Grrr... I hate the mirror, but im loving the scale! (Forum Therapy)

Keep going, you're doing great. Also sending big congrats and continued good wishes for Jedi's recovery and long life.

I get it completely. I don't have the same body I had the last time I weighed this, but I'm older now and care less about it. If it helps, before the loss I looked bad dressed or not, but now I look pretty good when I dress up.

Nice work on the results. You're not the only one. My scale and mirror both seem against me, but at least I need smaller jeans and my blood pressure has moved into the normal range. We'll get there.

I understand exactly. About nine weeks in on the medication and down roughly nine pounds total. The first eight weeks only brought about four pounds, so I kept wondering what I was doing wrong. Then last week another five came off after increasing the dose. Food noise has mostly disappeared, appetite is lower, and it finally feels like movement in the right direction. Forum therapy works. Also hoping Jedi does well with the final treatment.

Counseling in three simple steps. First look at an old photo from your heaviest point. Second get past the shock that you actually looked that way. Third look in the mirror again. Finished.

A before-and-after photo set might help you notice the shifts. Take the same shot of yourself every thirty days. Key point is don't examine them until you compare one to another. So if you take the first one today and confirm it's clear, don't look at it again until the second one is ready. It gets striking by the time you compare the first to the fifth. Sounds odd but it works because the brain hides small daily changes. That's why you don't notice aging in yourself but react strongly when seeing someone after many years apart.

Take pictures. You can't argue with what's right in front of you.

I keep getting these odd moments in the shower or while dressing where I think whose arm is that. It can't be mine because I know what my arm or leg is supposed to look like, so what is this smaller version doing here. After living in the same body for decades you get used to how it looks and how much space it takes up. When you suddenly notice it's clearly different it just feels strange. Your mind needs time to adjust to the new shape. It will happen and catch you off guard one day.

My partner switches between wow things are changing and ugh I've been at this forever with no progress. I asked her to limit those swings to once a day or I'll get whiplash. I see the shifts happening. She sees she's not at her target yet and won't be until she is, but if she keeps going she will get there eventually. That's sometimes hard to trust.

I met an art therapist who also does photography. She made portraits of patients by putting the original photo next to a mirror image of it. It felt odd at first. We never see ourselves exactly as we are or as others see us.

If you want something that will really frustrate you later, and I hope this doesn't bring you down, right now your mind is focused on keeping you larger. Once it gets used to the slimmer version you'll look back at the bigger pictures and feel you were twice as large as you currently remember. Those old photos will seem even worse as your mind adjusts to the new you. When that happens just look in the mirror and remind yourself how proud you are for turning it around.

Enjoy it because when body dysmorphia hits it gets even tougher with more muscle, more ab definition, fuller looks, rounder, bigger, bigger, did I say bigger.

Looking at my reflection doesn't match what others notice. I totally relate to that point. Back in December I began dropping pounds, and after some time away from this process plus entering a different life stage, my updated figure seems strange visually. The reduction hasn't occurred in familiar spots like before. My mental image hasn't caught up to the actual form yet. While browsing sites I debated over trousers, comparing the sizing chart against my updated numbers, but the figures didn't make sense. There's no way that's my measurement. Following a short wait and pushing past doubt, I went ahead and ordered anyway. When they arrived, surprisingly they suited me perfectly. Never felt this kind of distorted self-view before. What a strange sensation! There's this nagging thought that overnight those 48 pounds might return suddenly. The large curved rear has disappeared along with the heavy legs. Basically an entire bottom section vanished. Still, I feel unsure if they'll suit me when I put them on in the morning as intended. Jedi forever!

Only check the mirror while dressed. Except once a month. Once a month take a new picture and compare it to the previous one. You will notice a difference.

I'm also down about 65 pounds from my heaviest and feel exactly the same. You're definitely not alone. Part of it for me is still having a long way left so the mirror view stays unsatisfying. On the positive side I'm a little less likely to drop dead from a heart attack each week.

Congrats on the 63 pounds, that's solid. I've lost 30 so far and feel good about the progress except the little bit of rear I had before is now gone. Keep going and forum therapy can work just as well as anything else.

Good job on the weight loss. Once you reach a certain level of obesity it becomes a long slow process to remove it even with these medications helping. It simply takes time to lose a large amount. Because it happens so gradually the brain adjusts to the daily appearance making changes hard to spot since each day looks the same and the mental image of the starting point keeps getting replaced. It's important to give yourself credit for what you've achieved so far because you've likely lowered long-term health risks a lot even if no more weight comes off. The clearest change I noticed was walking uphill where every ten kilos lighter made a huge difference in effort. Clothing sizes also showed it clearly, going from 7xl to 3xl when they started looking too big, then down to xl and so on. Even after reaching 64 kg from 145 I still look somewhat overweight because most remaining fat is in the lower abdomen, probably made worse by the half a square meter