Many years ago I was the weight I am now (71kg) – I was so horrified and depressed to have reached this by putting on weight I went to a slimming club (thus began years and years of yo-yo dieting) but now at 71kg I’m thinking how wonderful it is to be here (albeit still 8kg off target weight).

Also when I started this diet I was a good, if slightly tight fitting 16 (aka easily an 18 in denial) and I can now go into Marks and Next and pick a size 14 in trousers and know that I can get them on without lying down to do the zip up but I still look in the mirror some days and feel as fat as I did before I started. I know I’m not – it’s just that I still feel fat. Anyone else feel like this and does your brain eventually realise that you’re not the weight you were? Feels a bit like phantom limb syndrome, the fat’s gone (mainly) but my brain still thinks it’s there. Weird.

So have a good weekend all and here’s hoping all our scales show lower numbers this time next week.

I do this too, oldbluejeans. I’ve lost 2.5 stone and am now in the healthy range for my height, but I still feel a fraud picking out size 12 clothes and am waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and say ‘not for you dear, try something bigger’. I catch a sideways look at my face in the mirror and think, ‘your face is really fat’, but it isn’t! I look at photos from 6 months ago and can really see the difference, but it’s hard to believe it’s not a temporary aberration. But I’m beginning to believe it as I’ve stabilised my weight for nearly 4 months now.
On the funny side, I’ve posted before that once I was walking along when I had that ‘oh, I’ve forgotten something’ heart stopping moment. My handbag? No. My coat? No. It was my stomach! I felt weird without it bumping along!

haha Bissell – me too with the tummy thing. When I lay down on my side to go to sleep it’s not on the bed next to me anymore 🙂

are you on a maintenance eating plan now? I’m not there yet but can’t see that I’m going to be able to eat much more than 1000 cals a day with less than 75g carbs to maintain my weight. Be interested to know how you’re controlling your’s?

Yes, it’s odd being able to do the seat belt up without a struggle!, oldbluejeans.

Yes I’m on a maintenance eating plan/lifestyle now; I have been for about 4 months now. At first I did a sort of 5:2 with 800 on the ‘2’ days and HFLC on the ‘5’ but now I just pottle along without counting calories or carbs, tbh. I don’t eat any potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, I eat very few pulses either, come to think of it. BUT I eat shed loads of fat! In the shape of yogurt, avocado and olive oil (my breakfast of choice) salads for lunch mainly, or homemade soup and cheese and then some chicken/fish/meat/eggs plus fried curried veg usually. I certainly don’t struggle to raise my calorific intake! I must eat an EU lake of olive oil most days! Ooh and the odd pot of clotted cream and raspberries! I try not to eat between meals and only have the odd glass of vino. I find DietDoctor a good source of recipes too.

Hope that helps, it works for me anyway! Oh and I weigh every day, measure once a week and do 6 whole minutes of exercises a day. And usually 10k steps walking the ( skinny!) dog.

Best wishes and good luck with finding your particular way forward.
c

I had a slightly odd experience today while browsing clothes. I saw a pair of huge looking trousers and did a double take when I realised that they were size 22. The last of my own size 22’s only exited to the charity shops a couple of weeks ago, but somehow when they were my clothes they didn’t look so huge.

Yes! I still browse the plus-size range on ASOS even though it’s definitely too big for me now.

Having said that, I would constantly be shocked when I saw how fat I was if I accidentally glimpsed myself in a window cos I’m really good at burying my head in the sand…

Had another interesting one later on, walking towards my OH tonight in town, he looked straight at me from about 10-15 feet away and didn’t recognise me. I don’t really know what to feel about that!

I have just had a comment that I look 10 years younger – not sure I felt I looked 10 years older in the first place (I’m 41) !!

Love this thread because there is so much truth and humor in these experiences! I had the funny experience recently of needing some jeans to wear on a trip to Northern Ireland and I had not pulled any jeans out of the closet for at least four months as California has been suffering drought and heat (we are just dessicated.) I pulled a favorite pair of dark green pants out that I wore all the time last winter and shook them out and they seemed so…well, big…you know, visually, in my hands. So I slipped them on and they fell off, literally at least two sizes too big — they were not fixable in any way, no belt could cover up the crotch sagging to my knees and the “saddle-bags” on the thighs — I had to race out and buy all new pants to go on the flight the next day — so the word to the wise is, check your old clothes well before your trip date or you could be surprised! But here’s the weird psychological thing to the experience — I was looking at these pants and thinking, jeez, how big was I? I couldn’t remember that I was that big, I never felt that big even though I know I was fat but wow, I WAS pretty fat! What a laugh in retrospect, now seven months down the road and 10 inches smaller at my waist (with that number, how could I have thought otherwise? ) I think I am still mentally adjusting to the smaller me! And Bissell and bluejeans, same thing with my tummy — I no longer have it lying on the bed beside me!😜😜

So I’m not the only one that I keeps looking on rails in shops then find I’m looking at 20s and 22s!
And how come when I wanted those sizes, I couldn’t get them, but every clothes rail I’ve looked at recently is devoid of size 16!

I got home and chucked all my stuff in the washing machine, and put on a pair of rarely worn leggings that I bought to wear under work trousers a few years ago when it was exceptionally cold. They are loose, but surprisingly comfortable and flattering with a large top.
I’m almost starting to see the point of jeggings!

Hi

Californiagirl – I’ve been trying to find clothes for a trip. Might just have to look again when I’m in Italy soon😃

Frog – it never fails – whatever size I am, that’s the size missing off the rails! Regular shops or charity shops, its the same!

Like you, I’ve seen the point of jeggings. For £2 in the charity shop, it was worth the risk. And I love them! Just wore them to a conference 😃 Colleagues very surprised !

Hi Old blue jeans

I recognised the Phantom fat thing you mention. Sometimes I feel so light as I move it feels a bit strange as if I may leave the floor and float off. Other times I can’t see a huge change when I look and wonder what all the fuss is about. Years ago I heard a tip to help decide your body size and whether to diet, paper bag over the head with eye slits, you see your shape in a totally different way. I’ve been thinking to try it on the skinnier version. Today I caught a look at me in passing, by not looking at my face it looked like a good healthy shape to be. No paper bag needed after all. I guess we all take time to adjust. I’m loving the security and confidence that I am here to stay, no other diet has given me that.

If there was a charity accepting donations of excess skin I have a bit to give.

It seems that skinny jeans and jeggings are IN this season folks, I bought a few pairs and will wear them 64 years old or not! I did look for tailored slacks, the ones I wanted to wear and look trim in all those years when I was taking whatever I could find in the elastic waist aisle.
N.