Thread: how do you feel in smaller clothes?

I've been moaning about this in my diary for a few days now but I thought I'd write this so maybe I can find out if others feel the same way.

I've only lost 2 stone but have gone from a size 18 to a 12. It is fantastic to be able to go into shops and buy size 12 clothes and know they will fit me. But I look in the mirror and still feel huge. What is wrong with me?

What if I never get over that feeling and keep trying to lose more and more weight? According to that thread about celebrities and their weights and sizes I'm the same size as charlotte church, I think she looks fantastic so why can't I feel the same about myself? If I remember right she's only about an inch taller than me or something. I am still about a stone heavier though. No idea were they come up with the weights and sizes of these people though, I'm sure it's not something that they're going to go round telling everyone all the time.

I always thought I'd feel great if I got back to this size again, I wonder if everyone else has the same problem. Is it because the weight has gone so quickly I haven't had time to get used to it yet?

I am still overweight, my BMI is 27 or something very close so maybe thats why I can't think of myself as slim. I still have another 2 stone to lose to get to goal and I never thought I'd be wearing this size clothing with so much left to lose.

I'm just feeling frustrated by it all. Do others get these feelings too or am I just odd?

hi Kati,

I looked out for this thread, rather than start discussing the subject in your diary.

Clothes sizes vary a great deal from one shop to another, so I wouldn't take them too literally (unless you like what they're telling you!). I have clothes varying from size 6 (GAP!) to 12 in my wardrobe, and only I know which are which!

One thing I can hopefully help with, as I can totally relate to it, is your STILL feeling fat yet knowing you're not. "Is it because I lost the weight so fast?", you ask. "Yes, in part", I would reply. But, although I lost mine slower through healthy eating, I still had / have the same issue so I think it's probably true for anyone who loses a substantial amount of weight.

I've been at target now for almost three years (with a few blips!), yet still can hardly recognise myself in a mirror, although it is definitely getting better. My OH used to say I was getting narcissic as I used to examine myself critically in front of every mirror, shop window, car window, you name it, as I walked past but in fact it was exactly the opposite that I was doing. Wondering "who the hell is she?".

Just last year I gleefully told someone at work about a new outsize clothes shop that had opened. She opened her eyes wide and asked why I'd be interested in that. I'd forgotten, for a split second, that I was slim!

Enjoy the feeling of getting into those size 12 jeans. Low cut ones aren't always the most flattering if, like me, you have a little "overhang" but it's harder to find the others these days alas...

It will happen... our eyes will catch up with what our brain logically knows... but it does take quite a while.

You've dropped size really dramatically, well done. I don't do much looking in the mirror, my method of deciding if I'm the right size is to see how much fat there is still obvious on my body.
I think you may have a bit of a mental block about your size now, you're still thinking of yourself as a fat person. Can you get someone to take some photos of you with friends, to give you a relative view of yourself? I know that looking at photos or videos gives me a much better idea than the mirror does.

Thanks for your replies.

the sizes do change from shop to shop but I've tried on so many clothes (just because I could, no charge for trying thme on right? lol) that the 12's just about everywhere I tried fit me.

I have seen written a few times that who would care if you weighed loads if you can fit in size whatever clothes, well I think I can honestly say I care. I think maybe, because of the difference in sizes now that maybe I'm just losing fat off the right places to be able to drop dress sizes. My calves are still huge and I can't get knee high boots on yet, things like that.

I do very much still think of myself as a fat person. I try to squeeze past things and am surprised to find theres loads of room. When I was taking things into the changing room I was thinking the women working there were going to think I was mad tryin to get into something so small and I might bust the seams or something. When I see myself all I see is how flabby I still am, with or without clothes on. I see the fat everywhere but I don't know how much is reall or how much of it is me seeing myself as I was.

Having my photo taken with others beside me is a good idea I think. At least that way I have something to compare myself too instead of just imagining the comparison

hi kati

reading your thread felt weird as i think the same as you,
Ive too only lost 2 stone (& 5lb's) and also gone from a size 18 to a 12 jeans, and i too still feel fat!
I also still go directly to size 18 clothes when out shopping,
Ive lost all my weigh in 7 1/2 weeks so feels a bit odd to be buying size 12,
My BMI is 26.6, but to be honest im really happy with that.

If i lost another 2 stone i think i would look ill.

Here's hoping we can get our heads round the fact we are not fat anymore !!

xx

I'm glad there's someone else feeling the same way about still thinking you're bigger than you are. Would be great if we all felt as great as we think others look though.

I must admit that I don't think I would look ill if I lost another 2 stone. I think maybe I might get to a size 8 whereas my aim was a 10 but any less than that I think would look ill.

I suppose I'm just going to have to rely on when others tell me I'm looking too thin, but I already have people teling me to stop but I wont listen to them. I know I'm still overweight so no matter what they say I'm not going to listen.

I do have a few insecurities about whether I still look fat in my slim clothes. But in general I feel fab it feels so natural and I can wear the clothes that are so me. When I was fat I just wore what fit and were most comfy and didn't draw attention to me.

I feel like I've come home after being away for a few years. I never got used to being fat it always felt so unnatural and alien to me.

Hope you can fully enjoy your new skinny clothes soon. I'm sure it won't be long before you become more confident in them.

Dizzy x

im still finding it very weird picking up smaller size clothes, and even walked out of one shop cos i was scared people would say something if they saw me carrying smaller size clothes, im getting better at seeing im smaller but i have been a long time fat, so i dont suppose i will catch up overnight lol

I feel exactly the same!! I started LL and then CD about 6 months ago. I have now lost a couple of pounds short of 7 stone and I have gone from a tight size 20 to a comfortable size 12!

I think that part of it is that you see yourself every day and so the shrinking size is not so obvious. I had said to my OH that I knew that I was smaller, I felt fitter etc, but that I still thought of myself as a big person. He then took out the camera and took some photos of me with my children in a couple of specific poses (which I thought was a little odd!!). He then showed me those photos and some others taken before I started VLCD in the same poses! Even I was astonished, I didn't remember myself as being that big and I didn't recognise the new "thin" me either. I couldn't believe how small my legs were or that my collar bones were clearly visible!! My 10 year old son looked at the old pictures and said, "who is that woman, I don't recognise her anymore!!"

Also last week I went to a shop and was looking at a pair of jeans in a size 12. They looked so small that I convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to get into them. I took the size 14 to try on instead. I couldn't believe it BUT they were much too big. I went back for the size 12 nad someone else had picked up the last pair! I was furious with myself.

I think, like everyone else has said, that it will just take time for the head to catch up and for me to start seeing myself as other people now see me. Taking photos is a great idea though, the image that I have of myself when I look in the mirror is very different from the one that I see in the photo!

I would say that you shouldn't be a slave to a number on the scales. Stop when you feel comfortable and happy with your size, different body shapes and bone structures do make a difference. My mum and I are the same height and wear the same size clothes, but she weighs 1 1/2 stone less than me!

Good luck and enjoy the huge range of clothes now available to you!

Dawn

Having gone from a size 24/26 to a size 12 in the past 8.5 months I feel absolutely fabulous (dahling!)

I can now see myself in the mirror as a 'slim' person .. but up until a month or so ago I could only really see how much I'd lost properly in photos as it's like looking at someone else.

I recommend to everyone taking photos when they start their diets and every month along the way to help them re-assess their new image objectively. It really works!