So I started at 199. My highest non-pregnant weight of my life. The only time in my life when I didn't feel fat was when I was at 135. I am 5 feet 5 inches. So I am now down 20lbs and weight is 179 (big yay to that). But to me, I am still terribly obese. I see these photos of other women who are at the same weight as me and they look fantastic. I just don't understand how two people the same height and weight can look so different.

This road is both harder and easier than I expected. Maybe I am just frustrated because I am in the dreaded 3 week stall and feel like 20 pounds is all I am going to get out of this. Ugh

This is really common.....We pretty much avoid looking in mirrors at our bodies because we are discussed with ourselves. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence too. But in reality, it's totally not greener. Our bodies are very unique and will lose weight at different portions and then redistribute the weight as time goes by. You are a beautiful person and it's time to see your body in a different light......

Well, lets assume for a moment what you say is true - don't worry about it - you are in early days and still losing!!!!

REality of it is we are all different bone structures, build, carry weight differently etc. It just doesn't pay to compare yourself to others. Celebrate your own self and be happy with your progress is my advice!

Flip side of it is I could be all depressed because other people get surgery at a weight that I considered "pretty good" (under 200#). Well, I just don't compare myself to others, they have their own journey. I am at 175 now and everyone that knows me says i look amazing - well, some of that is my rather substantial build and some of it is that I used to weight 300#+ so of course 175 looks amazing by comparison!

There are a couple of sites online that let you see people who are the same height and weight and how different they look.

One is here: http://www.mybodygallery.com/

Here is another one: http://www.cockeyed.com/photos/bodies/heightweight.html

If you got surgery at such a low weight..you might be a perfectionist..meaning..you might push yourself and never feel good enough..but don't judge others as hard as you judge yourself. ..

So I started at 199. My highest non-pregnant weight of my life. The only time in my life when I didn't feel fat was when I was at 135. I am 5 feet 5 inches. So I am now down 20lbs and weight is 179 (big yay to that). But to me' date=' I am still terribly obese. I see these photos of other women who are at the same weight as me and they look fantastic. I just don't understand how two people the same height and weight can look so different.

This road is both harder and easier than I expected. Maybe I am just frustrated because I am in the dreaded 3 week stall and feel like 20 pounds is all I am going to get out of this. Ugh[/quote']

I suspect this is partially a height issue. Some people look fantastic at 179 because they are taller. I am under 5'4" and I saw someone who is my current weight (over 200 lbs) and she looked great, but when I asked her about her height, she was like 5-6 inches taller.

I think as long as your weight is moving in the right direction, you should be happy.