How do YOU see yourself?

renatewolfe

I THINK of myself as I was when I was 125lbs, but when I look in the mirror, I see a 353lb woman, and think, OMG, what happened. I KNOW what happened, but it's still hard to believe sometimes. I literally put on 50lbs the first month my late husband was ill. I get really discouraged looking at clothes too. No matter how cute it looks on the hanger, it looks awful on me. So....I try not to look in the mirror or shop. Not shopping is hard. I used to be a clothes horse. One day, I will be again!

mathiseasy

I still see myself as over 200 pounds. Dropping the weight didn't necessarily fix my self esteem issues like I thought it would. I have come a long way from crying after looking in the mirror but I still have some pretty bad days, especially after gaining about 10 pounds back. This time while I get rid of those 10 pounds I'm going to do it because I want to be healthy, a much different frame of mind than why I did it before.

blackcloud13

I've always looked the same to me. I was a skinny kid, and I never really thought of myself as fat, no matter how big I got. When my BF % passed 30%, I still didn't feel fat; and although I was defined as obese, I just figured the definition was wrong!

Now I can see a big difference when I compare pictures to a year back .... but in the mirror I still look the same as ever to me!

jeanamarshall84

Mirrors...what Mirrors * loud crashing sound behind me from the window* I never look in the mirror!!...Okay I do and just as most of you it seems crazy or complicated. Standing on the other side of the mirror I don't feel the the dangerous bumpy curvy lady I am. I feel curvy and chubby, and sexy. Then when I see "her" in the mirror, hair not in the sexy tussled look I thought it to be and from a side profile there is a shocking bigger belly than I thought there should be. Don't get me started on how good looking I think my legs are and then a picture emerges showing more dimples than a orange possesses. *ah*...sorry for the scare.

This is what I am here for, and what I am working on. I'm gonna try to be nicer to that girl in the mirror and not be such a *witch* critic and make her smile lot more. Being big is not a "bad" thing in some ways and if you dress according to your body type ( okay blah blahs)

Hell Rock your curves but be a lady about it.. when you feel you are standing taller you are usually showing it as well.

paeli

I can relate to what everyone has said. I've plateaued at an 80 lb weight loss for nearly 2 years while struggling to reach my goal weight. During that time my body image has changed immensely. I know when I was actively losing I had no idea how much thinner I had gotten. Take progress pictures once a month! It helped immensely to notice the differences in my body. I can't even imagine how long it'll take my body image to adjust once I get to my goal weight .

lharris6993

I see myself as old news, I use to think I was hot then I gained weight and turned into a hot-mess

jenmck5

Speaking of facebook - I have all these bigger pictures of myself on facebook and I'm ok with that but yet I haven't posted a single picture of myself after 50 lbs lost. I'm a little nervous to. Not sure if I feel vulnerable or just not time to or what. I too do not like looking at pictures of myself. Although I feel good about my jaw and chin now : ) Working on it and myself.

maQmIgh

Ive lost 28lbs since I started actively using MFP (almost 4 months ago)... I know I've lost the weight (I've had to replace my wardrobe, and i recognise it in pictures taken of me)...
...
But when I see myself in the mirror... I still "see" me 28lbs ago
...
I feel so much more confident in myself, but doesn't stop the years of self doubt and bullying received...
...
I keep an up to date picture of myself in my phone at all times, and I try to avoid mirrors of any sort...

If I accidentally glance at myself in the mirror, I re-cap with the picture on my phone... Its worked for me so far

swhiteism

I know exactly what you mean, as I've been on both sides.

At 180 pounds, I was always shocked and embarrassed every time I was tagged in a FB photo or caught my reflection in a full length mirror. I think I saw myself as being somewhere around 160 pounds.

At 145, I still do a double take when I see my reflection, but only because I'm surprised at how much thinner I look these days. I know this isn't a great thing to admit and I hate that I'm always comparing myself to others, but I saw a recent picture of me with a friend the other day and was amazed at how I looked skinnier than she did. It's always been the other way around. I still imagine myself as a fat person. When shopping, I always go for the L or XL tops because that was my size before. I'm a medium or a small now and it just blows my mind.

lina011

i look at photos and use ta think WOW I was HUge" now 3 yrs later and 10 kilo heavier i think i was so stupid for thinking that. I now still have issues" with taking pictures of myself and my reflection

RaggedyPond

I'm still not happy with my middle but that is always the spot that stores the most fat. But I am generally happy with were I am at now. I am still surprised when pictures are taken of me and I look good.

TamaraKat

I broke the mirror-person-perception barrier and finally see myself as average weight!

Jit7

Fat and ugly ;o(

RaggedyPond

I still see myself as over 200 pounds. Dropping the weight didn't necessarily fix my self esteem issues like I thought it would. I have come a long way from crying after looking in the mirror but I still have some pretty bad days, especially after gaining about 10 pounds back. This time while I get rid of those 10 pounds I'm going to do it because I want to be healthy, a much different frame of mind than why I did it before.

You look amazing. I don't see an extra 10 lbs there. Maybe in MUSCLE!

OMGeeeHorses

In the mirror I see the same as you..a chubby 5'3 girl who doesn't weight 287. even my husband says I don't look my weight... but boy in a picture I see a baby fat cow ( yes I call myself cow, horse, whale and other names) I hate my picture taken and shy away from social groups because of this. But I am not as shy anymore because I know I am watching what I eat and so forth I use to weight 330lbs and weight 287 now...so I must be doing something right :happy:

RaggedyPond

Good job!

Adrianachiarato

Fatso

melismh

Omg, I am 5'4" and 185, I would be ecstatic to weigh 135. I would think that this would be a very healthy weight for our height...

JasmineOravec

gigantic... I'll be truckin' along doing just fine, feeling alright and then, boom! I see a reflection of myself or a photo and I get really discouraged and disappointed. Lucky to have an awesome therapist.

BrendaLee

Right now, I feel as big as I did +70 pounds ago. For a couple of months after losing 50, 60, 70 pounds, I felt so much smaller -- even sexy at times. Now that I've lived with the weight loss for a while, I feel like I'm right back where I started.

The mind boggles.

faithstar1944

I'm the same. I've gone to family events wearing a "slimming top", thinking people won't notice how big I've got then when I see the photos I'm truly shocked but then I say to myself "well what do you expect you're nearly 4 stone overweight!!"xx

Candi_land

It varies. When I first started, I didn't really comprehend how big I became until I saw myself in photos. In my mind, I was overweight but kept telling myself I *only* gained 20lbs at most NOT over 100. I felt the excess weight physically as mostly everything, even simply walking, was painful..but I still lived in denial for a long time. Stepping on the scale that first time after my weight gain was a very horrifying experience.

Now that I've lost some weight, some days I feel great but others I still see myself as heavy as I was when I started. Even in the way I walk, like I'll find myself still turning sideways to go in through a doorway and being confused when I don't need to. It's been difficult for my mind to adjust to the changes.

j0j0ba

i did a similar thread to this yesterday.. no replies, so im so glad im not alone lol

jillianbeeee

I still feel fat! I agree with the other posters. I takes a while for the mind to catch up! I can't believe that 6 months ago I was so big! Stick with it! Proud of you!

joannagadzinski1

In the mirror it depends what I am wearing usually, I tell myself I look good, but as soon as the clothes come off, I notice exactly what I need to change in certain areas which are mostly my hips, thighs and stomach. I used to be a size 14 and now I am size 10, but I don't see a difference except the numbers on my clothes. I just want to be a size 8 that's my goal because I keep thinking that I will look my best at that size, or so my mind tells me

weaving2fast

This is an interesting topic because I know I'm big and when I look at myself in the mirror I see exactly that. A big guy. I get upset with myself for letting it get out of control. That said I have a 21 year old niece who is skinny as a board and she talks about how she's fat. I guess our distorted views of ourselves may not be as much reality as we think?

Foxtrot2N

When I was fat I thought I was little curvy, but I still thought I was hot.

After losing 60 pounds I see a fat person in the mirror.

I hate my brain.

^^ This^^ It seems like the more I lose the fatter I look to myself. WTH

irishjune

Our minds lie. At least mine does.

In recent weeks I've gotten back on track after a long "break" during an emotionally difficult time. At first, once I got back to taking care of myself, it was like my eyes popped open and I was suddenly aware of the damage I'd done in the past few months. While I was "using food"(& wine :drinker:!) it was easier to block it out. So ironically, once I was doing better, I felt worse about myself.

But facing reality has helped me get back on track. Now I'm looking in the mirror and seeing someone who's making sustainable changes and living in her real body.

Marsidote

I was the same. Despite seeing myself in the mirror I seemed to have no concept of how bad things had got.... until people tag you in current photos and you think "Oh my good God WTF????" :huh: :noway: :sad:

Yep! Totally me too! Hate when I think I look all good in the mirror, then see a pic and I look gross!

TX_Rhon

Glad to see I am not alone. I still see the person I was 37 lbs ago. But when I see myself in a pic, I do notice a difference. It was just this week, I looked in the mirror and noticed a bit of a difference. Strange how the mind works.

Happy Friday :flowerforyou: