Realising how big you are/were?

**scorpio** · July 10, 2006, 01:37 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Hi Dave,

I know exactly how you feel.. Just yesterday i was going through my closet and had to throw out all my big clothes.. What was so amazing was how big the clothes were.. i put some of the pants on and they were literally falling off my body I had no idea that i was that big. Basically I'm much happier, healthier and fitter now thanks to Atkins and a lot of people have commented on how much prettier i am now that i've lost weight.

Thank you atkins

**maribelle** · July 10, 2006, 06:18 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

I know I've lost alot...after all I actually have a waist now. But there is a part of me that keeps saying "You're never going to be thin", "You'll never look like normal" and its hard to overcome that. For me, I know where I've been, but other's don't, and they still look at me as the really really big person. I was thin growing up, and my dad had this fascination with saying "One day you're going to get really big! You just watch!", and coupled with my brothers always telling me how fat I was, and my grandma out of the blue saying "You've got a really big butt!" I became paranoid, obcesed with the idea that I was fat, and became what I feared! Now when my DH jokingly tells my son "You're fat" when he's not, I get MAD! My son is very thin...not an ounce of extra on him at all, and I just think that no matter how much my DH thinks my son knows he's joking, that it could be the start of big problems. He's never been there, so he just can't understand. And he thinks I'm exaggerating when I scold him for it.

Sorry for the vent!

**Jerzaka** · July 10, 2006, 06:28 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Not only did I not know how big I was before jumping back into Atkins - I didn't realize how small I was either. I was in the 130's and thought I was fat.

Now I know I wasn't exercising during that period and that had EVERYTHING to do with why I felt that way. A little giggle here, a little giggle there was definitely the culprit. Boy, do I wish I had SIMPLY started exercising.

Just goes to show, you're NEVER to old to learn from your mistakes!

**dreamof145** · July 10, 2006, 07:17 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Yeah, I agree. In the beginning, I think I was in denial. Then, as my eating spun out of control and I found I was almost 300 pounds, thats when reality hit me and I knew that I had to stop it. When I look back now at pictures from 2 years ago, I am saddened and ashamed that I had gotten so out of control. I keep a small photo album in my purse and when I even think of eating off plan....I look at my FAT photos and it keeps me from taking any chances of going back to the fat, miserable unhappy life I had before ATKINS.

**hey_nelson** · July 10, 2006, 08:03 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Yes, its the photos that did it for me as well. I'm behind the camera taking photos of the teens, and when they shot photos of me, well, they did not wait for me to pose, or position myslelf, they just shot and I got to see what others saw.

I still have a very difficult time taking photos. Don't like them at all.
patty

**dreamof145** · July 10, 2006, 08:14 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

I was always the type that wouldn't allow anyone to take my picture. When they did, I hate to admit it, but I'd always destroy them when nobody was looking. I was shocked after I lost weight and everyone started showing me photos that they had hidden from me. I didn't know that the family was aware that I was going around destroying them. Boy, what a shock to see my fat self after losing the weight. Now I'm glad I have the photos cause it keeps me motivated to keep the weight off.

**Katlam** · July 10, 2006, 08:17 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Dave when I see those few old photos i'm shocked that it's me. I usually see me as I am now, which is still overweight, but I feel so much better/healthy than I was then. Folks who don't know me from before never realize what the struggle was to get here.

Kathy

**changing** · July 10, 2006, 08:38 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Oh definitely, Dave, I felt really good until the last 5 pounds. That's when it started to hurt my back just walking across campus to get to class (and the campus at my school is tiny compared to most). That was the last straw. It was really interfering with my life and was not just some vanity issue. I had been working a lot on self-acceptance, but I said, "Geez, you've gotta do something, this isn't healthy. You have to be able to walk."

I don't have a full-length mirror in my home so it wasn't until I'd lost about 30 lbs and I went away with my husband to a hotel that I realized how big I actually looked.

**1poundatatime** · July 10, 2006, 08:39 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

It wasn't until recently, when I started Atkins, that I realized just how big I was. Sure, I saw the numbers on the scale (when I bothered to look at them) and I saw my clothes sizes expanding, but I just did not see myself as a "fat person". It's the biggest case of denial I've ever experienced. I knew I was fat, just not how fat. I've had a couple of friends that were the same weight as me and they always called me the "slim one". I didn't waddle, I did have energy, I could run and play around despite being almost at that 300 mark.

When I finally looked through the pictures from this past Christmas, looking for a photo to use as my "before", it hit me like a ton of bricks that I was huge. My face looked unwell, puffy and with dark circles under my eyes. All veils of denial were wiped clean away.

The good news is that now that I realize it, I'm working hard at staying cheat free and staying to a healthy, nutritional WoE. It's more than I can say about before I realized how fat I was.

**2big4mysize** · July 10, 2006, 09:17 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

out opf body living is what I was doing. When I got stuck trying to turn a corner in a kiddie play tube I realized i was 2BIG and when about getting smaller. I was still living out of body as I shurnk cause I had troiuble realizing how small i was and even didn't know that was me in my goalie pic until I was told it was.

**womanpraised** · July 10, 2006, 09:24 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Have to agree, on both ends. I get it from myself, Because I dont feel as big as I am, and never have, and on the other hand, I keep hearing from doctors, and more recently, a trainer at the gym, "we have to weigh you again, there is no way you are that heavy". And I think, what do you mean, I dont look that heavyy, cant you see me? So I am blessed in not feeling fat, and my bloodwork and all that is really good, all well normal, and yet I also know I look fat. My denial was, as long as I am HEALTHY and feel good.

I am still working on it.. still trying to balance getting how I look to line up with how I feel.

Maribelle... I wasnt stick thin like my sister, so I was always told I was heavy. I look back at those pictures and see a normal kid, I wasnt overweight, just got all the short solid genes in the family and it makes me mad. Self fufilling prophecy. And NO ONE tells my kids, especially my middle son, the other two are bean poles, that they are heavy. Fat in comparison isnt fair.

**Vampyre** · July 10, 2006, 10:51 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Actually, yes, I did know how big I was. I went from feeling okay at 320 to being sick at 340 and I was certain that I was going to die. I went to my doctor for help with my athritis pain and was told that I needed to lose weight. I went to my doctor again in a few months after Weight Watchers didn't work for me and asked for the diet pills I kept seeing on TV and he said that after phen/fen the clinic did not perscribe any diet pills. He recommended that I consider bariatric surgery. Fortunately, I have friends who told me that while it might help me lose weight, it would cause me to have nutrional issues for life and might also allow me to regain the weight. I finally went in for a full physical, with the idea of trying the South Beach diet, and my doctor realized I have hypothyroid. He actually called me at home and because of my bloodwork told me to get a copy of DANDR and get on it ASAP.

I'm down to 265 as of this morning, and I'm feeling much better. Now I have to get past the idea that I will never be thin. I've been overweight since elementary school, so I don't know what thin would be like. The last time I felt thin I was at 200 lbs. I think I can get there again, but I'm not sure if there is life below that. My doctor is amazed that I'm still losing weight. He's happy and willing to do what he can to help me, but this is new territory for him. The only patients he has had go from morbidly obese to a normal weight have been gastric bypass patients.

**WonderWall** · July 11, 2006, 05:13 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

I definitely realize how big I was, now that I have lost a good amount of weight. I never throw anything away, so I have clothes in my drawers that I've had from 3-4 years ago. I never wore these because they were too small. Now I can wear everything in my drawer and most are too baggy to where I don't want to wear them...but i"m putting off buying new clothes because I have another 35 or so pounds to lose...and I hate shopping. Maybe I can finally throw something away.

**CHUBBRUBBKARA** · July 12, 2006, 08:21 AM

Re: Realising how big you are/were?

Hi everyone!

Well.... When I first started Atkins I truly did not realize how big I was until I saw pictures. Now that I have been on the plan for a few months I actually "feel" bigger now than when I started. It seems the more weight I lose, the bigger I feel and look. As with everyone else, it must be denial. It is overwhelming at times when I think...gee... I've lost weight but look at me, It's been months and I still look like this. I'm not giving up though. I am just going to keep plugging along and trying to remain positive.

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Realising how big you are/were?

Realising how big you are/were?

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