The Opposite of Body Dysmorphia

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  • FionaAnne22
    FionaAnne22 Posts: 178 Member
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    I am exactly the same as this, some days I think, oh Im not looking too bad today....I study myself in the mirror to make sure, but I swear if someone took a picture at that exact moment and showed me it, I would be horrified!

    They say the camera adds 10 pounds but it almost feels like it adds 100! Hopefully soon i'll be looking in the mirror and seeing whats really there! :D
  • siabevis
    siabevis Posts: 811
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    i believe it works that way too
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    I totally have the opposite of body dysmorphia. I mean, I can see what I need to change, but on a daily basis I think I look pretty good with clothes on. Then I see pictures and realize that I don't. :laugh:
  • evansproudmama
    evansproudmama Posts: 496
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    Yeah, when I was 50lbs heavier, I would look in the mirror and be like "yeah, you're a bit fat, but still looking GOOOOOOD today!"

    Then I'd see a picture. And be horrified. Then I went on my first WL journey and lost 40lbs or so.

    And now ... well, I look in the mirror and sometimes see my 250lb person, and feel depressed.

    This> I feel this way when I look in the mirror sometimes I look hell a good and than I see a pic and im like okay i dont photograph well :-( Than when I lost my weight and was at my lowest I still didnt see a change and now im back up i dont see a change from when I was at my lowest.. grr.. I think its a mental fight because when my husband looks at me he can see the change
  • jdavis3866
    jdavis3866 Posts: 1
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    This is exactly how I feel. I have told my daughter for years I have body dysmorphia in the opposite direction. I see a thin person when I look in the mirror. I was very thin in high school and am overweight now. I get what you are saying.
  • BluenoserChick
    BluenoserChick Posts: 106 Member
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    THISTHISTHIS. No more delusion is my personal theme for weight loss this year. Making the outside match how I feel (and what my mental picture is).

    This appears to be more prevalent than I thought -- I thought I was just deluding myself. I love MFP.

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  • chubbybunnee
    chubbybunnee Posts: 197 Member
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    I had the same problem as most of yall. I was in denial! I was going up in pant sizes but thought, I'm not too bad. Still a decent size....(18 is NOT a decent size by the way!) On me anyways...... I finally saw photos of how big I had gotten when we visited family one year and my uncle who is an OB asked when I was due!!!!!!! So I slowly started shedding the pounds...Got down to a 16 and felt better but still was embarrassed by my size. I found MFP almost 3 months ago and since then have gone from that 16 to a 14, and today fit into a size 12. I would not sit in them yet, but I can walk in them and button them so I am SOOOO Close!!!! I still look in the mirror though and see Love Handles, Back Fat, Huge Thighs, Chin Fat, Bat Wings...etc.....My friends have all commented about how "skinny" I am now and some people have told me "you don't look like you need to go to the gym!", but in my eyes, I am still that size 18! 225lbs. I can obviously see in the mirror that I am smaller, and I feel great when I noticed today that my thighs don't rub in the middle anymore, but I still can't wear a tight shirt and feel good. I still feel wide and worry about stomach bulge when I sit down. I am WAY healthier then I was before, but now it seems my brain has changed it's views! I was more confident when I was bigger! (before I saw the pics anyways)... lol.

    I just have to say though, being healthier definetly feels great! I get compliments all the time, kuddos for the hard work, and now I can wear "cute" clothes! I think I still may be in some sort of denial though. I haven't cancelled my Lane Bryant news flyers yet...hahaha. I still get thier coupons and forget I don't shop there anymore!
  • raevynn
    raevynn Posts: 666 Member
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    The more I lose, the fatter I see myself as when I look in the mirror...

    My mental image of myself is much thinner, firmer, and a whole heckuvalot younger.... photos confuse the crap out of me. Who the heck is that fat old woman?
  • Leigh2778
    Leigh2778 Posts: 57 Member
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    It's funny, cuz I was just thinking about this today. When I look in the mirror, I realize that I am fat. I rarely like the way clothes look on me. But once I walk away from the mirror, it's all good. LOL I don't know why that is. Then I see a picture of myself (when someone manages to get a picture of me, since I hate having my picture taken) and I am horrified. Absolutely horrified. I guess I'm glad to know I'm not alone. Misery loves company, eh?
  • AshDHart
    AshDHart Posts: 818 Member
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    It's hard to weigh 377 lbs, or 295 lbs now, and not realize you have a serious weight issue BUT my subconscious see things differently. Consciously I know I'm severely overweight but subconsciously I'm at a healthy weight. I never see myself as anything but at a healthy weight when I dream. I will be walking and catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror or reflective surface and think who is that heavy person? It's always a bit startling to realize it's me.

    I'm just working on making my body fit what my subconscious already sees.
  • Akijade
    Akijade Posts: 210 Member
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    I recognize that I am overweight, but I don't really feel like I am the house that the scale and society tell me I am. Usually I end up needed to see proof, like the fact that I can't squeeze through a certain area that a smaller person can, or when I hold up a pair of pants and say "Dear lord, these are HUGE!" then realize upon checking the tag that they are my size...

    I am fat, but I don't always feel fat. I think that is what you mean. Part of it could be that I have always been overweight, so it's more natural to me that things should be bigger than someone who was smaller while growing up, then put the weight on later in life.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    I see myself as fat in the mirror, but if I imagine myself in my mind, then I totally don't. Actually, my goal is to make my self-image match what the world sees.

    Ditto! This EXACTLY!

    Me!
  • KickassAugust
    KickassAugust Posts: 1,430 Member
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    Plus... someone has to tell me what on earth a TROLL POST is, please!

    A troll post is a post a person makes to be provocative and deliberately stir up anger, indignation, etc. This is how they get their jollies. It's called a "troll" post because of the relation to trolling in fishing-- where the fisherman drags a lure behind his boat in hopes of a bite.

    Thank you.
  • carolann_22
    carolann_22 Posts: 364 Member
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    Absolutely. I see myself as looking so much better and thinner in the mirror, then I see a pic - REALITY CHECK! Interestingly enough, once I lost weight (I lost 135 pounds 11 years ago) I saw myself as much HEAVIER, then was always shocked by the pics at how thin I looked.
  • StatutoryGrape
    StatutoryGrape Posts: 365
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    This is one of my worries. I generally have an inappropriately negative view of myself, even though there aren't many people who would actually call me "fat." I know if I saw a chick who looked just like me walking down the street, I'd think she looked great. But on the flip side, on days when I feel good about myself, I am concerned that I'm seeing myself as way smaller than I actually am. It's kind of a constant struggle, but I'm getting better about it. Can anyone relate?
  • eudemonia
    eudemonia Posts: 149 Member
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    i was obese back in high school, but never saw it until recently. it's interesting, because i think i'm not at a healthy weight now, and i'd look in the mirror thinking i look okay. and then when i see myself with other people, it puts me in perspective, and i realize that i actually have a long way to go!
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,250 Member
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    This thought came to me in a recent thread about body dysmorphia, and I felt like it would be inappropriate to bring it up there.

    Do any other fat people look in the mirror and not see a fat person?

    I am 100% serious and this is wicked not meant to be a troll post. When I look in the mirror, I don't see a fat man. I mean, I can see that huge ball of fat on my stomach, but it does not process in my self image. I look in the mirror and think, "Dang, you look good today." Rarely, my size will hit me and I will feel self-conscious, like when I was at my wife's company's Christmas party and I realized that out of 500+ people, I was the fattest in the room. I don't even hold onto that self-consciousness for long, though, before I'm back to thinking I'm all that.

    Do any other fat men and women out there not see themselves as fat?

    No, I am the opposite. I see myself as fat in the mirror even when I have lost weight in the past.

    I know what is going on in my mind though, so I have to pay attention to the scales and measurements.
  • supertracylynn
    supertracylynn Posts: 1,338 Member
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    I thought that for so long "Dang Baby, you look goooood."

    Now all I can do is see myself as fat and hate myself for eating 1900 cals a day while maintaining 143#.

    :sad: I hate myself :sad:
  • lovemydrmartens
    lovemydrmartens Posts: 144 Member
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    this is all still Dysmorphia... looking at yourself and not seeing what's there... It's more common for women (or used to be, I'm not so sure now...) and is strongly influenced not just by societal factors but by a lifetimes worth of our own perceptions about ourselves that may have nothing to do with our physical appearance... it's tremendously complex and difficult to escape. I did a project for my postgrad on it and I still can't seperate it from reality sometimes...
  • lulabellabeauty
    lulabellabeauty Posts: 3
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    I also didn't realize just how heavy I had gotten. After having my kids, I worked hard to lose the majority of my weight and looked good. Then, I started to gain it back (went to old eating habits and I do think birth control messed with me as well) I've been seeing myself as the same weight, but clearly had gained almost 50 pounds! I realized just how big I was when I saw some pictures taken of me at halloween, and I was very embarrassed. It then clicked in my head. So now I'm working hard again to lose weight, get in shape, and be healthy for life.
    What's strange is that I'm positive that when I was in middle school and high school I had body dysmorphia since I thought I was very fat and ugly, which I was neither. It took me until after high school to gain confidence and that problem seemed to have gone away. I do find it interesting since I have now been in dial about how I really look, and back then, I was also not seeing me for how I really looked.

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