Do you see your weight loss when you look in the mirror?

Hello all..

I'm not sure which forum to put this under. When I look in the mirror, I don't see my weight loss. I know I've lost the weight but why doesn't my brain acknowledge the weight loss? It's kind of weird actually. I rambled about it in my journal the other day and I was just wondering have any of you had the same reaction to losing weight?

Yep... Sometimes I get excited and can see some deffinition, especially in my abs, but most days I feel just as huge as I did when I was 226 lbs (back in college... 6 years ago or so).  I've lost over 50 lbs since then, but don't see it. 

I think it's because we look at ourselves all day, and get used to the gradual changes that happen day by day, week by week. 

My brother made a comment the other day that he was looking at some old pictures, and couldn't believe how much weight I'd lost.  That made me feel good.

some days i do, most days not.  although i definitely look smaller in the mirror than i do looking down at my belly from above .  i think it's just so gradual, and we see ourselves in the mirror so often, we lose our frame of reference.

but i found a picture (shoulders and head) from when i was at my heaviest, and i was amazed at how chubby my face was then.  i knew that my hips, ass, and waist were smaller now, but i didn't realize that my face had changed so much.

Im feeling this way today. I kinda had a bad day yesterday, I was craving things and ate way to much! Anyway I got on my scale yesterday and the needle has not moved. I have been dieting for almost a month now and I have been walking 2 miles a day and eating all healthy food with an occasional treat so I dont feel too deprived. It just seems like nothing is happening. I thought I lost 2 lbs this week but today the needle was at 301 where it was 298 a couple days ago.

According to every website Ive been on it says I should be eating 2500 calories a day. This seems like way too much but thats how many I have been eating, plus walking... and compared to how I used to eat I dont see how Im not feeling better or looking any different... and the scale has not moved!

If I try to eat 1800 cal a day I am starving and miserable all day long.... so what to do.... its really frustrating. Now Im wondering if I have lost anything at all! Im scared of this "starvation" thing that everyone talks about because I dont want my body to hang onto the fat, so I think if I eat any less than I am now it will be worse... I dont know...

Grrr Im totally frustrated today. I want to go do 5 miles today but Im still sore from 2 days ago! anyways im rambling... but yeah I dont see any changes, maybe its too soon and Im just being impatient.. its just that last time I lost weight I saw results almost immediately.

Oh well....

FOOFOO..... I was just reading what you wrote and I am wondering about the 2500 calories a day thing.  I looked at your pics and you don't seem that big.  I am 5'9 age 23 and sw 255 cw230.  CC says if I am active to eat 1850 calories a day and if not active then around 1425.  Did you just start cutting your calories?

Are the things you are eating high in calories?  If so maybe it is just a mental thing meaning you are eating less amounts of food so you are feeling like you have not had enough today.    Just a thought!!!!   Good Luck

No, I can't see it.  But I also didn't see it when I gained the weight   Pictures do help, and the way my smaller clothing is now fitting better.

I'm starting to see it alot better now being I'm 30 pounds down. I'm alot more toned and clothes look alot better on me though it does kinda annoy me when other people don't seem to acknoledge it. When other people don't seem to notice than I begain to wonder if it is even that noticable to anyone else. Esspecially when my boyfriend fails to say anything about how good I look but oh dwell haha!

I can see it in my face, but I just can't see it in my body! I am in a challenge so had to do before and after pics....so I've done some 'during' pics and I still can't see, even though everyone else says it's a lot. O well.

I think it's a mindset though. My mom was thin all her life and is heavier now...she says that in her minds eye, she's still the same thin person. I'm sort of the same way....even though I"ve lost the weight, I still see the person I'm USED to seeing, not the person that's really there!

The mirror is not to be trusted!

For years, it lied to me and told me that i wasn't all that big...pictures would horrify me with their truth.

Now, 75 lbs less than I was a year ago, sometimes I look and see that same person...and sometimes I do see changes, like my collarbone is now visible and sometimes when I walk past a reflective window I can't believe that normal-sized gal walking along is me. Sometimes I stand in front of a mirror and study myself, but the longer I look, the less changes I can see....mostly I think I look the same. Pictures are much better for seeing actual differences, so I take them once in a while to compare.

I wonder if I will always see that fat girl in the mirror. Probably for a long time....I think our mental image of ourselves takes a lot longer to change than our body, and for some reason mirrors are really good at capturing metal image rather than physical image!

I don't really see it in the mirror either.  I just see how much more I want to loose.  I went to a birthday party on Saturday, though, with a bunch of people I haven't seen in at least 6 months.  Everyone was like "How much weight have you lost?  You look great!" So that made me feel better.  Plus I just got a new work badge picture taken and comparing the one from last July to the one this month, I can definately see how much I've lost.

I just lose track of it when I'm looking at myself every day.  It's so hard to see it on a regular basis.

Xcetra

I've lost 24 lbs... That's quite a bit of weight, really. It wasn't until I got over that 20 lb mark that my brain registered the loss. I woke up to that 20 lb mark and suddenly I noticed that my pants fit differently, that my stomach didn't stick out as much, that the stretch marks were a little more faded than I remembered.

I think it's a mental thing. Your brain is used to seeing an image until you can't deny the data anymore. Or, you can just call it Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Either explanation really suits the symptoms.

I've been a little bummed out lately because I have hit a crummy plateau.  So I went to the mall for lunch and tried on some clothes just for fun.  I found a fantastic, obscenely expensive suit in a size 8 and it fit!  I'm coming down from a size 18 so it was a big deal to me.  I was amazed that I was actually able to fit into clothing that small.  Up until the very moment I zipped the zipper I was thinking, this will never fit.

Even though I didn't buy the suit, it was a big confidence booster since I really don't feel or think I look too different.

Original Post by foofooguardian:

Im feeling this way today. I kinda had a bad day yesterday, I was craving things and ate way to much! Anyway I got on my scale yesterday and the needle has not moved. I have been dieting for almost a month now and I have been walking 2 miles a day and eating all healthy food with an occasional treat so I dont feel too deprived. It just seems like nothing is happening. I thought I lost 2 lbs this week but today the needle was at 301 where it was 298 a couple days ago.

According to every website Ive been on it says I should be eating 2500 calories a day. This seems like way too much but thats how many I have been eating, plus walking... and compared to how I used to eat I dont see how Im not feeling better or looking any different... and the scale has not moved!

If I try to eat 1800 cal a day I am starving and miserable all day long.... so what to do.... its really frustrating. Now Im wondering if I have lost anything at all! Im scared of this "starvation" thing that everyone talks about because I dont want my body to hang onto the fat, so I think if I eat any less than I am now it will be worse... I dont know...

Grrr Im totally frustrated today. I want to go do 5 miles today but Im still sore from 2 days ago! anyways im rambling... but yeah I dont see any changes, maybe its too soon and Im just being impatient.. its just that last time I lost weight I saw results almost immediately.

Oh well....

 

I don't think that starvation mode is what you think it is.  Your body isn't going to magically hold onto weight if you don't eat 2,500 calories per day.  You need calories to survive, and it'll just take them from elsewhere.  Yes, you'll start burning muscle and fat but you're burning muscle anyway if you are keeping a deficit and not strength training.  It's just part of weight loss, you can't choose what your body uses.  Starvation mode will never fully cancel your deficit.  It's just a question of how comfortable you are eating that little.

Plug your stuff into CC, see what they say.

hmm 2500 does seem high, try this calculator:

http://www.phord.com/cc/

At 300 lbs, my recommended "lose 1.5 lbs per week" level was about 1900, so not sure how you are getting 2500 unless you are very very active?

Even though I've lost quite a bit of weight and still have some more to go...I still feel like I haven't lost weight in a sort of way. There are no full length mirrors in this house just ones that go to about the chest. So I haven't really been able to see my transformation much. However, when I used the movie theater's bathroom the mirror comes down lower so you can see to about where your knee begins. I looked in the mirror and was like "Wow, who the hell is that girl?!" Lmao.

I still think I need a lot of improvement, but I can see some results regardless of how I feel inside, but those feelings may never go away. Heh.

I think many people don't see their weight loss in the mirror because they already have that old "I'm fat" picture stuck in their brain.

My heart goes out to you!  All I can say is I used to eat before CC around 1500 a day....I was literally starving I was not happy and I thought this sucks....and I am not even losing!  Than I followed the CC plan and it told me to eat 1900 a day.  I finally feel good!  I can eat more I'm satisfied and I am losing!  Now it is slow!  Like real slow and I am VERY active, but I have been struggling with this weight for 10 years....so even if it is slow it is worth it.  My advice eat what CC tells you and stay with the plan...it will work!  Also look at this site to do you calories I think it is a little easier to understand:  go to about.com, than click on nutrition, than on the left side in grey click on calorie needs....let me know how it goes!

Remember, you are your toughest critic!  Try to take heart and trust the positive feedback you receive from other people who are noticing your weight loss!  They don't look in the mirror every day like you, so it is much easier for them to notice your hard work!

But...I know that is easier said than done.  Something you might try is rummaging through the closet- Pick out something from last season that you felt "really good" in (we all have that one shirt, pair of jeans, etc.) and try it on now...I bet you will be very please to see that it is big and baggy in places it didn't use to be...Or maybe it doesn't even fit at all anymore! 

Either way, keep at it and best of luck!

That is exactly what happen to me today!  I lost only about 5 pds, but I was able to button a pair of shorts that would not have last summer!  And sometimes I see myself in the mirror and I can see some of my double chin leaving....thank God!  And my arms....are looking a lot less "fat arms"....I may have only lost 5pds.....but surely have lost inches here and there.  Good reason to hold on to the old cloths....they can be great motivators!

interesting post! I can tell I've lost weight if i look at old and new pics, and because my clothes have gotten bigger. Sometimes I think it's more noticeable then others. BUT I've had 3 people in the last week comment that i've lost 'a lot of weight'...which is strange...i think i have but i don't think it's that ntoiceable. i get confused. anyway i'm just happy that i've lost weight and im actually enjoying it and love working out n feeling good, im so much more pro-active then i used to be!

Original Post by alleyway:

. I rambled about it in my journal the other day and I was just wondering have any of you had the same reaction to losing weight?

Hey

I posted an almost identical journal entry to you last year! The above posts are right- the mirror is EVIL! I still have problems in seeing a slimmer me in the mirror, and I'm down 119 pounds!

I can, however see it in photographs and with old clothes. Keep at least 1 pair of 'fat pants' and try them on. I have a pic in my gallery of my size 28s :o) Also, compare old photos with new ones. you will definitely see a difference then.

I can relate!