I recently went for a vacation for 4wks and took lot of pictures. When came home and watched my own pictures I was very disgusted with myself as I looked wayyyyyyyyy too much fat, out of shape and flabby. I was surprised that in reality I dont feel that fat unless I am looking into big mirror or watching my own photographs.

So, I was wondering if any of you feel the same way? I mean do you feel fat or don't feel fat when in reality you are obese? Just curious to know how different people feel differently or I am the one who has a problem! THX.

About six years ago I had lost 100 pounds and was down to 173 from 273. I'm only 5'3", so I was still quite obese. However, I felt amazing and I was really proud of myself. It wasn't a picture that gave me my reality check though; it was my mother. I was complaining that someone had told me I looked frail, and my mother who I think was trying to make me feel better said, "You aren't frail. You've lost a lot, but you're still fat." :blink:Well, let's just say that is definietly not the support I was looking for.

I still have that in the back of my mind, so even though I have lost 60 pounds (BTW...I got back up to 283) I still don't feel much difference. The only time I do is when I pick up an article of clothing I think looks really small and realize that this is the size I wear now. The funny thing is that these "tiny" clothes I look at now will look huge in a few months. It's all relative.

As a footnote, I'll add that back then I WAS frail, so to speak. I had lost the weight way too fast on an extreme diet, and I was actually quite sick. A couple of months later I nearly died from extremely low BP and gall bladder trouble that was almost never properly diagnosed. The moral to that story is that I'm so happy to be doing this a much healthier way this time!:biggrin:

I love that we are talking about this! I know that I am fat, I weigh 240 lbs and am 5' 3". I would NEVER verbally describe myself to anyone as anything other than overweight. But in my own head I guess that dont feel/think of myself as fat because I am always shocked when I see pictures of myself or look at myself in the mirror sideways. Then I am like "OMG are you kidding".

I don't understand how my minds disconnect from my weight reality and it makes me fearful that my head and my body will never be on the same page.

I think it is funny that some of us feel fat all the time and others are quite surprised when they see themselves. I have also had quite a few experiences over the years where people (strangers and people I know) feel the need to tell me I am fat, As if I ever need reminding. My fat friend at work and I just confronted a group of women who always make comments about our weight/what we eat and how we look. It was quite liberating.

I have lost 69 pounds and have 45 more to take off (maybe more, we'll see). I still feel like a thin gal trapped in a fat body. I am still classified in an "obese" catagory, but just feel "overweight". At least I no longer feel "morbidly obese."

This journey has been pretty good for me, with the exception of thinning hair. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Looks means quite a lot to me as a woman and I hope I will feel better about the way I look very soon. When I feel better about myself, I know it shows in my overall attitude.

Over the years I have noticed I get treated very differently by others depending on how I look that day.

My son (age 27) has noticed it too, so I know it's not just all in my head. An example of this is when I was shopping for a used car. I take my son with me as he knows more about cars. When I go to a dealer wearing my hair in it's natural stick straight style, they act like I don't have enough money to buy the cars I am looking at and they won't let me test drive a car without someone riding along with me. I can go back to the same dealer after curling my hair (same clothes/same make-up), and they treat me so much better. They just toss me the keys to any car and say, "take it out on the interstate and see how you like it." I come back and they have another ready for me to take out. It happens all the time! I really do believe that as I get thinner, people treat me better. sad, but true.

Thin people are treated better than fat people...in my opinion. I have been thin and I have been fat. But to me...in my mind...I always look fat. But I do agree with the poster who said she is treated better when her hair is curled. I know for a fact that when I am thin I am treated better...like I count!

This is something I anticipate I'll have to work VERY hard on as I lose. I've always felt fat, from childhood, with the exception of a very brief window, after college, when I felt healthy and fit, and thin.

In reality, I was not fat. It was weird, because when I got fat, my mind and body meshed---and I honestly did not see myself any differently than I always had. (It was harder to admit the fatness, that way, too.)

Lots of work to do.

I have always been fat. I was a fat kid, a fat teen and a fat adult. I too had a few years while I was in college where instead of gaining as a freshman I lost so was a normal weight. It piled up to 310 after that and no matter what my scale tells me I still feel 310. I am 5'8 1/2 and 196 right now.....I feel better than I have in years but I still feel fat. Even if I get to goal now I think I will always feel the same inside.

Thin attractive people are always treated better. They don't know it though. Saw an OPRAH years ago that stuck with me:

They hired thin attractive models to drop folders, ask for directions and even money out on Chicago Streets. Everyone of them was helped including getting cab fare. They did the same scenarios with heavier less attractive people and far fewer of them were helped. On lady asked directions to a building she was standing in front of and a man who just exited same building ignored her.

The kicker was the reaction of the "pretty" people as they watched the video. They were shocked and never knew that everyone was not treated kindly. The less attractive ones knew though.

So sad. I look forward to being treated nicely as I grow thinner. I am generally a nice person, and many people feed off that, but I have been treated poorly due to appearance.

For me, I'm an attractive, fat woman and I've always been one. With so much more to lose, I'll probably still be a fat woman by time I reach goal. Trust me that won't be a feeling, it'll be a fact, given my BMI. But at least, I'll be a stronger and healthier one :thumbup:. I'm happy each day that I make better choices for myself and it's showing on the scale and more. To me, feeling good about myself has nothing to do about whether I feel "fat or skinny" but it has everything to do with the kind of person that I am. For once in my life, I actually like the path that I'm on. I've stopped chasing quick fixes to make me "skinny", but have embraced a lifestyle that will be make me the best of version of myself that I could ask for.

Best to everyone on this journey!!

Lauren

Edited January 31, 201016 yr by Diamondgirl81

Well said, Lauren!

I'm the same way, I feel thinner then I really look. Even when I look down at my body, I don't think it's that fat. But then I look at a picture and BAM! There's a Fatty staring back at me. It sucks, but I know it will get better.

I could have written this myself!!! Sometimes I'm feeling great and beautiful, then I see a picture and it's like it's not even me and I hate myself for getting so fatty fat fat... Taking pictures is meserable becasue I feel like I have to pose and hold my chin and face just right and stand behind anyone else in the picture to hide my body.... It's a lot of work trying to hide being fat!

I actually go to the store and still reach for the 18's. I think it is out of habit. I am now a size 10. I am so glad to see this post, I was starting to worry about myself.

I too have noticed people talking to me more at my office, strangers being more flirty, and sadly the loss of some of my heavier friends.

Sometimes I wonder my poor efforts towards weight loss specially exercise is coming from my mental picture of not feeling that fat. Do you think our weight loss efforts are what our mental picture is?