Many thanks to Alexandra.

You know how amputees have phantom feelings in the removed parts? Well, I have phantom fat. I feel like a fat person in a Halloween costume! When I see myself in pictures, I look thin, but the mirror says "fat person". My husband wants me to stop loosing so that I don't have to buy more clothes!

It's funny, how we buy new, and significantly smaller clothes, which in some cases may fit tight.

Sitting, I may notice the waist is very tight, and my belly is starting to bulge over and the feelings and perception is that of when I was "Obese" and nothing ever fit well!

My mind tells me I'm a fat slob, but in reality...I'm wearing clothes that "Normal" people wear!!!

It is hard putting it into a whole new perspective!!!

Your brain does eventually catch up though. Now when I look at my before pictures I look so terribly uncomfortable. When I see my pants from before they look huge, not normal. Now my size 10 pants are normal, not tiny as they appeared when I first got them.

It's true, your head catches up eventually. It takes a while but it does get there. I think the mirror is pretty honest these days to me, but it wasn't long ago that I felt that, even at a US size 4, I was still wayyyy too heavy. My friends thought I had body dysmorphia, and I probably did to an extent, but because the weight loss happened relatively fast, and I'd been heavy for so long, it took a while for my brain to catch up that I was there, I was past goal, I could stop losing now. In fact, I eventually made the (difficult) decision to gain a little, because a size 4 was actually very small, and I was getting to the point where I couldn't shop in mainstream shops because the smallest size there was too big for me.

That's not to say that on days like today, where my US size 6 pants are a little snug, that I don't feel like I'm HUGE, coz I do, so reading this thread has put things back into perspective for me too. I realise that we are really our own worse critics, and sometimes we have to stop and pat ourselves on the back for what we've managed to achieve.

Here's to you looking in the mirror tomorrow and seeing the real you.

I am about 10 lbs away. BMI currently 24 feeling good!

I am 12 pounds to my goal and have been having the toughest time getting there. I had some issues with my stoma over my band so my nurse practioner unfilled me. That resulted in me gaining 10 pounds so I'm finally back where I was 8 months ago. I was filled on this past Thursday and I'm hoping that when I go back for my monthly at the end of this month I will be closer to my goal. I have noticed that I'm eating a lot less. Finally!

Hello everyone. I am about 35 pounds from my personal goal...but that could change. I have never been this thin before so I may decide that my goal is too thin--once I get there.

I see I posted here just a few months ago and am happy to be only 1 pound away. It is amazing to finally be here. It is still hard to grasp sometimes because I do unfortunately still think about food all the time. Night time is the worst for whatever reason but I don't give in. This has been an incredible journey and one that I will literally treasure for the rest of my life. My only other problem at this point is shopping. I still want to buy large cloths even though I'm not anymore. My brain hasn't caught up with my body all the way just yet. Still a work in progress.

I'm 5lbs away! I may reconsider my goal once I get there!

I didn't know this group existed either! I reached goal in April this year. Just had hip replacement and still holding steady even without my normal exercise routine.

I'm 10 lb away, but losing my band very soon

I see I posted here just a few months ago and am happy to be only 1 pound away. It is amazing to finally be here. It is still hard to grasp sometimes because I do unfortunately still think about food all the time. Night time is the worst for whatever reason but I don't give in. This has been an incredible journey and one that I will literally treasure for the rest of my life. My only other problem at this point is shopping. I still want to buy large cloths even though I'm not anymore. My brain hasn't caught up with my body all the way just yet. Still a work in progress.

Well, I'm not anywhere near goal but I hear about you when it comes to buying sizes. I just bought a size 18-20 swimsuit, naturally I can't return it but I figured I was a size 20-22 so I must be an 18-20. Wrong, the swimsuit is too big and I can't get it into my head that I'm a smaller size.

Another at goaler here and beyond. Woohoo!!!!

Woo Hoo!! I can post here now. I'm close in terms of numbers...13 lbs. from my goal (set with my primary doc) but I reached my personal goal once I lost around 65 lbs. As soon as I got near 200 lbs. I could move forward on my hip replacement surgery. I had that surgery in October and though I'm still not pain free, I'm so much more mobile than before and can walk for several blocks where I once was only able to walk a block and then was in so much pain, I had to stop and sit.

I was basically unable to walk or even get out of bed just prior to the surgery and now I hope to be able to visit London (on my bucket list) and sightsee without worrying about pain/endurance. I may not get there in 2104 but I'll do my very best to get there in 2015.

My goal for 2014 is to scuba with my son this summer when we take our family cruise. Last year I couldn't even get off the ship. This year I expect to be able to shop again, and go on other excursions.

I'm concerned at this point that I won't be able to maintain now that I've lost the majority of the excess weight but as long as I keep these goals in mind, I hope to keep my head in the game and not backslide.

I'm concerned at this point that I won't be able to maintain now that I've lost the majority of the excess weight but as long as I keep these goals in mind, I hope to keep my head in the game and not backslide.

I think that is a common fear a lot of us have. I know I do. I am getting close to my goals as well and sliding back in the other direction is on my mind because I have done it before after losing a large amount of weight.

As have I Jim... as have I. Eighty pounds lost in the early nineties and I swore I would never be fat again. Eventually I gained it all back and then some.