Recently, I’ve noticed that I take a little more time looking at myself in the bathroom mirror. It’s odd, as my weight is going down, I am beginning to feel physically fatter. It doesn’t make sense, I know.
It is easier to grab handfuls of flesh and visualize the core body hiding beneath. If it were possible to chop off this excess, I would feel almost pseudo-skinny (at least for me). I even asked Rob the other day if we could just slice off the saddlebags which are becoming more defined. He said no....bummer.
I know that the more important fat to lose is visceral fat. This is the fat which lies deep within the abdominal cavity, padding the spaces between the abdominal organs. Losing this internal fat is why I can feel a slimmer belly in me. Visceral fat increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. It also produces inflammatory proteins which negatively affect rheumatoid arthritis.
Read this post in its entirety:
Can Losing Weight Make You Feel Fatter?
I wrote the above post last week and I still find the contradiction to be, well, a contradiction.
That's interesting, Lisa! I gained a lot of weight when I went on IV steroids (and I did lose it but not for years and years) and oh yes...my self-esteem suffered!
ReplyDeleteWe females can get hung up on body image. Me included. I'm far more comfortable now than I was, and not because I lost weight. I simply learned that it doesn't matter what other people think. It matters what WE think and that's the hard part, isn't it?
I lost 60lbs the year I was Dx'ed with MS (exercise being most of what landed me in the hospital) and I know exactly what you mean about seeing "the core body" behind everything you haven't yet lost...
ReplyDeleteI had been gradually gaining this weight over a decade, with just a few minor dips along the ways. It's going to take awhile to change the way I see myself.
ReplyDeleteEarlier this summer while on vacation, I purchased a t-shirt in Skagway, Alaska. I chose the size I have usually needed to feel comfortable because it would loosely clear my hips. Well, I put it on earlier today, and wouldn't ya know it? The shirt really is much too large by at least one size if not maybe two.
I need to start recognizing the "skinnier" person who is emerging underneath the flab. :)