Lost weight but look no better

[Plantlover]

I've lost 6 stone low carbing.

I'm about a stone off a healthy bmi.

I'm wearing clothes I previously worse. I've tried new stuff but without a new bra it was pointless.

Went to bravissimo today and despite my boobs being so much smaller than before I am a 32/34 JJ. I thought I'd be a h or something.

I look just as crap as before I lost the weight except now I have loads of loose skin. I still just look like I have a massive pair of tits- that's what catches your eye.

Feel really disappointed by it. I can't wear anything I wanted to because if the fabrics light it shows the loose skin and anyway I'm still this massive pair of boobs on a a 5'5" body so nothing looks nice.

Any advice before I eat my way back to where I started?

I bet you don’t look the same at all. Congratulations on your weight loss! Do you work out?

I walk lots. I think that is why I have so much loose skin. Got muscles but flesh hanging off them. Heading to 50.

I asked my kids and they agree I look just the same.

@plantover I'm flabbergasted, I'm sure you must look different.

Maybe your kids agree because they see you too often and the changes have been subtle over time.

There are some garments that hold in the loose skin and make you look firmer until you can tackle the loose skin issue. Don't give up on yourself, sometimes we can be our own worst critics.

The loose skin, is from the stretching and now shrinking combined with genetics, age probably doesn’t help. Congratulations on the weight loss but I presume surgery might be your best breast option.

Congrats on your weight loss, that's a huge achievement. You cannot possibly just look the same if you've lost 6 stones. It maybe the way you're dressing.

Don't put the weight back on, that would be silly. Could you take up some exercise, maybe weights for toning? I know you walk but it doesn't have the same result.

Keep going till you get to a healthy bmi. Wear the right fitting bra as you're trying to do maybe even a minimiser one.and stop thinking you look the same, it's not physically possible.

If you are wearing clothes you wore before they are probably outdated and worn. Can you have a look at refreshing your wardrobe. Bravissimo is a perfect place to start with that figure!

You've done amazingly so please don't feel down. Definitely try some exercises with weights - toning/strengthening and as others have said, new clothes will help you feel totally different I'm sure!

What kind of exercise are you doing?

I replied to your other thread, but what I also wanted to say is that I'm finding weight loss quite disorientating. I'm only 5 stone down, just scraping into the top of a healthy bmi, but quite often I feel I look exactly the same. I don't see anything different in the mirror some days, but I DO see it in photos. I am just about to list some 40K bras on eBay, and I suddenly realised they really ARE much bigger than my current 32K, even though all I hear in bravissimo is 'K' and I think 'so what's different?' I also think you need to be careful of the questions you ask your kids because of their familiarity with you. Let me explain that - I'm bald. I have been off and on since I was 20. I'm now 60. Weight loss put the nail in the coffin of my struggling hair and a few months ago I started to wear wigs. When I bought my first one, the salesperson told me that the question I should never ask my friends and family was 'does it look like a wig?' She said that for them, who had known me bald, it would ALWAYS look like a wig because they know it IS one. So your kids know presumably that you have a lot of loose skin. Because they know it, it's harder to see past it. A better question is to ask 'does this suit me?' once you have a new bra and something to wear that fits you. It forces them to look at you through a different lens. Extreme weight loss (and I'd consider anything above about 50 pounds extreme) is a mindfuck though. It is never simply about the weight. And if you've been obese as I was for most of your adult life, then you haven't seen the normal aging of your body in the way someone of normal weight might. You have an image of a 'pre-fat' body, and it doesn't happen - part of that is because you aren't that age any more. For someone who has lost a lot of weight, it's never just about eating less or toning up. You have essentially moved to a new home. You live somewhere else now, and you need to adjust to that. I'm not sure how helpful any of these ramblings are, but have courage - there is life at the end of this, and it sounds as if you've done amazingly well. Just let your mind catch up. You really have got this.

I think it can be quite a shock to lose a huge amount of weight and can take a while for it to sink in. You cannot look the same after losing 6 stone. It isn't physically possible unless you are 20 feet tall! Your kids will just see "mummy": they won't really think about or notice your weight either way.

Getting new underwear is definitely the first step so well done on that. Did you get some nice new pants as well? You probably need some time to come to terms with your new shape and learn to dress for it. It really is possible to look good as a petite woman with large breasts (I am one!) but you need to learn what works for you and what doesn't. If you have been heavily overweight for a long time then you're probably just not used to your breasts being such a prominent feature in comparison with your waist. What shape would you say you are - are you an hourglass?

Also, try not to worry about your skin just yet. Give your body a chance to recover from the shock of losing so much weight and see where you are then. You can shop for new clothes and look fantastic without baring lots of skin. Start with simple things like one or two new fitted outfits, some great jeans etc, rather than trying to do a radical style overhaul while you're still getting your head round your new figure.

I think it is hard to see a difference . I’ve lost about 4 stone in the last year and am in the upper third of normal BMI for my height but it’s only in the last week or so that I’ve noticed that I’m looking slimmer . Fortunately I don’t seem to have lots of loose skin . It’s very easy to get stuck on the negatives but look at the positives your health will be so much better and you are less likely to get arthritis and diabetes .

What about some really good supportive underwear? I think you can buy minimiser bras and pants (Spanx or similar) to hold everything in?

It's easy to get in the mindset that everything will be great when you've lost weight and then feel the reality doesn't match up. I agree with a pp, give your body and mind time to recover from your weight loss. Your head needs to catch up!

You've done really well in losing such a lot of weight. Try to see the bigger picture too; you've improved your health and probably avoided serious illnesses linked to obesity.

I'm slim and insecure about how I look. Some days I think I hate all my clothes and my wrinkly face or my hair! My point being that we all have our insecurities, whatever weight. I hope you can find some inner peace. Comfort eating as you know will fill you up but it won't fulfil you

I do look smaller but essentially I am still massive boobs on a short person.

Clothes do not look good on me. I was hoping to get rid of the mum uniform of jeans and hoody but since nothing suits me I might as well wear a moo moo.

You are now a different shape. you need to relearn what style of clothes suit you. why don't you treat yourself (to a new hair cut and) a personal shopper. I'm sure you will look fab !

I don't think you can possibly look as bad as you think. For a start, I'm a 30FF and look like I have small boobs because the cup volume isn't that big, so I bet to others in your 32JJ you look like you have great norks, but not mahoosive.

Get that new bra, hoik them in, buy a Bravissimo super duper curvy top and some high waist skinny jeans and I bet all your friends will tell you how amazing you look

I love cherries

I know you from the low carb bootcamp thread! You look great.

I think I thought I was going to go back to my body when I was age twenty but as you said I have an aging body now. I feel like I've lost the weight too late to benefit from it aesthetically. Can't spell!

I didn't buy the bra.

I didn't see the point when I just looked bad still.

I thought I'd try on bras and I would look like I'd lost more weight but I'm just a smaller version of myself from before.

I tried bravissimos denim jackets but I looked like a bag lady.

I'm on holiday for 12 days. I ate low carb for the first 7 days but now I am eating crap all day. Also had my car written off this holiday so all in all its a bit depressing.

I'm not even enjoying the food. My kids eat crap round me all the time so I've given up.

I may be wrong but could it be that you had high hopes that you would feel better when you lost weight?

What do you think about adding some meditation, mindfulness or affirmations into your routine for the feel good factor?

What I’m trying to say is, the external has changed but the inner critic is still there.
Can you learn to love the body you have?

I also lost a significant amount of weight and me big boobs remained. It is disappointing. I now carry a bit of extra weight so I don't have to obsess about calories but not so much that I am in danger of developing chronic heart disease, long term damage to my knees or Type 2 diabetes. As I see it, now have best of both worlds. Thanks boobs! 😜 Still envy those of small boobage but I'm only human.

You sound depressed.

Don't go back to comfort eating that you're not even enjoying. Bizarrely, it can be quite frightening to start looking after yourself after a long time of neglecting your body and tempting to take refuge in the safety net of familiarity by returning to your old habits and old figure. This is why it's important to take your time, not rush things, let yourself enjoy life. And you should definitely buy that new bra!

I'm just a smaller version of myself from before.

That's what being slim is!

Are you still wearing the same bras as pre weight loss? If so there is no way you don't look better in thr new one.

I suspect this is about perception.

Go and buy the new bra. Some clothes that fit. You're just on a bit of a downer and no way it's based in reality. 💐

You do sound depressed. Could you visit your GP when you get back? I don't think you are seeing things clearly. You have improved your health enormously and been a brilliant role model to your children. I bet you have more energy, better skin, sleep better and less aches in your joints. Am I right?
Pull on your big girl pants on (😁) said with love, as a fellow low-carber and who still has 10lb to go, and get back on plan.

1. buy a decent bra that fits. They're uncomfortable enough, without knowingly wearing the wrong size!
2. Buy layers to transition into as your skin catches up, or you eventually decide on surgery. Long-sleeve white snug fit t-shirt with a nice t-shirt over it. The base layer keeps you secure and comfy and the top one doesn't cling.
3. Go to JL personal shopper and ask for anything that suits your lifestyle - harem pants, jeans, capris.. whatever you would wear on a daily basis.
4. Enjoy your holiday and have a celebratory glass of wine right now. You did it. You've got will-power and you're in control of your life. But stay away from the crap food. It won't make you happy or your boobs any smaller.

I mean long sleeve base layer t-shirts like this. You mention getting down about a denim jacket. The fabric is rigid and cut can be boxy, so that they aren't always friendly to big busts. Maybe find one decent jacket for jeans/casual. This is Pepperberry.

I'm wearing a bra that I used to wear when I was smaller. I don't seem to stick at at a size. I go up and then down and then up and then down.

I thought I'd buy new bra and clothes because I thought I'd worked it all out this time.

I thought low carb had sorted my eating as it switched off my appetite but as I've got closer to being 'done' I'm losing and gaining the same weight and not moving further down.

I feel like the food issue is a battle I'll never get over. The binge eater will always be there.

Not looking better in the clothes and not being smaller in the bra has shocked me. The loose skin is a new thing too as never had that when I've lost weight before.

Perhaps you're just missing the comfort of overeating. You say you're down about your car so I suppose in the past you would have turned to your old friend food to make yourself feel better. You might also have had an unrealistic idea of how you'd feel after hitting your target weight so now feel disappointed that all your problems haven't melted away? Maybe you're looking for an excuse to over eat because you're down.

I don't know what the answer is really but as others have pointed out this isn't really about your figure, more your low mood and low self confidence. Everyone has down days and feels insecure but if things feel bleak all the time then a new bra won't fix that.

You've lost 6 stone though. Don't underestimate the strength it took to do that. That's like carrying around another person! You now need to find ways to silence that inner critic.