How do YOU see yourself?

dp1228

Just like a lot of people on here, I see myself as very fat even though I've lost almost 100 pounds. I think it's more due to some extra skin that just makes me feel so gross and just not happy with my body. I mean don't get me wrong; I'm much happier with my body now then I was before but I thought when I was at my goal weight (only a few more pounds!) I would be so happy and would look so good. I'm just not feeling how I thought I would.

Before I thought I looked good/fine up until a certain point. I'm guessing it was around the 240's where I started getting really ashamed of how I looked.

I thought I'd be happy at 165 but looking in the mirror now I want to lose an additional 30 / get my body fat down to 24% or below.

melodylovesjoaquin

I only recently started seeing it in the mirror..or when I hold my pants up and see how huge they are! *shudder*

I only put up older pics of myself and I really don't allow my picture taken anymore. I need to lose this weight so I can get a family portrait done. I even refused to get in the family picture a few months ago

HerbertNenenger

I didn't think I was big until someone smaller would come and stand next to me, and I would see both our reflections in a bathroom mirror, or as shadows in front of us as we walked..... and then I'd think, (stupidly), oh my God, how has this happened? Now that I'm down 52 pounds , I am the opposite. I know I'm quite a bit smaller but now all I see in my reflection is a fat woman. I'ts bizarre.

o2bADyer

I have a better feeling about myself when I look in the mirror than I do when I see myself in pictures, and especially when I'm next to someone else who is smaller than I am. :grumble:

angelamangus1

I'm the same. I look at photos from before and thinking I used to think of myself as fat however I would like to be back to being that 'fat' again!

That is how I feel. I saw a picture with myself and my boys when I was 26 or 27 years old and I was around 145/150 and I remember being self conscious and feeling fat. I worked out, ate healthy, and was active. Now looking back I wish I would have saw myself as I do now. Healthy and fit. I let my self consciousness get the best of me and now I am fighting to get back! I got lost along the way some how, but I see the light and nothing is going to stop me! NOTHING! When I see current photos I cringe and vow to get back to the who I was 10 years ago.

lharri0209

When I was 200 lbs, I felt fat physically but it really sunk in when I would shop for clothes (nothing would fit), look at myself in a full length mirror and saw pics of myself. I hated and avoided getting my picture taking all of the time after that. Now, -37 lbs later I know that I am still fat but feel much more confident in my appearance. I can see the positive changes in my figure. I also know that I am healthier as well.

psd091966

I can totally relate to everyone posting.. Even at my heaviest.. right now... I didn't see myself as huge, then I saw pictures of me from a recent vacation and I was like WHO IS THAT PERSON???? I am starting on this journey and I am vowing to myself that once I lose the weight this time.. I will not gain it back. I look at pictures when I got married 20 yrs ago and can't believe how great I looked and remember even then I thought I was fat and I was at 145 lbs and at 5'8" I would give anything to be at that weight again. I know this is gonna be a long journey, but I have to do this for myself and my kids.

astralpictures

When I started my journey here I was 222 lbs, and I'm about 5'7". I was probably closer to 230 or more, but started losing weight before I had the guts to step on the scale. In high school I weighed between 138 and 150, but gained weight over the years and usually fluctuated between 180 and 200 from 2003-2012. It wasn't until 2012 that I ballooned up, but I just kept seeing the same person in the mirror that I always saw - someone a little overweight that could lose a few pounds, but not fat. It wasn't until I saw a picture someone took that I realized that I was getting pretty fat and had probably gained 30-40 lbs in a very short time.

Now that I'm down to 175 lbs with a goal of 150 lbs, I unfortunately see the same person I've always seen in the mirror. I just can't see any change with my own eyes. I know it's psychological, but it's very weird. I know pants and shirts that I outgrew now fit loose. I know belts that were too small are too big now. And I know everyone is telling me I lost a lot of weight. But my own self-perception is skewed. That's why we need those tangible things I listed above, along with new pictures to compare to pictures at your heaviest, so we can overcome our skewed self-perception.

I also believe we become more obsessed with our bodies since we spend so much time tracking calories, talking nutrition and fitness, and working out. This leads us to be more self-aware of our flaws than we were before, especially since we never want to return to the same lifestyle.

Rebekah718

I am the same way it wasn't until I got on a scale at the doctors office and seen the number in the scale. I remember thinking how did that happen. I am just beginning but at my largest ever but never realized it weird I know

DesDawn24

For me, this is the second go around at losing a large amount of weight. When I lost it all (80 pounds) the first time, I felt it and I felt great. When I gained it all back, I saw the numbers changing but I still saw myself as 180 pounds instead of 280. But, when I hit that 280 point and had my OMG moment, now that's all I can see. I'm down to 233 again, but the mirror doesn't show me that difference. I can see it in pictures, though, which is kind of strange.

Missjulesdid

I ALWAYS saw myself in the mirror as smaller than what I really was.. Pictures were a rude awakening.. Now at about half way through my weight loss journey, I still see myself as the same size as before, but now that size is BIGGER than my real size.. so when I see pictures of myself now, I think it's just a "great angle" or when I hold up a pair of pants, I'm convinced that they will never fit over my thighs, let alone button... but then I'm shocked when it they do!

Busman4570

It really does make sense to me as i feel the same when i look at myself an when i go into stores with full length mirrors i look massive so i do know where you are.
I have now taken to going to the gym and i see these meat heads there and they look you up and down as thou as thou you should not be there. but i am going to do it and i will drop this weight. so don't give up you can do it.

Good luck

Dave

katbirdinpa

in 2001 I was 420, I still wear cloths too big for me

actingbrandnew

I see myself being overweight but feeling healthy and in shape, and that's were my conflict lies. I finally had to do a reality check when I seen a picture I took not too long ago. That picture motivated me to have my outside match my insides. Right frame of mind just wrong body.

shapefitter

I generally see myself in a mirror. Or pictures.

Me too!

FixIngMe13

I don't see myself as obese at all.... that is... UNTIL I see pictures of myself that someone has taken and then posted on facebook for all to see.

Funny... I don't feel over 200 lbs. When I go walking, and kick into a mild jog... I don't FEEL fat at all. I feel full of energy, and so blessed to be alive. I'm really REALLY glad I don't see myself obese, because I think if I did, I'd hit a mild case of depression and then... I'd be right back to square one... binge eating and trying to eat my problems away.

So... if this sounds dumb, I don't plan on really looking at any more pictures of me until I get under 200 lbs. I really wanna concentrate on losing it, and even though it should motivate me to see me that heavy, it just makes me sad.

NK1112

I'm 5'5" tall and currently weigh 307 lbs. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see a 307 lb person. I see myself as if I weight a lot less. Not skinny, just not over 300 lbs. Its when I see pictures that I'm like, "WOW! What happened? I don't look like I did in that picture from a few years ago..." I know I'm fat. I don't think I'm skinny, or thin or anything. I'm still very self-conscious about my muffin-top, and my rolls behind my back and my double chin. But my "vision" of myself is about 60 lbs less than who I see in my pictures. Is that weird? Does that make sense?

You will probably gets tons and tons of replies to this post ...
.... I'm with you .... always surprised when I see a photo or catch an unexpected glimpse in a mirror or window reflection of myself.
Funny thing is, back half a life-time ago I always saw myself as fat when I wasn't. How did that switch in perception happen? Probably it's part and parcel of the same thing ... we don't 'see' ourselves factually. That's life.

Target126

I currently weigh 210lbs & I see myself as an enormous ugly over-inflated balloon, but I thought the same when I weighed 119 most of the way from being 15 to 18 years old. I really hope having been up to 214lbs that when I finally hit my goal of 126lbs - 133lbs I will see the difference, but in all honesty I think I'm still going to hate how I look. I have a photo of me, taken when I was 13, I can't have been more than about 105lbs but I think I look perfect in it, it is the last full body photo taken of me that I actually like.

MaiLinna

Even when I wasn't fat I saw myself as fat. -_- Either way I feel like an ugly raging bull.

honey_bee_keysha

I see myself as fat

Hearts_2015

wow, had no clue anyone else went through this! OP..glad you started the thread

RaggedyPond

Every day is different....Some days I think I don't look as heavy as I am and other days I feel huge! I just try to stay positive and now that I am finally making progress I feel even better about myself because the hard work is paying off!

Me too. Some days I feel like I look good and other days I second guess myself.

TheMelephant

I think a lot of us were like that. I used to be 165 lbs, and when I looked at myself in the mirror I was like "Okay, I have a big butt and a muffin top, whatever". But it was once I saw how I looked in photos that I realized I was being a little too nice to myself and viewing myself too favorably, lol.

alisonlynn1976

I usually think I look better in the mirror than in pictures, so there must be some distorted thinking going on there.

AlistairBernardNormal

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.

^^^ Yup. 67 lbs fewer, and I feel grosser than I did at my highest weight.

sunsetzen

It depends on the day. If my self-esteem is high, I see myself as a curvy vixen. If its low, I'm a freaking fat, ugly whale-woman. I think appearance is only a perception, never reality. So I let myself off the hook most of the time.

prettyface55

Not weird or unusual.
When I was WELL over 300# (weighed 380 at my highest) I did not see my self as super-morbidly obese.
However, now that I have lost 100# and I am the smallest I have been in almost 25 years - I still see my self as morbidly obese.
I know I suffer from Body Dysmorphic Syndrome. I will depend on my doctor and husband to honestly tell me when I have lost enough weight. I do not trust myself to know when I have reached a healthy weight. I have never, in almost 50 years, had a normal body weight. I don't know what that is!!

Awee I don't know why this touched my heart!!

Congrats on your weightloss lady!!