I started this journey last July and had my surgery on Sept 4th 2009. I am down 74 pounds now and feel great. I see the number on the scale going down to number that I have never seen before and I am amazed. When I see people I know they make the biggest deal on how great I am looking. And I believe that they see me just as they are telling me. BUT I want to see me like how they do. When I look in the mirror I still see 288 pounds.

When is my head going to catch up with my body?

I am down over 130 pounds in the last 9 months and don't see it in the mirror either. But I put before and after pictures next to each other the other day. Man, what a high!! Try it!!

PS. People are going to hate me for posting this picture 100 times but I love it!

I have the same problem...your body may start to get small and everyone thinks you look great, but that fat person's mentality is still inside you...and doesn't wanna leave, apparently. I haven't figured it out either, but I am sure it takes time....hang in there!

I am down over 130 pounds in the last 9 months and don't see it in the mirror either. But I put before and after pictures next to each other the other day. Man, what a high!! Try it!!

PS. People are going to hate me for posting this picture 100 times but I love it!

I love this pic, I look at it 100 times.

It is only 40 lbs for me and I am a new bandster. Some days I wake up and look in the mirror and smile. Others I see someone bigger than when I started. If I feel like I have had a great week and the scale confirms it, I honestly look different to myself.

I know one day when I see that goal weight, actual muscle mass, and I walk into a store without "Big and Tall" in the name I have arrived.

There is no magic answer to when your head is going to catch up with the reality and the plethora of compliments around you. Hang in there... you are on a great path to your goal.

defintely looking at before/current pics of yourself will help!! But for me, I am such an all or nothing person, I didn't honestly start seeing a difference till I was about 20-30 lbs to goal!! And I have lost 140 lbs!! So it is bizarre. Now people are so shocked when they see me...but when I look in the mirror I am not shocked at all....I just look normal to me. I never identified with being fat, even though I was overweight my whole life....weird!!!

This is why I have to try on clothes that I think won't fit me yet. If you have a pair of pants that you just couldn't zip before, try the pants on instead of just holding them up. I think it may take quite some time for my head to catch up.

you all are so wonderful. I am going to get a before and after pic of me and put it up.

I tell people that say how i am looking so good to never stop telling me how good i am looking because one day i am going to know in my head that i do look as good as they say i do.

you all are so wonderful. I am going to get a before and after pic of me and put it up.

I tell people that say how i am looking so good to never stop telling me how good i am looking because one day i am going to know in my head that i do look as good as they say i do.

One of the suggestions in our support group was putting up a before picture on your mirror. Then each morning while you're getting ready you just have to glance over to see just how far you've come!

One of the suggestions in our support group was putting up a before picture on your mirror. Then each morning while you're getting ready you just have to glance over to see just how far you've come!

While this may work for some. It was so much more exciting to me to see the before picture 9 months later.

PS. I am still pissed that they didn't question my license picture in Boston or DFW last week at the airport.

Every morning when I get dressed I get my clothes out and my brain says "No way your butt is going to fit in those little pants!" and they are now too big. But I guess I have to give myself a break after 16 years of being big, it is going to take some time to accept reality.

PS. I am still pissed that they didn't question my license picture in Boston or DFW last week at the airport.

Oh my gosh, I didn't think about it until I read this. I weigh less than my driver's license says. (and I lied about my weight on that .... really weighed more)

I have the same feelings. I was banded March 2008 and have lost over 130lbs. When I look in the mirror I don't see it, even when I look at before and after. Then some days I will see a slight difference. I still buy clothes that are big for me too. When people say I am looking good or anything, I smile and say thanks. In my mind I am wondering why are they lying and what is they want.

I am hoping I will snap out of it soon. One of the support groups we were told it usually takes a year and half after the weight loss for the self image to boost. So I am watching the clock.

I have lost all of my weight 4 times and every time I was still miserable and then gained the weight back. I have now lost about 95 lbs and I'm taking steps to make sure that what happened before doesn't happen again. I am fixing my thinking, not my weight. I just read "Women, Food, and God" and that really has changed my life. I gave up the scale and now I know that it isn't about the weight but how I feel about me. I am happy today with me and my body (even at 225 lbs). I am eating healthy (and that's so much easier now with the lapband) I am enjoying every bite and giving my body the nutrition it needs. It took 50 years to get to this point but I have finally learned the big lesson.

congrats on your weight loss.. I"m the total opposite almost a year and only lost 30 lbs.. i'm soo sad.

CONGRATS :thumbup:

I have lost all of my weight 4 times and every time I was still miserable and then gained the weight back. I have now lost about 95 lbs and I'm taking steps to make sure that what happened before doesn't happen again. I am fixing my thinking, not my weight. I just read "Women, food, and God" and that really has changed my life. I gave up the scale and now I know that it isn't about the weight but how I feel about me. I am happy today with me and my body (even at 225 lbs). I am eating healthy (and that's so much easier now with the LAP-BAND®) I am enjoying every bite and giving my body the nutrition it needs. It took 50 years to get to this point but I have finally learned the big lesson.

that is great that you have goten to a place with yourself that you are so happy with. i will get there too some day.