I think I'm skinnier than I actually am...

Lozze

Yup. I used to think I wasn't that bad. My mum and grandma would tell me how big I was but while I knew I had a problem 'I hid it well'

When I look at photos of myself at my biggest I cry. I can't believe I was that big. I don't remember BEING that big.

Denial can be very strong.

laurelobrien

I did the same thing at my fattest because I had, at one point, been skinny. So I always thought of myself as a small person, a skinny girl. Since the weight gain piled on over a long period of time, I deluded myself into believe it was 5, maybe 10 lbs of winter chub or water weight or whatever even when I was obviously overweight.

The biggest thing for me was seeing photos. You think you're getting along just fine but then you see yourself from angles and perspectives that you never get in the mirror, and realize you are a lot fatter than you thought. It all comes down to whether you like your weight or not, I personally was unhappy when I realized I was fat but there are plenty of women who rock it.

1longroad

I have never had ay idea what I truly look like, because I have never truly looked at myself! I have never though I looked as big as I did when I have seen pictures and right now, people are telling me I look 'so small', but am still in larges and sized 16 pants. I have no idea how I really look.

rb16fitness

It must be denial for you not to see yourself as you actually are? Burying your head and wishing it weren't so isn't the answer.

Boofuls

I totally get this! I wonder if it is partly a result of me being short - I am 5'2" so I never feel that big. At my biggest I was 215 so basically a sphere. I didn't feel attractive or thin at all I just felt completely disassociated from my body. Like it wasn't me?

arrseegee

There is research that confirms this too! One of the things that affects how you see yourself is what your closest group of friends looks like... if they are overweight you are much more likely to see your (overweight) body as smaller than it actually is. I didn't think I looked too bad at my highest weight but now I look back at the photos and my arms! books and face just look so big. I gotta say I think it's a better response than looking at yourself and hating what you see!

colortheworld

I relate!!! I got up to nearly 170 lbs but never thought I was that big, until I saw myself in pictures! Then I thought, damn, I am fatter than I thought. It probably doesn't help that most of my friends are a lot bigger than me so next to them I was skinny.

Ed98043

Yep, I still have to fight it sometimes (thinking I magically "carry it well"). I've got a digital file folder where I keep copies of all those horrible candid photos so I can visit them from time to time to get a dose of the truth. It's too easy to get complacent otherwise.

Does anyone remember that movie Shallow Hal where Jack Black doesn't see Gwyneth Paltrow as fat at all...then he holds up a pair of her underwear and it's HUGE and he's like "Whaa...?". That's me sometimes when I see my clothes. lol

LeeMC2013

Same here....always looked in mirror and never realized how huge I was. Mirrors are sneaky little deceptive liars. LOL. But when I seen pictures of myself it was a slap in the face telling me I'm blind. So I decided to stay away from pics because they don't lie lol. Glad I'm on the right road now and won't be scared of myself being in pictures

ritornare

I don't know if I really think that I'm skinner than I actually am but I do know that I like the woman in the mirror more than the one in pictures :glasses:
Actually one of the reasons I have started dieting and exercising again is to be able to look at pictures of myself (:

golfmonk

Thinking I was skinnier than I actually am is what got me into the mess I am (weight wise) today.

mybonnieliesovertheocean

oh i do the exact same thing!

i think it comes from a healthy dose of self love and confidence.

i know i'm fabulous and am a big girl, and am only trying to change it for me, myself, and i.

i don't think there is anything wrong with seeing yourself in that kind of light.

the only reason i know i do it is because when i see myself in photos i actually am shocked every single time and wonder if that's what everyone else sees when they look at me.

keep on keeping on and keep on loving yourself for all that you are : )

Mokey41

I've never been more than about 25 to 30 lbs overweight but it was vacation photos that did it for me. Vanity sizing had allowed me to only go up about one size and somehow I still saw my former self in the mirror (it really helps if you never look at a side view) but those beach photos were when I realized how much I had gained. I kept a couple pairs of old pants just so I can marvel at how much bigger they are than where I am now.

It has always amazed me though when people who are 100 lbs overweight try to say that they carry their weight well when you just want to tell them that no they don't. My daughter in law is 240 lbs and crams herself into tight leggings and wife beater shirts. She thinks she looks hot because she "carries her weight well" and I so want to take a picture of her walking away and ask her if that's really how she sees it!

itsmandible

I used to have that problem too...I think that's how my weight got so out of control in the first place. And even when I'm not looking in the mirror I always FELT like I was thin. I would get annoyed when my husband would touch my stomach because it startled me to physically feel how far out it protruded. Now I've lost 45 pounds and I look in the mirror and think "How am i still this fat?! I wasn't even that big to start with!"

QFT

gigglesinthesun

Even though it is an old thread ... I always look at pictures of myself and think that they make me look at least 10lbs heavier then I am, but in reality they show me just as I am :-)

cayleighmacleod5795

No.. I’m literally the same. So far I’ve went from 163 to 147-149 but I use to be 120 before 163. I will start feeling good about myself again and then I see a picture or I see someone else who weighs the same as me and I will start to cry because I feel like I’m bigger than what I think I am

Countandsubtract

Yup.
I've also noticed that my chest and stomach keep pace with eachother, so when I look down it all looks the same as before I've gained or lost weight. I think that's why it takes me time to update my perception of myself.

Countandsubtract

HollisGrant wrote: »

It's weird because when I read this, my first thought was "yeah!" I definitely feel smaller than I am and when I see pictures where I really look big, it's almost hard to believe.

But on the other hand, when I'm talking to friends, co-workers, etc. about it and I tell them how much weight I want to lose, they always tell me I don't look heavy enough to lose that much weight. I'd say they were just being nice but I have some pretty direct friends, lol!

So I guess it's a mix? Body image is weird like that sometimes.

I get that reaction from co-workers if I mention I want to lose another 20-25 pounds. They all say no, I don't need it, I guess because my face, arms and legs look okay (my clothes hide my fat stomach and fat rear). I've stopped saying anything. The only person who agreed with me is a friend who is a retired professional ballet dancer. He understood because he's had a lifetime of body awareness.

The problem is so many people are overweight, our whole perspective is warped. We look like most of the other heavy people walking around, plus wear clothes that hide the worst of it.

Oh I kind of thought the opposite:that people who watch too much older tv get their view warped (no overweight people). Actually, I guess both would make sense together.

threewins

I actually have this problem, so thanks for bumping an old thread. Until the age of 25, I was quite thin, and my goal weight is quite low for a guy my height. So I have kind of ingrained in my mind that I'm thin. Even though I'm not. Of course I look in the mirror, or see photos and I'm not thin. But that 'I'm thin' feeling still exists, 42 years later.