This is a funhouse mirror, right?

TheRealParisLove

Last weekend I went on a long bike ride with my husband. We stopped in a little historic town for lunch, where we had planned on dining at a popular local restaurant. The restaurant was closed even though their business hours were posted as being open. Apparently, since it was such a small town, they would close on occasion if there were big local events, like weddings or church softball tournaments, etc.

This restaurant had a nice outdoor dining area in the front of the building, so we decided to stop by a small grocery store and pick up some picnic supplies and make our own meal of it in front of the restaurant.

The front of the restaurant is a series of windows that had a slight tint to them, making them very reflective. As we sat and dined, I couldn't help but notice how slim the reflective windows made me look. I commented on it several times during our meal, and wished that I could just pull those windows off and take them home with me as a confidence builder.

Eventually, I dragged my husband in front of the windows to let him see what he would look like as a skinny guy (he is fit and normal sized at 185 lbs and 6'1"). The funny thing is that the "funhouse" effect didn't work on him. He looked exactly the same in his reflection. I stood next to him to show him how the window reflection made me look so slim.

"Look! I don't understand why it didn't work on you." I said.

"I don't really see any difference from your reflection. It looks normal to me." He said.

"Maybe it's because you are so much taller, it just doesn't work on you." And with that, we continued on with our bike ride and I didn't give it another thought. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, we signed a lease on our new apartment home. This apartment has a full length mirror on the bedroom closet doors. My current apartment has only head level mirrors, and the one over my dresser only shows me from navel up, so I'm really not accustomed to seeing my full length reflection.

I grabbed my husband and made him stand next to me in front of the closet door, because the reflection made me look so slim! And just like with the window reflection, this mirror did not alter his reflection in any way.

"Oh my god! Am I really that slim, now?"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I mean, I know I've had to take my clothes in to the tailor because everything was so big on me, and I know I had lost some weight. But I haven't really lost all that much weight. I've only lost 10 pounds! How could I be so much smaller with only 10 pounds lost?

So I measured. I've lost crazy inches! Five inches off my waist alone. 10 pounds should not mean going from a size 12 to a size 4, but sure enough, that's exactly what happened.

Photo taken around June 10, 2012:


Sorry for the crappy cell phone, bathroom mirror shot. Taken today September 22, 2012

Awkward30

lower case the img

And congrats on your success! That's crazy that such a small pound loss makes such a huge size difference!

BABetter1

Would love to see the pictures. I have the opposite problem. When I look down, I see muscles in my thighs and my tummy looks smaller. But, when I look in the mirror, I don't look any slimmer.

sarahrbraun

Last weekend I went on a long bike ride with my husband. We stopped in a little historic town for lunch, where we had planned on dining at a popular local restaurant. The restaurant was closed even though their business hours were posted as being open. Apparently, since it was such a small town, they would close on occasion if there were big local events, like weddings or church softball tournaments, etc.

This restaurant had a nice outdoor dining area in the front of the building, so we decided to stop by a small grocery store and pick up some picnic supplies and make our own meal of it in front of the restaurant.

The front of the restaurant is a series of windows that had a slight tint to them, making them very reflective. As we sat and dined, I couldn't help but notice how slim the reflective windows made me look. I commented on it several times during our meal, and wished that I could just pull those windows off and take them home with me as a confidence builder.

Eventually, I dragged my husband in front of the windows to let him see what he would look like as a skinny guy (he is fit and normal sized at 185 lbs and 6'1"). The funny thing is that the "funhouse" effect didn't work on him. He looked exactly the same in his reflection. I stood next to him to show him how the window reflection made me look so slim.

"Look! I don't understand why it didn't work on you." I said.

"I don't really see any difference from your reflection. It looks normal to me." He said.

"Maybe it's because you are so much taller, it just doesn't work on you." And with that, we continued on with our bike ride and I didn't give it another thought. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, we signed a lease on our new apartment home. This apartment has a full length mirror on the bedroom closet doors. My current apartment has only head level mirrors, and the one over my dresser only shows me from navel up, so I'm really not accustomed to seeing my full length reflection.

I grabbed my husband and made him stand next to me in front of the closet door, because the reflection made me look so slim! And just like with the window reflection, this mirror did not alter his reflection in any way.

"Oh my god! Am I really that slim, now?"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I mean, I know I've had to take my clothes in to the tailor because everything was so big on me, and I know I had lost some weight. But I haven't really lost all that much weight. I've only lost 10 pounds! How could I be so much smaller with only 10 pounds lost?

So I measured. I've lost crazy inches! Five inches off my waist alone. 10 pounds should not mean going from a size 12 to a size 4, but sure enough, that's exactly what happened.

Photo taken around June 10, 2012:


Sorry for the crappy cell phone, bathroom mirror shot. Taken today September 22, 2012

you must have lost fat and gained muscle!! I have *only* lost 29 lbs, but I wear clothes that I wore when I weighed 25lbs less!

TheRealParisLove

Give me a sec, I'll try to get the images fixed. MFP is different than other forums I've used. Sorry about that.

I'm not sure what the problem is, I've double checked the code, the photos are marked as public and they are definitely hosted. I'll keep working on this.

I have no idea why MFP won't accept my resized images. Here is the direct link to my "Before" image:
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z147/parislove2005/Before_zpsb4117d22.jpg

*Dear MFP, please add a "preview post" option to the forum!

akgordoa

Love this story. Very light hearted and in the right place. you're awesome.

sheleen302

Congratulations! You look awesome!

TheRealParisLove

I think I've got the pics fixed as much as MFP will let me. Sorry for the technical difficulties!

Timby1

That's awesome!

wtfusernameisnttaken

BRAVO!!! And believe it. The reflection doesn't lie

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

That's incredible!

megleo818

Great story! Reminds me of something I saw on YouTube where these wacky Germans did a Candid Camera thingie in a public restroom. They replaced the mirror with a regular pane of clear glass, then had identical twins stand at identical sinks on each side of the glass and pretend to touch up their makeup, mirroring each other. When other people came into the bathroom, they had no reflections in the "mirror". One person kept asking why the mirror didn't make the other woman (the twin on her side of the glass) invisible too -- much the same way you couldn't figure out why the funhouse effect didn't work on your husband. Classic! And very happy it was REAL in your case.

mylifeisbeautiful

That is the best story ever You look so fabulous!!! Your husband is a lucky man Congrats on all your hard work paying off!!