Rapid Weight Loss and Self-Perception

 
Sometimes when we lose a bunch of weight, our self-perception can take a little while to catch up. Watch this week’s vlog to hear my thoughts on this topic.

Comments

  1. Catriona

    This was was a great video, but would you sometime address the fact that as i lose weight quickly to begin with, that disconnect that happens when I start excusing the fact that I’m not sticking to my bright lines exclusively and start to cheat, eating poorly again, because my brain or my internal sabotage doesn’t register that the weight will go back on, even with small cheats. I lose weight and and regain again and again, thinking it’s ok, as I’ve lost some weight, I can be good tomorrow!

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    1. Yvette

      Hi!
      It sounds like your internal saboteur it trying to come in the back door! That voice sounds like a place for another bright line! “Oh, it’s you again. I’ve worked hard, so the answer is no!”

      Have you had a conversation with this voice? What does it want? As a part of you (that is looking out for you in some kind of way), what is it trying to protect you from? Can you honor its intention in a way that doesn’t involve eating foods that your higher self knows are not in the best interest of your body’s health?

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    2. Kelli

      Catriona, such a coincidence… the idea of giving ones self “wiggle room” or cheats was addressed on a coaching call this week with Susan… and her answer was a HUGE epiphany for me. I just listened to that section of the call again to take notes for myself and these were the notes I took so I could refer back to them. I don’t know if they perfectly address your disconnect, but am hoping they might help.

      *** Caller had been having trouble during maintenance and Susan’s response was to inquire about her experience during weight loss phase. She asked how bright her lines had been. She said there had been little bit of wiggling or small cheats (maybe once or twice a week) – or an extra meal a few times. Susan suggested that this is a red flag. This can be what happens when the foundation isn’t strong. The type of thinking at play when you start with a set plan and then “wiggle” or cheat is a dieting mentality – which is that you can cheat a little and as long as your weight loss is intact, you are still doing good. Those extras don’t really matter because they don’t show up on the scale But, those cheats rob us of the automaticity that actually lead us to the freedom we are looking for in the LONG term. You are still having to always make sure that your cheats aren’t too much and you are still having to make sure you don’t stray too far away from the plan, which is not being free. Over the long term, you haven’t built up the integrity of the plan, and eventually it seems to break down into the future because the foundation just isn’t strong enough. ***

      Caller was a 10 on the susceptibility scale and Susan suggested later in this same call that those higher on the scale might look at the lines more like a box that they just never step outside of, while those more towards the middle of the scale might look at their lines as parallel lines that are used as guides that you don’t want to step too far away from. I also thought this was very helpful as I’m more in the middle of the scale and, so far, am finding that I need structure and rules, but can be a little more forgiving inside of that structure than others may need to be.

      I know I’d heard Susan talk about the wiggling or small cheats before, but I don’t think I could really grasp it until I’d seen how it really effected me personally. It’s insidious… and it really doesn’t have anything to do with the number on the scale. If you lost weight, but you cheated your long term plan doing it, you still may have problems keeping the weight off later. This may be the crux of why I have never been able to sustain the weight losses I’ve had SO many times in my life and is pretty eye-opening to me. I’ve really learned a lot from this program so far.

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  2. Kim

    Hi Susan. I gained the majority of my excess weight in the past 10 years, but I have fought with food all my life (8 on SS). Since gaining the weight, I haven’t lost the sense of who I was as a thinner person and am so astonished when people dismiss me or ignore me. That never happened before! I often think of how my inner perception and personality don’t match my outer visage…but in the opposite of your video, and wondered if there were any techniques to converge them. Now I can’t wait to have the issue you described where my body and image of myself are back in tact! Thank you for BLE and this video and for all you are doing in this quest for Happy Thin & Free.

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    1. Mary

      I have the same experience as Kim. My weight has gone up and down, but I still feel like that thinner person. Unfortunately, I think I sometimes use that to rationalize allowing myself to eat anything (and everything).

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      1. Barb

        I have the same issue….even though I have been steadily gaining for years, I’m still somehow astonished that my clothing size keeps increasing and surprised when I catch a glimpse in the mirror…what in the world is this about? I know what the scale says. I know clothes don’t fit. How can I still think I’m the thin person from many years ago and what is it going to take for me to get real about doing something to change it?!?

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    2. Donna

      I have always been a vivid dreamer. When I dream of myself I am slender. I think that slender Donna is the true one just waiting to come back out into the world again.

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  3. Yvette

    Hi, Susan!
    I lost 80 lbs a little over 20 years ago, and since then my weight has fluctuated some, but I never got as big again. My concept of my current size has never caught up with me. I STILL overestimate how much space I need to fit through somewhere, and still wander into the plus size section and have to remind myself that nothing will fit.

    And that’s fine. It’s a nice surprise when pant fit when I think they’re too small! Just like some people may be bad at sports, I am bad at understanding my own size. I don’t have any concern that this disconnect will lead to me making my body fit the mental concept.

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  4. Charlie

    Mine is reversed

    Think and actually feel thinner

    But body in mirror etc hasn’t caught up

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  5. Ronna Berezin

    What do u think of the recent studiesshowing that contesetants ( all of them) on “The Biggeat Loser” gained ALL of their weight back some time after the show! Researchers claim that that is to be expected and mentioned Leptin and some of the things you talk about … and they seemed to conclude that obesity is a disease and needs to be treated as such and that dieting … quickly and and/ or over time is non priductive and in the long run doesn’t workbc the body forces itself back to the original wt. 1) bc it burns far fewer calories than it did when contestnts were at their heaviest . I’m not a scientist , and I couldn’t forward the email to you bc of I Pad probs. This would beca great topic for you to discuss on the blog as well as a chance for you to consult with the scientists who are involved in the research on ‘The. Biggest Loser” participants regaining lost weight. You are just right for this issue ………so I hope you follow it.

    Reply ·
    1. Rory

      Hi Ronna, Susan does discuss this a bit in one of the more recent blogs so I’d encourage you to listen to the last few. not sure if you are a bright light or not but she also addressed it in depth in a recent bright life coaching call. she gave very good reasons and examples of how bright line eating is different and why she thinks people have a much higher percentage of success in keeping weight off with bright line eating.

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  6. Rory

    Great vlog Susan!
    I’d like to add however that the concern with mental self-image lagging behind actual body size is a cause for concern when you have an understanding of how our visualization and power as Observers does genuinely contribute greatly to how we create our reality. So there are things one can do to help address this challenge, for example holding the image of what one really looks like now in their mind on a regular basis. This sends a message to the body and the whole being that this is what we look like now and reinforces the new state of being as opposed to still holding an outdated picture of what we look like. Just some thoughts on the issue from many years of my own experience in using concentrated Focus to consciously create reality. We can help ourselves make the adjustment much more quickly by doing this.

    Reply ·
    1. Thank You

      Susan, Thank You for another great video.

      Like Rory said above, the mind is very powerful. Do not give in to what the mind tells you; it likes to deceive you.

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  7. Kathy Klein

    Thank you so much for answering ! I love my results on the outside and I’m frustrated with my internal thoughts glad to know I’ll come together inside and out. I love BLE ? And truly appreciate the response to my question and it’s wonderful because it do personal and my questions aren’t just another number but me, Kathy!

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  8. Cheryl

    Oh dear! This is right where I’m at. I have been traveling and so busy, I have not stopped to post about it yet. I’m on day 120 and weight last week to freak out (I only weigh once a month) I now have lost 52lbs in 4 months.
    And I sat on the plane and my seat belt was loose (I never tried to tighten it), I could walk down the aisle of the plane and not side step the whole way. I went in to buy a new shirt b/c I was told you clothes are to big and you need help. I had an important presentation to make and went and pulled all the XL off the rack, I kept changing sizes and my husband said ‘nope’ try the next, ‘nope’ the next I ended up purchasing and M (really – not kidding) and I stood up straight and tall and walked to counter while ‘screaming on the inside!!! This feels like I’m an alien…. thank you Susan – thank you just believing… BLE is my life and I’m so happy, thin and free (even I continue the path to goal). MUCH MUCH LOVE!!

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  9. Gwenette

    I’ve lost weight slowly, and I experience this disconnect still. All totaled, I’ve lost 70 pounds in the past 5 years, but I still think of myself as that fat chick. I still need to lose about 50 pounds, so I’m by no means thin, but I actually fit into a size large now, but I can’t stop myself from picking up the x-large and taking it in the dressing room. And then it looks awful. And I hate dressing rooms anyway — from years of shopping when I weighed 270 pounds. And all I see is that roll of fat in the middle and the flabby arms, not the thinner face and thinner legs and thinner waist. I do eventually buy the right size, but the me I see is not the me the rest of the world sees. I don’t think I’ll ever feel good about my body. And I really do want to.

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  10. Tracy

    Thank you Susan xo I am going through this at the moment. I am even finding it hard to celebrate my weightloss. I am on the bigger size and loosing 20kgs in 13 weeks has stunned me. Dropping 4 dress size floored me. I haven’t even bought anything new, I’m nervous to. I’m sure this will pass. Thank you this message came at the right time xo

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  12. Shelby

    Hi Susan – I’m not sure how I missed this blog originally as I read and watch everything that you produce. You are awesome!

    What a relief to know I’m not alone in this disconnect. I’ve recently lost 25 lbs, but don’t yet “feel it” inside. The last time I tried on clothes I honestly thought that the clothing companies were in conspiracy of vanity sizing and was making everything very large.

    I ended up going to several stores just to try on different clothes to see what size I actually was. I have gone from a 12/14 to now a 6/8. Yet I don’t feel thin.

    I’m glad to know it will all come with time that my perception will catch up. You’re the best!

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  13. WEBMARKA

    Susan Albers, Psy.D. presents a groundbreaking three-step program for conquering emotional eating a practical, prescriptive, proactive approach using Emotional Intelligence that will help you slim down, eat healthfully and mindfully, and keep the pounds off.

    Reply ·
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