Welcome back to the Century Club!
The Century Club is a regular weekly thread that I have been hosting since mid-2020 that started as a bit of a running gag. I often welcomed those who have lost 100+ lbs (~ 50 kg , ~7 stone) to “the club” and joked that club meetings were on Thursdays, and that joke has evolved into this regular weekly thread to talk about issues that are particular to those who have lost 100+ lbs, those who are well on their way as well as anyone who is just at the beginning of a journey this big.
Each week I will usually provide a topic of the day that has been on my mind or inspired by recent posts or comments. However you are free to talk about any topics you think might be relevant to current and prospective club members.
Previous Topics: Starting 2022 - 2021 recap - 2020 recap
Mind Games
This week's post arises from a recent post by u/gretro450 who posted that despite going from 300 to 180 lbs they have never felt fatter despite objectively being much smaller than before.
I'm going through that a bit myself right about now. I know that I'm objectively still right around 110 lbs lower than my HW, but just carrying about 5-6 lbs more than my average maintenance weight feels like A LOT. I feel FAT, even though my brain tells me that objectively I'm really not. My clothes feel noticeably more snug, but are they really? Or it is just a trick my mind is playing on me because it's cold and I'm dressing up in layers. So I'm just cutting back a bit being a bit more careful for a couple of months to get back closer to the center of my maintenance range. No target for a particular deficit, just looking to shed 4-8 lbs in January and February.
Many of us also struggle with a form of body dysmorphia that still has us mentally thinking we're "big people". I look at my clothes when I'm not in them and think that there is no freaking way that I fit into that, but still I do. I can squeeze behind a chair at the dinner table or in a conference room at work despite hesitating because I'm NEVER going to fit in there.
There's a little voice in my head that often tells me that "I'm a BIG guy." It sounds like me, but whoever it is, he really doesn't know much.
Of course there are other kinds of tricks our minds play on us, like believing that we are "destined" to be fat due to our genetics, economic situation or environment and so we simply don't ever really TRY to make a real, lasting change. Why bother? You can't fight destiny...
By far the most disorienting mind game that many of us experience in one form or other is dissociation of self-image. It's very disconcerting to look in the mirror and frankly not recognize yourself. Or to spend several minutes looking at a group picture and being unable to find yourself. It's even worse when you look at an old picture of yourself and don't immediately associate that with "you". This happened to me when a High School friend sent me a picture of me from High School weighing close to what I do now and I could swear it was my son. It couldn't be me. What was he doing with my parents though? Fortunately that phase dissipated after a few months, disorienting as it was.
So how about you Centurion? What games and tricks has your mind played on you that have interfered with starting, continuing or maintaining your weight loss journey? Have you found any techniques to help retrain your mind when it tries to mislead you?
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