For those of you who have had their bodies change in a drastic way, what did you do to start to feel like yourself again?
I’ve lost 52kg through illness and due to that my body had changed enormously and I’m struggling to accept it and feel sexy again. Every bit that I liked about myself seems to have disappeared, and yes while there’s areas I like more now, I just don’t feel like me.
Sounds like a big, sudden change!!!
Time. Give yourself time. Think of it - most of us change gradually, and learn along (with some difficulty still at times!!!) To just about like ourselves. Some never do, sadly.
So with sudden changes, it’s a lot to accept and pick up and go with it.
First thing I would ask - how are you doing now? Are you OK? Have you fully recovered?
You might want to park the body image issue for a while (easier said than done). Remember that we look at ourselves with magnifying lenses, whilst other notice you- just about!!! - with blurry eyes. They’re too busy thinking about their own appearance to notice much about others most of the time.
Once you have fully recovered physically, you may start feeling better within yourself, and acceptance of your new body (to whatever degree we are each capable of) will become easier with time.
Time. I am a cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2002. It just took time and a loving spouse to help me back to feeling good and normal about myself.
Definitely time, I don’t like how my body is now, lost too much weight I did look even worse than I do now, that was 6 years ago, so now I just accept it. This is Me
My weight has gone up and down drastically during my life, I have stretch marks and loose skin and all. I think the thing that helps me feel like myself is treating myself to some new clothing which fits and looks nice and is comfortable. There are also shape-wear garments you can get to give your body more support in places where you have loose skin.
@JustAnotherPervert yeah you’re probably right that time is the biggest healer here, which is suppose is reassuring that I won’t feel quite so disconnected from my body forever. Thank you for asking, my health is stable at the moment, but not much improvement, which I guess is what we all wish for when we have poor health. I think putting the body image issues on the back burner and focusing on health first is probably the wisest decision, even if that means fighting what my brain says 
.
@JMS55 I am so sorry to hear of your struggles with cancer, but I am so happy to hear that you had a loving spouse to be there for you during that time. But you’re probably right about time being the best healer for body image issues, when it’s such a big change it takes the mind time to adjust.
@teacake it’s so difficult, but I think I just need to get to that point of acceptance rather than looking back at what I had before.
@BUSTYSTCLAIRE treating yourself to new clothing is a good idea, especially when we probably already need a whole new wardrobe anyway due to the weight changes! I do need to look in to shape wear to boost my confidence, but it’s definitely more when I’m naked or in lingerie that I struggle, especially since myself and my partner tend to visit kink/fetish clubs and things are a bit more out there
Have you seen the pretty body stockings you can get? Some of them are quite stretchy and conceal areas of concern while also looking sexy, I have layered them with lingerie before. They also have supportive bits built in sometimes, like around the bust, hips or buttocks. I also love corsets and they always make my middle areas feel supported (and sexy).
@BUSTYSTCLAIRE Ooohhh now that’s a good thought!! I hadn’t even thought about bodystockings so I’ll definitely have a look at those! Oh I do love corsets, I had loads of beautiful ones before I lost the weight so I definitely need to get some more because I always felt so good in them.