much better now than it was 20-30 yrs ago and I had the cute girlish figure. Go figure!

Edited October 21, 2009 by Apples2

[ichatter 0]

Hey Ladies! Thanks so much for your responses! You all seem to be at goal weight (or beyond) now, did you feel the same way while you were, like 6 months in???

[Apples2 19]

6 months into my weight loss journey was little tougher when it came to body image issues. The progression of my weight loss went like this: face first, neck and collar bones, breasts and then arms and legs. I swore it would never come off around the middle. It was the very last to go and I had issues thinking that I would be thin everywhere except my lower stomach. Was an iffy body image stage.

[Who'sThere 331]

Well, I'm not quite 6 months in, but I will give you my two cent's worth anyway.

I am about two and a half months out, and I have lost 48 pounds in all. (13 preop). People tell me all the time how great I look, but I know I'm still very big. (5'3" and still 235 lbs.) I only feel like I have lost weight when I am able to put on something I could not wear before. When I am in front of the mirror, I don't see it anywhere but my neck...not even my face (a lot of people comment on my face). I don't know how long it will take or if I will ever feel like I am getting smaller. I have a long way to go.

On the positive side, though, I DO have a lot more energy! That is really the only way I don't think the scales are lying when they tell me nearly 50 pounds are gone.

I just finished my second graduate degree, so I certainly can empathize about your master's thesis. Good luck! After my Ed.S. research, I decided quickly there will NOT be a doctorate in my future!

[ValJean 6]

I'm almost 9 months out, down 93 lbs (about 50 more to go), and I definitely have struggled with feeling "bigger" than I am--or rather, not fully accepting or believing how much "smaller" I've become! My ultra-supportive, wonderful boyfriend has nicknamed me "Tinier Val" which helps to remind me

I finally managed to gain the courage to throw out all my size 20+ clothes, but when I go shopping I still grab XL-XXL or 18/20s and am amazed when they are hanging (or falling) off.

Again, I have a ways to go to goal...I'm interested to see how/when/if my perceptions change once I'm there!

Val

[serenity55 15]

As someone else said, the first noticeable thing was my face. I'm blind, so I have to rely on my friends and family for the visual cues. One of the first things a friend said to me was, "Look at your face!!" I have walked through places I know I wouldn't have fit before; and a lot of my clothes are falling off, which is awesome! I was involved in a musical production recently at a theater I've been to several times before, and it was gratifying to sit in the seat and realize there was more space there!

I guess I remind myself of these things because I still feel like I'm the same size I was when I began this journey, though all the things I've mentioned say different.

I have much more energy, and I can feel that certain parts of my body are smaller, and I can reach places I couldn't before. I have a reeeeally long way to go, but I can even feel my arms changing. It's just the dang stomach! :thumbup:

Debbie

Edited October 22, 2009 by serenity55

[jms462001 9]

I have never felt I looked as fat as I was!! Now I look back at pictures (which I did avoid) and see even when I was in between my weight now and my highest, I looked a whole lot heavier than I felt I looked. It's very weird. It's like I had my own magical miracle mirror in my mind. Some days it didn't work, but often it did! Now, I look great in my mirror and really surprise myself!!! And those pictures are horrifying, but at least I never had a really terrible body image, except as an adolescent, which is good because I have always been overweight or obese.

[julibaby 0]

YES....REALLY I DO TOO.....FEEL BIG......even if i have gone down 5 sizes, i still feel fat.....chubby, thick...i do not know why i feel this way, or if my mind is now used to this size, and i still need to go down a couple more sizes....i have been a size 8-10 for almost a year, and i feel too fat.....geeeez!!! what is that?????

[ichatter 0]

You guys are all so awesome! Thank you so much for telling me what I already knew about myself Eventually (Hopefully sooner rather then later) I will have an online survey that I will beg you to take :seeya: It should be very short, but the lack of any research on the mental changes we go through as we lose so much weight... i mean its insane... theres like nothing!!!! I will keep everyone updated :smile: Thanks Again! Email me if you want to talk more! I would love it! NicolemRubin@gmail.com

Nicole

[luckyfive101 6]

Funny you ask... I went to see my new grandson at the hospital the other day and I referred to myself as usual as "your fat granny"... Now, I am still no little thing, but I have lost 91 pounds and no longer have to go to the "Plus sizes" to buy clothes.. Guess it will take a while to think of myself as "normal"... good luck with your thesis!

[justpeachytexas 0]

I have been banded a little over 5 months. Last week I went shopping with my mother, first time she has seen me since surgery (becasue of where I live and where she lives I only see her twice a year). She took me to the petite section. I kinda freaked that I could fit into anything marked petite. I still see myself as size 20.

[shmack 0]

I'm the complete opposite. I feel smaller than I am. I always get a shock when I look in the mirror and realise that I am a lot larger than I feel.