How You See Yourself.

plaingirly
plaingirly Posts: 378
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been wondering how accurate my view of how I look actually is! I have been looking at the success threads and (without looking at the weights) comparing myself to the pictures. The ones I think look most like me and my shape are all around the 200 - 220 mark. So I either carry my weight badly or am hyper critical of myself. I always see myself as the biggest in the room!

When you lose a significant amount of weight (say 50 pounds plus) do you look in the mirror and see your new body or your old one?

Do you think you see your body realistically?
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Replies

  • plaingirly
    plaingirly Posts: 378
    Guess it is just me with a messed up view of myself! :tongue:
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
    I always imagine I look better than I do. Pictures shock me. LOL
  • lvtruu1
    lvtruu1 Posts: 211 Member
    Guess it is just me with a messed up view of myself! :tongue:

    200-220 isn't a healthy weight unless you are a man with a lot of muscles.
  • stines72
    stines72 Posts: 853 Member
    i have a bad view of my body.. i weigh 102 lb but still think i look the same as when i was 115 or more when i look in the mirror but when i see old pictures i do see a difference. i guess my brain hasnt caught up yet
  • lisapr123
    lisapr123 Posts: 863 Member
    For the most part I think I see myself the way I really am. I used to think I looked better than I actually did.... Pictures were always horribly shocking back then.

    But now, when I look at pictures, I like what I see. I'm still overweight (around 190) but am very athletic and muscular so I feel good about myself, and I think shows in pics. My doctor actually pegged me to be about 25 lbs lighter than I actually am.

    The more I work out and the stronger I get, the less I actually care about my weight or jeans size.
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    Pictures are not my friends. I feel like I should look closer to 125lbs and I'm at 163... but when I compare and try to match pictures of girls who I think are my weight they're usually bigger than I am in my pictures so IDK.. I think it's normal.
  • orangelobster
    orangelobster Posts: 151
    Interesting concept. I don't like my body when I look down (at my tummy), but when I look in the mirror I do like it. Maybe because I'm "sucking it in". Not sure. I think I look basdass when lifting but then when I'm lounging on the couch with bad posture then I"m bulging in all the wrong places.

    I'd like to look good in every position....that's my goal
  • jono2970
    jono2970 Posts: 71
    I think you 'know' if you are in the right place...photos can often be demoralising...is it any wonder celeb pictures are so heavily photo shopped, and yet we are supposed to use these women as the 'model'. Keep strong and working towards a version of yourself that you are happy with.
  • jennalee1312
    jennalee1312 Posts: 56
    For me it depends on the day...some days I see myself horribly and other days I think WOW I do see a difference (only down 23lbs though) I think it all has to do with my mentality that day....we may eventually become "healthy" but it will take longer to think healthy...our brains are just so programmed I think....I think it also depends if u started off bigger...u tend to always see urself bigger but some people who started small and gained weight tend to see themselves smaller...this ISNT how it works for 100% of people but its a trend I notice
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    for me it's still a challenge. I didn't have 50 lbs to lose or anything only 20 but when i was gaining the weight i never seen myself as plump, or gaining weight.. now that i have lost it, i still have a hard time wrapping my head around that i am small once again. I see myself as bigger. strange how that works..
  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
    I don't think I see myself clearly at all. I just got my first passport, and when I saw the picture I was just really surprised my face was no where near as chubby as it used to be, or as chubby as the picture in my head.
  • lik_11
    lik_11 Posts: 433 Member
    Never have I seen myself the way I "actually" look. When I was a higher weight- I was always shocked at how fat I looked in pictures. Never noticed in the mirror all the fat on me! Now- I see pictures of myself and am surprised at how thin I look. When I look in the mirror, now- I see all the fat I still want to take off.... It's a vicious cycle.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    I've had a large goal to accomplish: when I started I needed to lose a minimum of 63 pounds. I'm now at about 38 pounds down (I lost some before finding MFP) and still have about 25-30 to go to reach my goal.

    I really do like my results so far. Everyone comments on how much thinner my face is/that I have cheekbones now. I notice that I feel more physically fit, and that I don't tire as easily. I always felt like I was one of, if not the, biggest young adult in the room. Now I am closer to average or the smaller average and that appeals to me. Most people I am around never knew me at my bigger size and I really like that too.

    I definitely still have days where I forget that I am smaller than I once was. I still worry that I will gain all the weight back and that I will revert back to my really bad choices. I still strongly dislike how I look in pictures, but I like how I look in the mirror.
  • AsaraFuriosa
    AsaraFuriosa Posts: 293 Member
    Whoa heavy topic! (Pardon the pun) I totally struggled with this for a while. In some ways I'm sure I still do. I know I didn't realize how big Id gotten. I look at old pictures when I've temporarily lost focus. Growing up Id never had a good image of myself. In fact I use to commit a lot of self abuse ( therapeutic to mention, still to soon for details) I stopped when I was 23yrs 2003. Meet the most amazing man 2004 who'd become my husband at 28yrs married 2008 (and tells me multiple times a day that I'm beautiful and he loves me) I didnt start getting healthy until 2010. So far I've lost 93.2lbs, went from a tight 24 to a almost baggy 12. Certain clothes make me feel really good. In general I'm much healthier mentally and physically but of course there's those 'chunky monkey' days. The point is not to compare yourself to others as we are all put together a little differently. As you get stronger you'll see your mental image change with time. Although I will say milestones are extremely helpful. Set some realistic ones for yourself! The day I could drop it like its hot on the dance floor and pick it back up slow and sexy like,without blowing out a knee, was a glorious day indeed!! :-)
  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
    I don't know how accurately I see myself. I do know that I take a lot of pictures of myself in the full length mirror in the bathroom at work to try to see what I really look like. I still feel fat, but when I catch a glimpse of myself in a window or a mirror I don't think I look fat and I'm shocked when I see how small my shadow is. Not to mention when I hold up my size 8 jeans, I can't believe my butt fits into pants that small, but they are getting to big. I think body image is a very tricky thing.
  • lbesaw
    lbesaw Posts: 267 Member
    Same here----glad to be in denial---LOL no pictures please.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
    i am there with you, i see fat on myself every day and it is gross.
  • strangewebby
    strangewebby Posts: 72
    I still have a ways to go but even with 50lbs down I still see myself at my heaviest. The only thing that helps is when I try on my old jeans and can see how big they are on me.
  • afatwomanonamission
    afatwomanonamission Posts: 39 Member
    I have no concept of my own body - fat or thin(ner), I've never been able to really see a difference. When I'm on the lighter side of things, that's not so bad, but since the past few years have been on the highside, I was pretty much convinced I was the same weight as before (but gained 54) Talk about delusional! For years, I was convinced I still was overweight, but not severely so, and then one day I stepped on the scale and realised just how much I'd gained!

    Since I've begun to lose weight, I haven't 'seen' a difference, but other people say they have. I don't know that I will see one until I lose the bits I hate most (the tummy roll, the massive thighs, etc) but now that I have acknowledged that I have a problem, I feel like when I look at myself I look larger than I remember (from just a few months ago, when this all began)

    I really don't understand the psychology of what we see and why, but what I will say is that for me, my perception of my appearance and lifestyle literally changed in a matter of minutes... (once I stepped off the scale, and stopped crying)
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    I'm very hypercritical of myself. I used to have an eating disorder, and even at my lowest weight, always thought I was fat. It's taken 10 years for me -- and especially now that I've started eating *more* calories, and seeing the weight come off as I tone up -- to see that my body is actually pretty amazing.

    I'm not thin, by any means. But I'm getting awesomely long and lean thighs and arms, and my biceps rock. My torso is always going to be my biggest problem area, but I'm even starting to see inches come off there. I look at pictures of me now, and think, "Wow. I actually look cute."
  • XxXWhitneyShereeXxX
    XxXWhitneyShereeXxX Posts: 160 Member
    Before I had my sons, I enjoyed my body. I've always been very curvy and that was 100% fine with me I like having curves, but after having two kids I look at my body and think everything is disgusting, I sometimes even tell my husband that I don't know how he could ever want to see me naked because that's how badly I feel about my body. I gotta work on that.
  • Kitship
    Kitship Posts: 579 Member
    It's weird for me. I think confidently of myself, maybe even a little too confident - but when I see pictures of myself all the confidence is gone.
  • bushidowoman
    bushidowoman Posts: 1,599 Member
    At my heaviest, I didn't think I looked that bad in the mirror, and I was moritified to see myself in pictures.
    Now, I think I'm much bigger in the mirror than I am in pictures.
  • xprettyreckless
    xprettyreckless Posts: 297 Member
    I always imagine I look better than I do. Pictures shock me. LOL

    ^this. lmao. me too.
  • julesy_b
    julesy_b Posts: 26 Member
    I always think I look much worse than I probably do. I give myself a hard time when in reality if I have a friend who's the same size I'd tell her she looked great! I also worry about people taking pictures (facebook mania)! Especially around the holiday season. I suppose we all have to think more positively as well as being more positive about our eating/weightloss.
  • isitsororo
    isitsororo Posts: 116
    I always imagine I look better than I do. Pictures shock me. LOL

    HAHA me too. I like how I look in the mirror, photos...not so much!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I look at photos of myself and I'm surprised sometimes that I do look slim and ok, because when I look in the mirror I think I look fat still. Well, I still have more to lose, even though i've lost around 55lbs now.

    I'm wearing clothes now that I wore at my thinnest 11 years ago, and back then I was thin, even though I thought I was fat!

    I think sometimes once you've been overweight it's hard to see yourself as anything else.
  • RobfromLakewood
    RobfromLakewood Posts: 684
    I know I've lost weight when looking in the mirror, because I see a smaller me with more definition, but somehow photographs of me still leave me feeling like little progress has been made...go figure.
  • jessicalynn75
    jessicalynn75 Posts: 371 Member
    I need to look at my old pictures because it reminds me that I have come a long way...I forget sometimes looking in the mirror and being critical.
  • plaingirly
    plaingirly Posts: 378
    I went to a work Christmas party and there was a photographer there - dreading the photos being published! Always so unflattering and everyone at work can see them. Plus I was wearing leggings!

    I don't feel as bad when I look in the mirror now - I think I have lost a bit of bloat. Must be cutting down on the amount of crisps I used to eat!

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