I'd be interested in learning how others relate to their body image, and, in fact, if such an interpretation is correct.

Having been overweight for most of my life, I developed a harsh judgment of my body and a certain level of anger and distrust regarding its and my inability to lose weight. When I discovered low carb and began the Atkins diet, I had little hope of success after such a string of failures. It took me nearly a year to reach my goal of 132 pounds, and despite being a success story in the new Atkins book, I still felt too fat and flabby. Since then I've experimented with my diet a bit and lost a few more pounds of fat. I also added some pounds of muscle by following a structured but not overly strenuous exercise plan. All along my plan has been to tighten up and lose more fat.

While I didn't discount my success, my mind at times, has had a very hard time grasping the changes. (For example, I have frequently began any clothes shopping by heading to the wrong department or size section of the store). While I have lost little actual weight in the last year, an impedance test indicated clearly that I have lost fat but gained muscle weight and am slowly reconfiguring my body.

While I still see areas that could use a reduction in fat and/or an increase in muscle that I may eventually achieve, I am only now accepting that I am at an acceptable weight for my height. I don't really need to lose more. In fact, if I gained a few, it wouldn't be a crisis. This is shocking and also a bit scary. The fact is, people have been telling me this, but I dismissed their opinion. It was only several nights ago in a yoga class in front of a mirrored wall, that I suddenly didn't recognize that woman before me as myself. Such a strange disconnect between reality and the fat me in my brain.

So I was wondering if others have had this experience (i.e. shopping in the wrong departments, seeing themselves as heavier than they are, brushing aside the compliments of others, thinking they need to lose more when perhaps they don't, etc.)????

I can relate. I still go right or the biggest clothes on the rack, even though they end up being too baggy on me. I even, recently, purchased a pair of pants that are too big. I need a belt with them, but I couldn't get over thinking they were "the right size."

I have had issues with my body all my life. Even though I was a slender kid, my step-father (a rather nasty man) used to tell me I was fat. I developed all sorts of strange eating issues behind that, and still have some of them. I never discuss them, though, and am only beginning to face some of them now.

As a young woman, I could not understand why people thought I was so thin, sometimes too thin. I felt very fat. Like your mirror experience, it was only when I saw photos that I could sometimes see the reality. Then later, I actually did put on a lot of weight.

Currently, I don't like my body at all. I have the middle aged belly, even though I don't have a lot of excess fat elsewhere. A few months ago, I had major surgery. I really ate like crazy during my recovery, and gained about 12 pounds back. Now, I am watching things again and have been losing again. I still have 6 pounds to go before I'm at my pre-surgery weight. After that, I hope to continue to lose back down to my goal.

Ultimately, my real goal is to accept myself as a fine woman, even if I don't have an excellent figure. That is the hard part. My head can tell me varying messages at the same time.

Jan, you have done some a fantastic job of meeting your goals! You're quite the inspiration. Thank you!

My bad body image started very young as well. I was teased and insulted so many times. What a shame that adults do that to children. Anyway, I've been "on a diet" for about 60 years, and to have finally gotten to a place where I feel like I have control is wonderful. I'll be working on the image now as I'd like to be able to acknowledge where I am in the present and escape those tired old images in my head.

I am the opposite. I am fairly confident and even at my heaviest I'd look in the mirror and think I looked ok, this was just as damaging as i didn't have the motivation to change. It wasn't until physically I noticed I was too heavy- unable to reach certain places, do certain things that I made the decision to change.

As I lose weight I am happy with how I look and appreciate that I do look better, and although there are certain parts of my naked body I dislike immensley, only my husband gets to see them and he loves me regardless.

I am totally like you Jan. I can't stop thinking of myself as fat. I still have 28 lbs before I get to goal, but I've lost almost 40 lbs. But I still think of myself as "the fat girl", "the fat mom", "the fat friend". I was out with my girlfriends recently. I've been the fattest one in the group for several years, but this last time we were seated by a large mirror in the pub we were at. And I totally fit in with them. I looked like the rest of them, as opposed to the old days when I was visibly much larger than all of them. I actually had to do a double take because I couldn't immediately recognize which one of us was me! I recently went to try on new jeans because all of mine are falling off. I'm so used to being an 18, so I thought that I would try a 16. Way too big. I stood there looking at myself in the dressing room thinking - this is a 16? So I tried on another 16 - maybe that last one was sized wrong or something? Nope, they were baggy too! Then I tried a 14...STILL too big. I was needing a size 12, but the old me (who never tried anything on when shopping to avoid seeing how big I was in the mirror) would have just grabbed those 18's and paid and got outta there. When I am doing laundry, some times I hold my pants up and feel this bizarre feeling. These fit me? These pants fit my body. These clothes FIT on MY BODY....

When I was 14 a teenage boy called me fatty. I then spent the rest of my life trying to make sure nobody could call me that again. Just to torture myself more, I took up a career in showbusiness where size 6 women are considered chunky. No wonder I had body image issues, including a short bout of anorexia at age 17 and bulimia for 26 years thereafter. I also looked in a mirror once, in my 30s, and literally didn't recognise myself. The way the mirror was positioned in a shop window caused a freak optical illusion and I thought I was looking at a woman inside the shop. I clearly remember wishing I could look like her. Then as I turned away I realised I WAS her. Immediately, the reflection in the mirror didn't look so good to me any more. That's body dysmorphic disorder. So, you are certainly not alone in dealing with these issues. It's fairly common, in various degrees of intensity. The good news is I'm 99.9% over all that now. I've finally accepted myself as being okay and it sounds as though you are almost there too. Congratulations on reaching and surpassing your goal and reshaping your body to the way you wanted it to be.

I thought I was fat as a kid when I was rail thin, because when I sat on a wall my thighs went flat at the sides. I wonder who put that in my head? Not my mother, who suffered my teenage misery when I thought I was fat and tried to reassure me, in vain.

As a teen I did get plump and somehow wound up with ill fitting underwear and a sense of being totally unattractive. I was a UK 14 at 14 and a UK 18 at 18 though actually clothes were smaller then (in the 60s) I think. I went to college with a size 18 tweed skirt suit! Actually it was a really nice suit and at 30+ I'd have loved it. All through college I wore a long velvet skirt and a black sweater - I did wash them occasionally!!

I hit my highest weight at 25 or so - 85 kg or around 186 lb. Then I went to Germany and despite the beer I eventually slimmed down to about 65 (by means of what I now see was a low carb diet). Being slimmer got me in all kinds of trouble and I eventually - over several years - crept back up to about 75 kg. When I got married at 34 I slimmed down to 73 kg to get into my beautiful silk wedding dress. On the photos I look - healthy! When I was pregnant I rather liked my body. After all it was supposed to be that way.

Then work stress and a love of food piled on the pounds again. I got down to 68 kg again once with ww and bought some gorgeous expensive clothes, some of which I kept (thank heavens). But I don't think I felt that good then. When I was buying a bra a stupid shop assistant told me I'd never find one that fitted because my breasts were so floppy. Gee thanks!
Funnily enough, now they are less floppy. Actually this time, losing with LC, I've really lost differently and now at 150 lb my body has shape. I have a trimish waist, a fairly shapely bosom and the rest is kind of OK too. Of course there are imperfections, but at 58 I think it looks better than ever. So go figure.

Thank you, Scottie. I so wish I had had your confidence. I understand your point that it could be damaging, but it sound so lovely to me to move through life without negative judgement from self or others. I'm working on it.

Back in my 20's I nearly starved following the original WWs, and had an almost identical experience to the one you describe with the shop window! It really rattled me and I guess I must have decided, like you, that the image wasn't so great if it was me. Young and foolish.

I'm so glad that you are 99% over this as it gives me hope that I can overcome it to!

I can really relate to your dressing room experience. I've done that, too. On my last shop I bought my smallest size yet and then my daughter said, "why are you still wearing baggy pants?" I'm also a bit freaked out by the laundry. I'll put things on hangers and say to myself "this can't possibly fit me" even though I logically know it does. It truly is a bizarre feeling as you say.

I think so many women go up and down with their weight and it is due to so many factors. I gained with pregnancies and never quite lost it all each time. And stress is a big factor, and I've had my share of that as well. How horrid of the shop assistant! So many people say quite thoughtless things that really make others feel bad.

I'm so thankful that I discovered low carb, and now with the addition of exercise, I am smaller than I've ever been. So it is never too late!

Hi Janet. I too have been overweight most of my life. I've been surprising myself in regards to just this. Body image. I was in the yard the other day with a family member, and saw a reflection in the door of my aunt and some man I didn't recognize at all, which I knew logically was me. Very very strange. Tis guy clearly was much smaller than me. Being a guy I automatically sized him up and had the thought "I could take him! EASY!" LOL.

Clothing is an issue for me as well. I keep thinking I should be wearing a certain size, and when I put on that size it's clearly too big. When I put on the right size clothing, most of which is new due to the weight loss, I look wondering "how the heck am I going to fit in this" shirt/pants/jacket.. It's as if my brain refuses to wrap itself around the fact I'm not as large as I was.

And lastly there's this idea floating in my head about how long this can last. I've done the weight roller coaster before and always end up right back where I started. The biggest difference is with low carb I am not hungry. But I almost think for sure this size I am at is a temporary thing and not permanent. I don't want to say it's like magic, but I always had to work much harder at weigh loss than I have been doing.

I can gain and lose 15 lbs several times a day, according to my perception.

I don't know, I don't think there's a cure, but I've just sort of accepted that my perception is way off, so I shouldn't put too much weight (har har) into any cues of my physical size.

I chuckled at your story about your reaction to your own reflection. It really is amazing how distorted our perception of our body can be. I keep hoping that over time my actual new size will sink into my brain!

I hope there is a cure, Kristen! I reached my goal in December 09, and I know my body image is somewhat better now, but I hope that it will continue to improve. It would be nice to "see" my actual self in my mind.