[KC3]

The hardest thing about losing weight is to realize you need to do something about it. As you can see I currently weigh 247, and I am a size 22. At the age of 23 I have no health problems associated with my weight and can jump on the treadmill and walk two miles without much of a problem. I guess I had this mental image of when I was in high school and 180 pounds. Even when I looked in the mirror everyday or stepped on the scale the reflection of myself and the number didn't really register. Well that has all changed. I just recently developed some pictures and I am astounded at how big I am. Wow! I've seen the light. It's time. Rrecently ordered 3 mos supply of phen and have lost 6 lbs in the last week. Anyone else been through this? How could I not realize? Crazy!

P.S. Last Sunday I finally fessed up to my boyfriend how much I actually weighed and he looked stunned. We were watching football and he said, "REALLY! I didn't know you were that heavy. There are line backers who weight that much." Sometimes men really know what to say.

[CONYSCAZ]

KC,
I to have had a unrealistic image of myself. I know that I'm large but never really thought that I looked like I had no control over my eating. I went on vacation in October and video taped a lot of it. When I came home and watched myself in motion I saw what everyone else does. I was very repulsed with what I saw. I made a choice right there and then that I wasn't going to let myself be that person any more. I started Phen and my new lifestyle in Nov. (after a stressful move). I have lost 15 lbs and feel better. I now make small goals that I know I can reach instead of looking at the big picture (it gets overwhelming).
Good Luck to you!

[KC3]

I totally understand. I think I'm going to burn the pictures. No wait on second thought maybe I should keep them around to remind me of the truth. Congratulations on the 15 pounds. I know it probably doesn't seem that much but go out and buy a 10# bag of sugar. Carry that around and you can tell the difference.

[LisaS]

One of my big revelations in starting this journey was waking up one day, looking in the mirror and saying, "Who the h e l l is this?" I know exactly what you mean.

Don't give up.

Lisa

[luna9]

I had one of those moments back in 1995. I went to get some portraits done to send to my grandparents and when I got them back I was in shock at just how heavy I had gotten. I was probably near 300lbs. at the time. I put myself on a very restrictive diet, eating less than 10gm of fat a day. I lost about 80lbs. in 4 months. Unfortunately, as soon as I was put back in a stressful situation, I gained it all back.

Pictures always do it for me. It forces me to see what other people see. I still ask people "is that really how I look?" It's strange how we see ourselves so differently in the mirror.

I've been forcing myself to take pictures on a regular basis so I can have a clear idea in my head of what reality is. It really keeps me motivated.

Congrats on the 15lbs KC

[cshell]

I know EXACTLY where you are coming from. I was house bound from depression for months. When the depression lifted I went to go shopping for work clothes. I knew I had gained a "little" weight and took larger sizes in with me. I was horrified because I had to keep going out and getting bigger and bigger sizes. How had I gotten that big in so little time without knowing it?

[ December 20, 2002, 04:08 PM: Message edited by: cshell ]

[TwiceBlessed]

KC - I know what you mean. My freshman year of college I did MORE than the freshman 15 (25 maybe?). Anwyay, in my MIND (and eyes I suppose) I still looked like the same chic from high school at that cute little 125.

After I got engaged, I lost that weight almost instantly before my wedding (and effortlessly too I might add. How? Who knows....LOVE?) Later, (after I lost it) my mom mentioned how "big" I was there for awhile. NEver in a million YEARS would she have said that too me WHILE I was big (for fear of hurting me), but it took her saying that to really even look back at pictures, etc. and go HOLY C R A P!!!! She's right! It's a wake up call.

THat's what you need sometimes though to really keep a good motivation run going. BEst of luck to you!

[KC3]

Thanks for the replies. I don't feel I'm alone and crazy anymore for feeling that way. Anyone know where I can find Snow Whites mirror? LOL

"Mirror mirror on the wall who is the skinniest of them all?"

"Get out of the way so I can look."

[Keew]

KC,

Here with a Phen or non-Phen related issue you are never alone.

When I tell people how much I weigh they are also very stunned.

And funny you should mention the football thing, when I told someone I work with how much I weigh, he goes, "Jesus, that's any linebacker on any football team."
So me being the smart *** that I am, (no need for comments from the people who know that already either) I said to him, "Not really, Dallas' average linebacker weight is 350."

Eh, didn't really help, but it made me look smart in front of a hot guy.

(edited because I cannot spell)

[ December 20, 2002, 04:44 PM: Message edited by: Keew ]

[Gerald Bostock]

Isn't "football" where they whack those little balls with mallets while riding sideways on a horse?

So when you say "linebacker", you're talking about the horse?

[KayBee]

I have talked to overweight friends about this all the time...how we don't really see how big we are unless we are looking at a picture or a video. I think part of it is that we can pick the angle in a mirror - I haven't looked at my backside in about 5 years (I would have been tempted to hang a WIDE LOAD sign on my back).

I remember looking at a picture from my stepsisters wedding and thinking...gosh, there was a woman there who was wearing the same dress and I didn't even notice it - well, the picture was ME! You are definitely not crazy.

Luckily I have been having the opposite happen now...I don't recognize myself in pictures because I've lost 50 lbs and my mental image hasn't quite caught up yet.