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Yikes!! Why do I still look fat?

How do you overcome the frustration when you feel like you've been donig pretty good (eating healthy foods/\portions and exercising) then you catch your reflection in a store window or something and see the same old you?

Sun. Jun 3, 12:07am

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I am the same way!!

I lost 30 pounds to reach my goal weight of 120, and I still feel like I am fat. My sister who is a social worker swears I have a mild case of body dysmorphic disorder. (see link below for a description of this). My sister is teasing when she says this but I can't help think there is something wrong with me.

To overcome this, I try to really focus on the number on the scale and the size of my clothes and ignore the reflection in the mirror. In fact, I try not to look in the mirror because it is depressing. I also try to remind myself that not everyone can look like a model or superstar, and it doesn't really matter how I look as long as I am trying to be a good person.

It is frustrating though, because I thought when I reached my goal weight I'd feel happy and my life would be 'perfect' and that didn't happen.


Link

Sunday, June 03, 2007, 6:54 AM

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yeah people who are working on their physique get mild cases of body dysmorphia for sure!

The thing is weight loss is so slow you look at the same old you in the mirror day after day with very minuscule un-noticeable change daily. Its hard to actually visualize that you're smaller! heck even people (who aren' t you) that see you on a daily basis sometimes don't notice. It's people who saw you when you were at your heaviest that realize how amazing your transformation is.

The other reason this problem comes about is that to stay motivated on a diet/fitness plan many people often tell themselves THIS WEIGHT/BODY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH.... That way they keep striving toward the goal.

how else are you supposed to think to keep trying?

the side effect is that even if you've lost 20 lbs... you still know you're not good enough.

Sunday, June 03, 2007, 11:57 AM

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i meant to say "The people who realize how amazing your transformation really is are those who last time they saw you was when you were at your heaviest"

Sunday, June 03, 2007, 12:00 PM

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How do you fight the urge to give up because all your hard work in amouting to nothing! I know results aren't instantaneous but come-on mirror-mirror give me some reason to keep fighting this battle!

Monday, June 04, 2007, 12:14 AM

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I have the same problem as 12:14. I give up so easily after a few weeks and I've had this problem for more than a year now! I'm very impatient. How long did it take for you guys to see physical results and on the scale?

Monday, June 04, 2007, 12:23 AM

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oh and to add to my previous post (12:23), it took several months to see results when i started weight training, but i eventually did. so i should really stick to eating healthy and realize it'll take several months to see results. okay, i guess i answered my own question haha

Monday, June 04, 2007, 12:26 AM

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Be happy

I find it hard to read this stuff that people still think they are over weight even when they are not - it is societies crule image that we are all trying to live upto and not what is healthy that we are all obsessed with.
What is too fat? Be happy that you are healthy - you might not be a thin waffe of a figure that smokes, used drugs and abuses their body each day to look like that - so enjoy life in the skin your in, and stop looking at models and images alike.


Monday, June 04, 2007, 2:27 AM

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2:27, yeah I agree with you. My goal is to attain a healthy relationship with food after living most of my life of overeating (I'm only 20 too). I like to read about celeb's diet/fitness, but I prefer bodies like Jessica Biel...and pretty much everyone else in Hollywood are wayy too thin. I also admire female athletes. Basically women with muscle!

Monday, June 04, 2007, 2:42 AM

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I always say

Each day when I look at myself or feel that I have fallen behind, "Tomorrow is a new day""

I have been saying this for 20 years, 8 marathons, running 5 days aweek, constant nutritional and weight battle.

Anoth one is " Never Give Up". That is when we lose. You are not here to lose.

Monday, June 04, 2007, 8:51 AM

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It takes time...

You may to lose more, or you may just have to take time to adjust to the new you. It took a long time for me to see myself like I really was after I lost 70 pounds- I still saw the fat, but everyone else saw the skinny me. I can't explain why this happens sometimes.. but I know we're not alone.

Monday, June 04, 2007, 10:22 AM

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I've gone from 130 lbs to 113 lbs, the very upper-end of "normal" BMI to now just below the middle of the "normal" range (I'm 5'1"), and I think I look exactly the same when I look in a mirror. But, in the same time, I've gone from a size 6 (or sometimes even 8) to a size 2. I've had to box up tons of old clothes that no longer fit. I know this is a huge amount of size to lose with such few pounds, but that's what's happened. So, my advice is, if you look in the mirror and see the same you, but you know you've lost pounds, try on something that used to be tight and see how it fits now. Or, look back at old pictures. Both of those help me a lot!

Monday, June 04, 2007, 12:37 PM

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ya look at old pictures for sure. I feel the same and still do have about 10 to lose but when I see pics I know how far I have come

Tuesday, June 05, 2007, 3:45 AM

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it doesn't matter how much weight i've lost, everytime i look at my reflection in the windows while walking into my office i look like a short bowling ball.... i'm sure it's the curvature in the glass, but it still sucks when i'm feeling all good about myself in my new "thin" outfit and i still look like a toad when i get to work.

Friday, June 08, 2007, 5:05 PM

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If your eating too much carbs not enough protein, and definately not enough good fats- plus doing ALOT of cardio then chances are you'll end up looking a like the smaller version of yourself. Eat a well balanced meal of 40% carbs 40% protein 20% fat. Add a weight training regimine to tone up and get more defined, add some cardio in to burn fat and you have an equation for success

Friday, June 08, 2007, 9:53 PM

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Trying on old clothes is a great reminder!

For the longest time after I bought clothes in smaller sizes I felt FAT. And it was b/c I was so used to feeling my clothes hang off me that when I actually had clothes that fit, I felt like I was bursting at the seams. And don't get me started on reflections! UGH! Glass door reflections are the worst. It's stinks that a reflection can completely ruin a day, especially when the day was started feeling great - I really try to work on this mind game and not let it affect me, but it's tough.

Saturday, June 09, 2007, 6:17 PM

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6:54, I would say catching your reflection in a window and feeling like you still look fat is a far cry from BDD. Nothing of what you say would suggest you fit into that. But you sound like you have what I and many other women who have lost weight have, body image distortion, which I would say is a huge difference between BDD.

I used to weigh 220, now I am 135 and at my goal but when I look at myself I feel like I still look like my former 220 pound fat self. Even though I wear a size 6 and I know I've lost this weight and my rational mind says you are no longer this fat woman, I feel like I am.

Saturday, June 09, 2007, 8:46 PM

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I have a friend who went through a gastric bypass but still has issues about her body image-- She have found out that it takes time for the brain to catch up with her "real" size...

In the meantime, It may help if, when you look in the mirror, you try to find the positive things that you see in yourself... Try to give yourself a "mental' make-over, by giving yourself a positive pep-talk.

Yes, I know that's hard, but sometimes, if you reward yourself for the little triumphs, you'll find that you will be less discouraged.

I, too lost a bit of weight and when I saw a friend after a year, she was shocked at my weight loss (which I couldn't really see in myself because I saw myself daily....)

Take those compliments from people who have seen the change in you and file them away in your head. Eventually, you'll believe that you have accomplished something positive in yourself...

It definitely takes time!!!

Also, if you have been wearing baggy clothing to cover yourself up, then try finding a top or pants or whatever that accentuates your newer size... it really helps to boost the self image-- there are lots of large women and men who still look well-groomed and decent despite their large size. Sometimes it just takes a few extra moments of thought when picking out your clothing or accessories.

Even making sure that you straighten up and not slouch will change your self-image... :-) (I tend to suck my gut in for a few seconds when I pass by my reflection-- which also helps to strenghten my abs, too!

In other words, lift your head and smile like you're a million bucks-- it will help to boost your confidence, too! (I had a friend who was a model who told me once that even if she was given a burlap sack to wear, she needed to show it off as though it was made of silk and satin...)

Sunday, June 10, 2007, 5:11 PM

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Oops... sorry about the grammatical error above, I meant "She found out that it takes time..."

That's what happens when I'm too hasty to post... LOL

Sunday, June 10, 2007, 5:13 PM

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