The FastDay Forum

I know I have lost 12lb since Easter

I know some of my clothes are too big

I know I can fit in clothes which used to be too small

I know I feel more energised

I know I look forward to fast days

I know there are bits of spare skin which used to be occupied

So why is it I am so unhappy when I look at my reflection?

The truth is, I never really looked before. I would concentrate on my make up or wrap up in a lumpy dressing gown, although it got to the point where this looked so big I would glance away. I know I have changed size and shape, but it is only now that I am actually looking that I realise how bad things were and how far I still have to go.

I am disappointed with how I look now, but that is only because I am taking the risk of actually looking.

The positive thing is, I can easily see myself continuing this WOE indefinitely - which I certainly wouldn't have been able to say about any of the other schemes I have tried before. So, on I go and I'm sure one day I will look in the mirror and like what I see.

Effie don't feel bad, re read your post and see the positives. You have taken control of your eating habits and it's working. Well done.
If all else fails stand naked in front of a full length mirror, turn the music up and shimmy, loving all the wobbles, can't do it without smiling

Thanks Minsmum, I am really quite positive. I'm just a bit cross with myself for expecting miracles and taken aback to realise how bad I had let things get.

Hello! I want to share my experience with you. I just decided to this WOE 7 weeks ago on a whim! It wasn't until I started I realised how overweight I had become in the last few years. Even though the scales were going down, I still wasn't happy, I wanted an instantaneous change. I can't really see a difference in the mirror but everyone else can see it (who didn't know I was on a diet). What I have realised in the last few weeks is that I need to stop looking at my past-self but look forward to my future-self and since then I have definitely become more confident. We are changing our bodies and our lives for the better. Yes it's a long process, but it's a sustainable one and we have to keep going in order to change. Look in the mirror and smile!!!! Your body is changing everyday, see the change and be the change!!

Good luck with the rest of your journey, and smile.

X

I find this to be really helpful. http://www.modelmydiet.com/ You put in your height weight and body shape, plus a few other minor details such as face shape colouring hair colour etc. Then you play around with it. I was quite startled to find that I don't actually like the way I will look when I am down to the size I think want to be. I look skinny, no curves, yet its on the higher side of my healthy weight.
Have some fun with it and see.

That's really fun to play around with, thanks for posting the ilnk Julieathorne!

That was fun!

Thank you Julieathome. This is very eye opening.

[carorees]

That was interesting! I found that the final result didn't look much different over about a 10 kg range from just above normal to the upper part of normal BMI but if I went another 5kg down it suddenly looked too scrawny. Looks like top end of normal would be OK for me, which is reassuring as that is what I have put in as my goal but had been worried that I should have been aiming lower.

Thank you Julieathome , what a great tool.
I put in my current weight and my target weight - only 6 more pounds to go and didn't look very different. But when I put in my weight when I started (dieting not 5:2) back in January 28lbs heavier than now that really was fun.

That was cool, thanks!! Good to know what im aiming for, I think my goal is realistic, to very top end of my healthy range. Im not sure that very thin looks good as we get older, need a bit of fat to plump out the wrinkles.......

Julieathome thank you that was fun
Effie this thread is "food for thought" as I am getting back to my younger body shape it is very different along with as you nicely put it "spare skin which used to be occupied" but am glad to have that problem rather than the worry of the long term health issues which would have been inevitable had I continued on my prior to 5:2 WOL. & at your new body it will serve you well
Exactly juliewil10 my aim is with some padding

The positive thing is, I can easily see myself continuing this WOE indefinitely - which I certainly wouldn't have been able to say about any of the other schemes I have tried before. So, on I go and I'm sure one day I will look in the mirror and like what I see.

Effie, focus on the good things. You've gone from overweight to a healthy weight, looking at your BMI which is a great achievement.

Don't just look at the mirror to like what you see; you will always be your toughest critic and spot things that no-one else could see. I know that I look back at old photos that I hated at the time because I looked fat etc and now with hindsight I think I looked pretty good.

Besides, it's more important to like and be comfortable with who you are rather than what you look like. The most beautiful people on the outside aren't always as lovely inside.

***
I like the body modeller although I'm so disproportionately top heavy that it doesn't come out looking that much like me. Forget bust-size - medium to large, I need at least one option higher!

I too am aiming for the top end of my healthy range. I want to be a cuddly grandma not a bony one. I remember my grandmother as being a cuddly one, a heavenly cook, always ready with the home made cakes (made always with proper butter) and proper English afternoon teas, with everything home made. She was never really overweight, just curvy. She lived till she was 97, so there was nothing wrong with her health or diet.

Good tool, liked that.

How you feel is a reflection of how you feel, not how you look. Though it helps with feeling confident, if you don't like yourself, it won't change anything...