AIBU to still feel like a big plumper after reaching goal weight?

[sallievp]

Please be kind...my first post! (smile)

I have lost weight over the last 7 months. Going from 11 stone 7 to current weight 9 stone 3 (I'm 5 foot 2)

7 months ago if someone had told me that I would eventually weigh 9 st 3, I would have been ecstatic!! this is the lightest I have ever been in my adult life!!

But I still feel big. and am probably more self conscious about my weight and size now than when I was bigger
Why do I not feel happy with this?
Has anyone else experienced this?

Give yourself time. Your body and skin will be still catching up with your impressive weight loss.

5 years ago I lost 3 stone and didn't really feel any slimmer for it as I had traded firm plumpness for a much smaller but softer body. With time and mild activity everything has firmed up a bit. I could do a lot more exercises to help, but I've reached a contented place.

In the meantime well fitting underwear and clothes will help your brain adjust to the new reality. It might be worth trying a completely new look. My body image was also helped when I got rid of the small sizes of the same types of clothes I had worn when I was fat and bought clothes that suited my new shape rather than my old one.

You see I'm the opposite.

Having spent most of my life being a skinny size 8 or 10, I've put about a stone and a half on since hitting my late 30s and having DD - and now I'm a 12.

But in my head and in the mirror I'm still skinny

It's only when I see photos of myself or catch myself unawares in a shop window like someone else said, that I realise I'm actually a lot plumper than I think!

So I agree your brain takes ages to adjust to your new size!

cheesy me too!

But I still feel big. and am probably more self conscious about my weight and size now than when I was bigger

Yup! I'm your height. I was once 11 stone, and I've been 8 stone for some years now. Yet I feel bigger now than I did at size 16, probably because, as you say, I am now conscious of my size. Time was I didn't give a flying feck Think I was probably happier then, in some ways.

It might just take getting used to? I went from size 16 to 10/12 and for about a year kept taking size 16 into the changing room in shops!

Even if you can't afford to buy, go out the shops and try on smaller sizes. If you want to lose more then promise yourself a shopping spree when you have lost more. I don't think that you should lose much more though, check out your bmi.

As for feeling self conscious could it be that you now spend more time thinking about weight/body than before? Find a photo of you at your heaviest and feel proud of your achievement.

Good for you OP you've done really well.

Think Im the opposite of OP - I had body over confidence . Was always the "slim" one in my group of friends in teens and twenties friends would sigh over my "perfect" figure am 5"6 and went was between 8.5 and 9.5 stone - didnt give my figure a thought and ate what I wanted so I was still in the mindset that I was slim. Age and DC caught up with me though weighed myself at Christmas (after eating with abandon) and was 11 stone!

Taken action since January watched what I ate for the first time in my life taken me 4 months to get back to 9 st 12lb. Was a large 14 now my size 12 jeans are hanging off me. Feels great (though do miss pasta and bread...)

Congratulations! You've done brilliantly and should be really proud of yourself.

Losing weight can have the odd unwanted side effect - if you're worried about your skin not being as taut as it used to be, I'd advise investing in a vitamin-E cream. It doesn't need to be expensive (Superdrug do a good one) but it will help firm your skin up again.

congratulations! No offence but perhaps you are wearing the wrong clothes for your new figure? Might be worth having a session with a personal shopper to get some ideas.