so i have lost 82 lbs total including pre-op and post op. i am 5 weeks out. i was a size 24 and 333 lbs at the beginning and today i am 251 lbs and a size 18/20. i get lots of compliments about my progress and every one says i look great and i feel great too but i dont feel like i look 82 pounds smaller. its weird, i know but when i compare body pictures, its very difficult for me to see. Can anyone understand?

Sometimes, in my,opinion our mind hasnt caught up with our weight loss. I remember ine time I lost 64 pounds on my own, and my friend told one day, that I wasnt fat at all. I just couldn't process that, I wasnt seeing what she was seeing...but when I gained all my weight back, and looked at those pictures, I saw exactly what she meant....you have a major weightloss accomplishment, congrats!!!

First off let me say congratulations on 82 pounds!! I'm a little jealous

I get, it I think it'a hard to see, because though we are smaller we still have the same body shape as we did before. So looking from our standpoint it might be hard to see.

I am 5 months out today and 60lb down and feel the same way I started at 240 and am 180 now and ppl at work alwys say look how small u r but I feel like a cow. When I get really down I pull out a top and pants from before my surgery and put them on it helps put it in perspective. I also set my back ground picture on my phone as a side by side of me before and now so every time I look at my phone I'm reminded of the progress I have made. I think alot of us feel this way.

This is totally normal. We all have these experiences...... I lost 80 lbs and yes I do see it. I went from a 1x to a size 6. But I had a lot less to lose than you have. So it will take longer to be so evident. But it will happen. My client lost 130 lbs and she doesn't see it until she looks at her picture on her phone when she was heavier. So that helped her see the difference too. But she saids she still feels the same. It will take time for your mind to catch up to the new body size and that's okay. we didn't get big over night and I did not realize how big I was...... Now I'm totally loving my skinniness and am eating a healthy diet......

I have lost 85 pounds, and I can see the change, but still look very big to me. I saw someone today who looks like she weighs what I did, and that helped me see how much smaller I am than I was.

Does this fall into the category of "they can fix our stomach but not our head" ? I believe that, for me at least, part of the reason I have a weight problem is because I see myself as having a weight problem. I know it's more complicated than that, but I identify myself as being a big person & have since childhood, even when I wasn't all that big (I see that now in retrospect. I think this shows the power of thought though -- where our beliefs go, so our reality will follow. If we're not careful.

I also lost a great deal of weight on my own many years ago, and I experienced what Diamoneyed referred to -- I really thought I still looked the way I did when I was heavier. And I suspect that's why I ended up gaining it back. I'm hoping this insight will help me work on that mental/emotional part when I too am on the losers bench. I know it will be harder when I'm at that point, but even this early I'm going to keep it in mind. I want to think of myself as healthy. I don't even want to identify myself as a WLS patient. I want to identify myself as a healthy, active woman.

82 lbs is a huge accomplishment in such a short time. Give your head a chance to catch up, and keep your eye on the prize -- you're doing great! Maybe try measuring other types of successes, like setting and achieving exercise goals? Take the focus off how you look and look at how much better you must FEEL having lost 82 lbs. That's awesome!

I was the same way starting at 305 and didn't notice a difference till about 220 ish. Now I'm 167 and I can notice every 5 pounds I lose. The smaller you get you will notice more its just getting all the bulk off first.

Some people myself included can drop an immense amount of weight and only lose say 1-2 sizes tops. We carry the weight VERY differently than most people and its no big deal. I am a very tall person and I know my body doesn't look like it weighs as much as I do, but I can easily drop 100 pounds and still wear the same size.

that helps alot. Thank you!

Some people myself included can drop an immense amount of weight and only lose say 1-2 sizes tops. We carry the weight VERY differently than most people and its no big deal. I am a very tall person and I know my body doesn't look like it weighs as much as I do, but I can easily drop 100 pounds and still wear the same size.

Some people myself included can drop an immense amount of weight and only lose say 1-2 sizes tops. We carry the weight VERY differently than most people and its no big deal. I am a very tall person and I know my body doesn't look like it weighs as much as I do, but I can easily drop 100 pounds and still wear the same size.

Congrats!! it could be that you see you self in the mirror everyday and everyone don't see every day so the notice the difference

Sorry to hear that you can't see the difference, but believe me, you're looking great!

Some people myself included can drop an immense amount of weight and only lose say 1-2 sizes tops. We carry the weight VERY differently than most people and its no big deal. I am a very tall person and I know my body doesn't look like it weighs as much as I do' date=' but I can easily drop 100 pounds and still wear the same size.[/quote']

This is ssssoooo me! I gained a lot of weight and still fit in the same size, so I know that once I lose weight that I should not go by my clothing size because it will discourage me.

so i have lost 82 lbs total including pre-op and post op. i am 5 weeks out. i was a size 24 and 333 lbs at the beginning and today i am 251 lbs and a size 18/20. i get lots of compliments about my progress and every one says i look great and i feel great too but i dont feel like i look 82 pounds smaller. its weird' date=' i know but when i compare body pictures, its very difficult for me to see. Can anyone understand?[/quote']

So is anyone else a little jealous of her weight loss in 5 WEEKS?!?!?! I'm praying for 50 lbs in 5 weeks, lol... As of Friday last week, since surgery, I'd lost only 15 lbs... 27 overall with the pre-op diet... I weighed the same as you the day of surgery.... I'm not happy I'm such a slow loser... What are you doing to drop so well? I'm 3 weeks post-op today

You will see it one day. I started at 279 and honestly only saw it at around 205. I still feel very fat but my brain has finally caught up and I can admit I'm "not as fat as I once was"

This is ssssoooo me! I gained a lot of weight and still fit in the same size' date=' so I know that once I lose weight that I should not go by my clothing size because it will discourage me.[/quote']

You may find yourself surprised. I, too, hadn't gone up a size in at least the last 60 pounds of my weight gain, but I went down a size (tops AND pants) at about 30 pounds lost. Curious about the disparity myself, I've concluded that as I got bigger, the clothes got that much baggier to hide the mass. Once it starts coming off, you want to be able to look in the mirror - and have other people look at you - and SEE it. So, my clothes are more fitted to my body now.