I buy jeans mostly at Goodwill because for the past 3 or 4 months, Ive been going thru sizes pretty quickly... Im also the clearance rack queen...

I have really been struggling with body image issues.... I am fitting loosely in size 12, tightly in size 10.... I know , in my head at least, that I am not HUGE anymore...I can pick up an outfit and see if its too big or too small.... and as long as I have clothes on, I think I look OK... but as soon as I am naked or in my skivvies, I still see the 280 pound me in the mirror

as some of you know, Im training for triathlon.... until yesterday I had still been wearing my size 20 bathing suits...Lycra is forgiving so the body portion fit OK, at least I thought, but for the past week or so Ive spent more time trying to hold up the straps than doing strokes during my laps in the pool...

I found a size 12 bathing suit for $10 in Marshalls... not the most attractive thing but its ONE PIECE and it FITS... SOLD!

so last night at training session, I walked pass a door that is tinted so you can see from outside.. it has sorta a mirror reflection type of tine...and since it was dark outside, it provided a sort of silhouette... and in the shadow, I dont look too bad in my new bathing suit....the dimples in my thighs arent as visible and my stomach was covered...

now of course, as soon as I went to take a shower & saw my nakedness again, I was grossed out....

Im 25 pounds away from a tummy tuck ( or panni at least) , God willing.... hopefully the time, additional weightloss and getting rid of my apron will help with my body image issues

It helped me alot having a few trusted friends who have never been morbidly obese (they range from skinny minis to those who struggle with the 25-40 pounds of extra). They are brutally honest - like "why the heck are your "skinny jeans" hanging off your ass?" Heck, they were the people that first told me I was eligible for skinny jeans! I can't emphasize enough how helpful it is to have people who don't have dismorphia (or other serious body image type problems) themselves to give this feedback.

Even now, I tend to wear clothes that fit too big. for major clothing purchases, I need to have someone with me. Even my hubs, who is oblivious, noticed that my size 10s gave me a baggy butt and when I shopped for new clothes for work, he was the one that moved me down to the size 8s,

It does help with the mind-body issues.

It sounds crazy, but the other thing that helps is proper shoes. When I wear a dress or dress slacks, with a nice pair of heels, I get that longer leg and suddenly I feel like I look so much better. Who knew that giving up on nice shoes was one of the sacrifices due to obesity. Now that I can wear good shoes, I am astounded what a difference it makes to my "looks"

workout clothes is another problem area. I was doing a group exercise class having to hold up my workout pants before I finally admitted to myself that I no longer needed a plus size...LOL. It is like I didn't feel like I was a member of the "club" or something.

Now, I always start with a size medium or an 8 and adjust from there depending on the brand. This is much better then starting with a large or XL and adjusting from there - I always wound up with too big of clothes!

I am right there with you on this! I am in a size 8, medium tops even some small. When my clothes are on and I'm covered and I look in the mirror I think I look ok. When the clothes come off and everything is hanging or when I am working out and skin is flopping around (even with the spanx) I see myself a lot bigger than I am. I want that tight body that fit people have, I feel like if I had that then I would see myself the same with or without clothes.

I have an appointment for a plastics consult in a couple of weeks. I am anxious to see what he has to say. But, I would like to be content without plastics, too. I just don't know if I can get there.

I'm wearing an Australian size 6 jeans now, which is a us size 2. I can't stand the look of me even with clothes on. I bought a size 7 pair of skinny jeans and they had the saggiest butt ever. Went to the size 6 and it looks heaps better on, and fits better, all the skin from my thighs and bum get dragged up to the top to get them on, and getting them over that one big roll of flab is hard. I don't have a muffin top or anything because as soon as they are on, gravity takes everything back to where it should be. I just hate seeing it there.

We are so hard on ourselves!