i have this post going on another site, but would like to know if any bandsters here want to contribute.

question: does anyone have body image issues? i mean, i started out at 188 and a really tight 14 and a tight 16. i was banded on 6/29. i am 5'3. now some may think 188 is not that bad, but it is when nothing you do to lose weight works and you actually gain! so, i was banded. now, i am about 150, my goal weight was 140-145. now i am in an 8/10 very comfortably. tight clothes are gone. the scale is down, other people comment on my weight loss, but when i look in the mirror, i see the same 188 image.my husband says i clearly don't see myself how others see me and that i have issues. he is afraid that when i get to my goal i will be dissatisfied and get on the pursuit to lose more.

I am right there with you. I still see the same 'ol girl. I hear it's pretty common. I never know how I really look unless I see a photo of myself. Even when I was fat, my image was distorted to think I was thinner and now it's reversed. It's weird.

I think alot of us go through that.

In March, when I was at my smallest since banding (74kgs), I still felt huge. One thing I've always used to kind of get it through my head where I was actually at, is pictures. I have those horrible preband really BIG pictures. Well, one day I was complaining to my hubby about still being too big and this that and the other. As I was getting ready for work, he grabbed the camera and snapped a pictures - of my ass LOL. When he emailed it to me, I was like .. OMG, WOW!!! It didn't look like the ass of the person I saw in the mirror looking back at me.

I think a key part of becoming happy with who we are is working on the head as well as the body. Therapy can do wonders for how you perceive yourself.

I only hope that one day, I'll be happy with that self image...

my husband suggested that i look at pics as well. we took the before picture of me about 1 hour before surgery. it is still in the camera waiting to be developed. he has been wanting to take after shots of me so that i could see myself side by side, but i keep telling him to wait until i have made noticeable changes. he is like, duh you have!

Let him take some after photos. I have asked the doc about this exact thing. He told me that sometimes it takes our mind some time to catch up with our body. I still see chubby me too. I did have a wow moment on Saturday for our girls night out. I put on a 10 and thought I looked thin. So maybe my mind is starting to catch up.