And if there was ever any *doubt* about this surgery, well, let me just say that pictures don't lie! WOW. I am really more than ever ready for this. I won't be sharing them for a long time, not until I have some good afters to go with the befores.

I've always had reverse-body-dismorphia (meaning I always see myself as slimmer than reality)...but wow the pictures just tell the story. I wonder how I will feel after losing 100+ pounds, because people always comment on the fact that their head can't catch up to what they see in the mirror (meaning their head still sees them as FAT). So since I always see myself as slimmer than reality, I wonder if at one point my head and my body will match?

Anyone else wonder about this stuff? :confused1:

Interestingly enough, I'm the same. I always look in the mirror and see a sexy dude!! LOL. It wasn't until August of this year when I hit my all time high that I actually saw a fat dude. I've never had issues with ladies of any size. They've all found me attractive/charming (if I do say so myself...LOL). And unfortunately that led me to beleive that I was just fine as I was and that I didn't need to change. When I saw that scale read 340lbs I nearly flipped (not that it was physically possible for me to do...)!! Now that I'm down to 298 I think I got my sexy back but once I take those "before" pics and compare them to my "after" pics, I'm sure I'll realize how much I was just fooling myself. Don't get me wrong, its great to have self-esteem, but I didn't do myself any justice by being so disillusioned and letting myself get so big.

Great thread, thanks for starting it!!

I have the same "problem". It is somewhat a good thing, because I feel more confident. If I could really see my, as I see on photos, I would hide a lot more.

But I also like curved women.

I am having my surgery in a month and you got me thinking.

How will I see my self after WLS? Probably a lot more skinny, that I really am. OR?

I remember, when I was underweight 15 years ago - I saw myself as normal.

I am sure, that I can see the difference. Maybe it will feel like coming home.

Back to the body, I really want to be in.

I was a plus size model a couple a month ago - feeling confident before, but when I saw the photos. WHAT!!!!!!???

I would want anyone to see them, but it was too late, and they were used, so a lot of people from my old shool, earlier boy friends ect must have seen them. :camera:

So strange. I am really curious, how I will se myself when loosing the extra baggage.

My sister also see herself as more skinny. She was operated with a BMI on 40, is now down to 33 and feel all normal. She has subscribed to a dating site, writing she has a normal weight. She asked me, if it was OK, if people would see her as normal? I told her, that a lot would probably see her as curvy girl, but not normal - she didnt like the answer. She still need to loose 40-50 pounds to be in the "normal" section. She cant see it herself. She is wearing really tight clothes already. I am glad she feels so confident, and wouldnt want to say anything -she really is beautiful. I would not wear leggings and a short t-shirt, having the same BMI. She is celebrating all the weight coming off:wub:

She is looking so great and healthy - but I feel that she sees herself as a different size and much more skinny, than she really is. Just like I would do.

Using her as an example for what I would do and see when loosing weight. I will probably see the same - when loosing a lot of weight, I will probably see myself in the normal category, before I really am. Will be back in half a year and give you an updateB)

When I was slimmer I thought I was fat (20+ years ago), now that I'm fatter I think I am slimmer! It really surprises me when I see photos.... I think OMG! That giant woman can't be me!

When I see photos of me from when I thought I was fat, I think OMG! I was so cute and slim!

My head is all screwed up! Hope I can get it right this time.

I'm the exact same way -- when I look at photos of myself I'm always surprised -- this past summer we went to Alaska for vacation and someone took a photo of me from behind and I was stunned. It seared itself into my brain because I was so surprised. I've always had a big butt, but this was out of the ordinary. sigh. Anyway, I can hardly wait till this weight is gone so that I can put up befores and afters too

I am the same way! Which is why I hate getting my picture taken, because that's when I can see just how huge I am. Especially when I'm standing next to other people who are a normal size. Or I'll be at work feeling good thinking that I look good today then I see myself in the mirrror and think OMG I lookso fat and horrible. I cannot WAIT to actually look like what my brain thinks I look like. Sometimes when I'm out with my mom, I'll be like "Mom, am I as huge as that girl?" because I want to know how others see me. I'm getting sleeved Nov 16th and when it all was approved and finally became a reality I was SO nervous and having second thoughts but now that I've got it thru my head that YES it's going to hurt, and YES it's going to change my life, I'm cool with that. Now I can just concentrate on preparing myself and quit stressing myself.

I am going to take my before pics next week, not really looking forward to it but I know I will want to see the changes that have happened in the next few months. And I always love looking at other peoples b/a pics.

I had the same issue pre-op, and I attribute a lot of it to the fact that I never really allowed my fatness to slow me down. I dated A LOT, I partied A LOT, I was like the cheerleader, and go getter in my circle of friends. I never dated ugly men, I was never desperate or promiscuous because I was fat, I just a fun-loving, outgoing, life of the party type girl, and I seriously never realized how big my body was pre-op.

My mind is still kind of playing tricks on me. I wear a size 0 at Gap, Size 2 in the diva jeans at Old Navy, but I still reach for the 4s and 6s, I still buy medium and end up returning shirt after shirt for smalls. I really struggled with sizes and my brain not catching up for a long time. The first 100lbs dropped in less than 6 months for me so it was a whirlwind, I skipped sizes, and couldn't keep up mentally with all the changes. I loved it, but it was pretty crazy. It does get better, and I'm finally grasping the fact that I can wear and look fabulous in a size XSmall from Old Navy sweaters and tops.

I don't see myself as fat in the mirror anymore at all. It's when I grabbed clothes hold them up to my body and realize the shirt wraps all the way around to my back that I've grabbed the wrong size. In the mirror, I see a skinny chick with super saggy skinbags for boobs LOL.