I was never one of those women that compare themselves to every other woman around. Recently, I keep looking at every woman that my eyes can find, compare how thin she is and how she looks with me...and as someone who is still at the beginning of her journey I do not look good in these comparisons...which is affecting my emotional state and self confidence.

Has any1 passed through this? and what do you do?

I've been doing this for like... a good 6 of the 8 months since surgery. At first I was kind of annoyed with myself, and annoyed that I also did not feel good about myself during these comparisons. Then I realized I was mainly doing it because my self-image and identity were, and still are, changing rapidly. Such a huge, rapid change in our bodies is something we could have known was coming, told ourselves it was coming, tried to prepare ourselves for it, etc... but NO ONE is truly prepared the how bizarre and confusing it is to look in the mirror and see something utterly different than you saw last month or last week! Even in the beginning when I didn't see much of a change, I knew a change was coming, and that knowledge was always tugging at the back of my mind, bugging me. I would say it's pretty normal to be using comparison analysis to better understand where we are and where we're going. Maybe even healthy.

Just keep this in mind also: your progress and the progress of others are two completely different and independent spheres. I spent a long time being extremely frustrated that people were losing faster than me, or looked better than me, etc, and it did nothing but make me miserable and gave me a feeling of inadequacy. Just always remember that this is YOUR body and YOUR effort and YOUR journey and comparing yourself to others in that way can only lead to misery and frustration. This time is all about you and your health. Becoming healthy comes with glorious side effects - like losing weight, feeling wonderful, and opening up a whole new realm of possibilities in your life.

You said something so right! How we view ourselves has changed.

It is very true I never considered myself eligible for comparison to begin with...but I guess now I see where I want ro be becoming a reality and then noticing that I am very far away ...even though I am well on my way...thanks dear

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YES!!!

Whenever I see a "heavy" person in a public place I, ask whoever I am with, if I am bigger or smaller than them. I am always smaller but it is still hard for me to see it. I don't ask near as much as my family told me to stop! lol