I was banded 12/3/12 and I am down 58lbs. My problem is I have noticed that I have become my own worse critic. People keep asking me if I can see the difference and all I can say I FEEL the difference. I honestly dont see a difference and people look at me like I am crazy. I honestly am not fishing for compliments from friends and co-workers. I made a goal to buy a new outfit at 50lbs but when I did go shopping I kept pointing out my arms or legs and finally got discouraged so I chose not to buy anything. Has anyone else gone through this? I should be proud of my accomplishments so far but all I do is look at my problem areas. I joke with a few friends that I must have developed body dysmorphia since I am not seeing what they are seeing. Maybe I am just being too hard on myself. I even read an article that maybe my mind hasnt caught up with physical changes yet. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else?

A quote from the pros " it takes along time for our heads to catch up to our bodies". So what you're feeling is normal.

All I can say is WTG! You're doing great.

I'm right there with you. I'm down 60 lbs and people stop me and complement me and I feel like I can't see it that much. I think I was in denial when I was 60 lbs heavier that I looked as bad as I probably did and now I think I look like I always have. But things that I do notice is how much easier it is to fit in chairs with arms (I use to almost panic when I saw them and had to sit in one) and like you said, I feel so much better. I think it does take a while for the brain to catch up to the physical change. But then I can still see the bulge in my stomach and my thighs are so lumpy. It's such a long road! But hang in there, we will all get through this together!

Seems weird I have read a blog and a post about the same thing today,interesting. I'm just on my pre-op so I don't know what I will be feeling when I lose the weight. I do know that we put on the weight for many different reasons and one of them are for security even though we may have felt insecure with the weight. So when we start to lose weight we become really insecure. We can bet ourselves up, not take complements well, not like attention especially from men or vice versa. We can eventually put the weight back on if we don't come to term with what's going on. I know I put on the weight to not get attention from men because I was afraid of cheating on my husband when we started having trouble in our marriage. But sense then I've become more secure in my relationship so I'm hoping that won't be a problem when I lose weight, I guess will see. Anyway I don't know if this helped at all, but it just got me thinking being that I've seen the topic three times this morning. Good luck.

~~~Stephanie

I have similar feelings. After having lost 57 pounds since Jan all I can see is my new turkey neck, bat wing arms, saggy stomach, and jelly thighs. I am ecstatic about the weight loss but still have 43 pounds to go and hard to picture what these areas will look like then. I never realized how much gravity can affect us. I am already saving to take care of these side effects . The good is that I have had a lot of NSV's. Can now take a bath without getting stuck getting out, I can sit in a chair with arms, my clothes are all falling off, I have a lot more energy, can walk up my stairs without getting winded, the list goes on.