Does anyone have trouble with self perception?~ ~~Of course some days are better than others.~ Sometimes I can see the difference in my face, it’s a lot thinner than it was when I started.~ I know I’ve lost 22 lbs and that my clothes are a lot looser, but mentally I look at myself and still see a fat person.~ It also seems to be worse when I step on the scale and have a gain.~ I weigh only once a week.~ I look at pictures of myself and just cringe.~
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Any suggestions on how to improve my self perception?~ Also, I need journal buddies.~ Please feel free to stop by my journal and chime in.

I think it just takes time. I've lost almost a third of my total bodyweight. I know I must look different, because people tell me so and because I'm wearing smaller clothes. In pictures I look different. Sometimes I can even see it when I look in the mirror (and fortunately, that seems to be happening more and more often). But when I look down at myself, to me I look pretty much the same.

Someone mentioned in another thread about a plastic surgeon saying that a lot of patients couldn't see the difference before and after surgery to repair whatever flaw they had, even when the difference was considerable they still saw the old nose or scar or whatever.

Maybe you'll find this useful:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...66205239&type=1

I had the same problem when I lost weight. Even tho I lost a lot and was down to 126lbs (on a 5ft 7in frame), I simply couldnt see that I was thin. People told me I was and my clothes were all small, but I still saw a fat person in the mirror and talked of myself as fat. I've now put a bit back on and still think I'm fat lol!!! You have to try not to think about how you look and enjoy how you feel and be glad that you're fit and healthy

Jo xxx

I know exactly what you mean, but in reverse. I look in the mirror, or look down at my self and say, boy have i lost weight. But when its picture time... ug.

Hello!

I watch those "extreme" makeover weightloss transformation shows where, during the course of a single episode, people who are 200-300 (or more) pounds overweight diet and exercise down to 1/3 to 1/4 of their starting weight. The whole process takes a year and the people weigh in with their coaches once every three months.

When they strip down to their shorts (and sports bras for women) to do their quarterly weigh-in, I can *sort of* see that they've changed. Especially around the midsection for most of the men. But the changes don't *seem* that dramatic to me UNTIL the final montage at the end of the episode, when viewers are shown the starting image followed quickly by images that are 3-4 months apart. Then each stage looks DRASTICALLY different to me from each of the preceding stages. I think the changes don't *seem* as startling to me while I'm watching them happen because I'm seeing a gradual development.

I think it's probably just the way my brain works. I'm not as sensitive to details as some of my friends, who notice things that I would never see unless they're pointed out to me. For example, people have to be REALLY pregnant for me to notice. But I have friends that are, like, "Can't you see it in her face? Look how round her face is and her breasts are larger." I'm, like, Really? And it always turns out that they're right, the woman is pregnant. It seems to me that some people have a sharp eye for structural changes like this and some people, like me, don't notice until I can see direct comparisons between two different states.

Yes, all the time. Like you, I can see some difference; can feel some difference, but not enough yet for anyone else to notice a difference. So it makes me wonder if what I see/feel is real. Like the advice that was given, I'm going to start taking photos of myself (cringe) and using that.

I met a woman who had gastric bypass and lost CONSIDERABLE weight. She still wore HUGE clothes. When I mentioned she was going to have to get a new wardrobe, she said she still saw the same big person, and didn't know how to change.

And even though it's depressing at times, I'm not going to give up. I look at your weights and I see how far you all have come. What I wouldn't give to be where you are.

Never look down at yourself.
Figuratively or Literally!

Use a mirror....

One of my cousins sent this picture to me earlier this summer when I first started this diet. I don't know if it's true, but I thought it was a sweet way to tell me to believe in myself.

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I swear, the more I lose, the fatter I feel.

I've never been thin so I don't really know or have the right to give advices, I guess everything takes time. It takes years for me to realize I'm fat >.>

I hung out with a buddy of mine tonight and I thought of this thread... My buddy is a personal trainer and he said that there are two different types of clients that really challenge him: 1.) The "I can't do it" clients, and 2.) the "I can't see it" clients.

The "I can't do it" people resist the workouts. When he tells them they're ready to move up to a heavier weight or a faster speed, they tell him that they can't do it. They'll yell at him. Some people have cried real tears. And then, even after they do the harder workout and succeed, they still try to backtrack and work at lower weights or a slower speed during the next workout. Even succeeding doesn't prove to them that they *can* do it. My buddy doesn't think they're faking or being lazy. In his experience, he says, this type of person is really just afraid to try and then fail. They expect to fail, so success feels more like a lucky accident that can't be repeated than an earned accomplishment to them. So my buddy has to constantly remind this type of client of their successes and reassure them about their own strength and ability.

The "I can't see it" people don't seem to see the physical changes they're making. Other people in the gym will compliment them and comment on how much they've changed. Total strangers will ask them for diet and workout tips. But this type of person will still tell my buddy, their trainer, that they look "so flabby" or that they feel like they're "going backwards" or just generally lament how they're giving 100% and not seeing the results. My buddy thinks this type of client is afraid of actually becoming the person that they've worked so hard to become. Or that they're afraid that some outside force is going to intervene and take success away from them. Or that they're worried that they're going to do something to themselves that will cause them to lose all they've gained. My buddy says he thinks this type of client doesn't want to claim the changes and celebrate the accomplishment because, somewhere inside their head, they don't believe it will last. He says he tells these clients that they've earned success, that they deserve it because they've worked hard and sweat buckets for it, that nobody can take it away from them because they're too strong now to let that happen.

Anyways, my buddy and I were talking about my diet tonight and this topic came up. I remembered this thread and thought you folks might find it interesting.

That's interesting trillex. Thanks for sharing.

Because I have yo-yo'd. Not rapidly, but I've lost weight before and kept it off for years and then it came back on and THEN some. So I get this fear. It's happened before so it can happen again.

I find it's hard to maintain my motivation. I started this for poor reasons really. I was tired of being pissed off and envious of my sister who had lost a lot of weight. I wasn't being a good sister. I hated seeing their hipbones (actual hatred ...I still remember my rage that she could survive on popcorn and coffee and lose forty pounds).

But resentment can only carry one so far. I'm hope I'm establishing healthier habits. The thing about Atkins is that it doesn't SOUND like a healthy diet to other people, so I won't discuss it. I don't want them calculating the fat in my diet.

Oh this is rambling. I'm clearly struggling tonight. My apologies.

I can't tell either. What I think is even WORSE is when I lose a little weight, then get USED to it, then get complacent and put them back on !!!