I see myself as thinner than I really am!

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Replies

  • losingitandfindingme
    losingitandfindingme Posts: 14
    ahhh when I was young and a size 4, I thought the same... thought I was much bigger lol maybe there's hope that when I'm old and senile I won't remember who I'm looking at in the mirror or in photos! If I find a magical way to make it go away, i'll be sure to let you know :D
  • losingitandfindingme
    losingitandfindingme Posts: 14
    congrats on your weight loss... you're so inspirational!
  • shoecake
    shoecake Posts: 12 Member
    I think everyone is shocked when they see pics of their 'big self' but I know what you mean about not seeing it in the mirror, I think it has something to do with the angle you look at yourself in the mirror can be much more flattering than say changing room mirrors! I think it's also the fact that when you lose some weight you feel so good on the inside you can't possibly see what's bad!

    The important thing to remember is if you're losing you're going in the right direction! Good Luck! :-)
  • losingitandfindingme
    losingitandfindingme Posts: 14
    you've described me... thinking I can still run,etc. I use to assume that this was because I was a fit & healthy person, but let myself go... no more lying to myself, because really? what is my fat doing FOR me? nothing. Just like me, I was doing nothing for me too. Now I am... not so much worrying about size but about fitness and healthy eating. thanks! :D
  • pswyd61
    pswyd61 Posts: 6 Member
    Yeah, I not only think I look more slim than I am, but also younger and way more beautiful! Pictures are always a shocker to me! One night, DH and I went to the movies and the young girl behind the counter asked if we wanted adult tickets. I looked at her in confusion and said, I know I look young, but I'm sure I don't look 12! She laughed, but DH told me later that she was probably asking if we wanted "Senior" rates! LOL
  • russellalr
    russellalr Posts: 11 Member
    I sure do too. I always have a shock coming when i see a pic of myself.
  • helyg
    helyg Posts: 675 Member
    I had this problem before I lost weight, faborexia I called it! Thought I looked fab even at a uk size 18 but now I'm the opposite, I'm a uk size 12 now and feel bigger than I did 46lbs ago! Mind tricks or what?!

    Snap!

    I started at a UK size 20 and thought I looked good - I took pride in my appearance and spent a lot of money on nice clothes. Now I am a UK size 14 (or a 12 if I'm lucky) and I am far more critical of my appearance.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
    Yup. Used to so that. I remember after going through Facebook for some old photos and asking friends 'was I really that big?' Met with a resounding YES! One photo in particular (which is now my before photo) asked my mother if I was really that big (home from across the country and went to a friends wedding) and she said after I left that day she cried as she was scared to death.

    After losing the weight I went the other way and thought I was heavier than I looked. (I once got the shock of my life looking in the mirror. I actually didn't recognize myself!) Now I've maintained current weight for a couple if months back to think I'm smaller than I am.

    Minds are funny things!
  • findgod2findlife
    findgod2findlife Posts: 27 Member
    Well i've lost over 80 # and i still see myself as the old me... the only time i see a difference is when i compare pictures, but other than that i sometimes have a really hard time with the mental aspects of weight loss.
  • tabbyavalon
    tabbyavalon Posts: 58
    same, i always get shocked walking past windows
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    I have the same issue.. in my mirrors at home I'm smokin... But the second I see a pic I'm lost and have the take too many to get the right angle to look as small as I feel (selfie pics anyone O.o)

    Now what I do to judge is take a mirror pic with my camera or set my camera up on it's tripod with the flash so shadows in the room don't affect it. It really helps to see the difference too..
  • mea83
    mea83 Posts: 5
    I am sooo with you on this....I realised the same thing....don't get me wrong..I don't think I look amazing when I look in the mirror, but I definately think I'm slimmer than I actualy am.....I mean..how slim can I really be when the scale says obese???????? I mean....me and obese?? This cannot be true...sadly it seems to be...And I really don't know when was it last time I took a picture that goes any further than just my face...lol
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
    I'm the opposite I think.
  • mea83
    mea83 Posts: 5
    yes, i agree! I have a rule in my house for me, no eating after 7pm because I was such a late night muncher. I took the bra & undies photo to remind me ... no more fantasy-land in my brain!

    This is something I need to do.....to take a picture of myself in my undies....but I'm literaly scared to do it.....but will do....to give myself a reality check....#notlookingforwardtoit
  • divacat80
    divacat80 Posts: 299 Member
    I have always struggled with this, when i was obese, when i was overweight, and now that I'm close to my goal weight. It sucks.
    I don't think it's denial, there has to be some kind of weird focal perception thing that doesn't work when we use the mirror.

    I haven't taken a pic of myself in months, and I am slimmer than ever in the mirror, in my clothing size, and in the eyes of others. I'll have to remind myself of that the next time i see updated pics of me.
  • jetlag
    jetlag Posts: 800 Member
    I had this problem before I lost weight, faborexia I called it! Thought I looked fab even at a uk size 18 but now I'm the opposite, I'm a uk size 12 now and feel bigger than I did 46lbs ago! Mind tricks or what?!

    Faborexia, that's awesome LOL Or Body Promorphia Syndrome?

    I have it too. I'm an 18 in real life, but a 12 in my head...

    I definitely can't focus on certain areas of my body when I look in the mirror. It's like my eyes just slide past the bits I don't want to look at. "Weird focal perception" is a good way of describing it.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Does anyone else struggle with this?

    I am 5'4" and 280lbs so I know I am obese. I look in the mirror and in my mind I think I'm 4 or 5 dress sizes smaller than I actually am! Then I see photos of myself and am shocked at how big I look. Especially next to my skinnier friends! Or if I see myself in a shop window... objects in the mirror are larger than they appear (in my mind.)

    Why is this? Am I in denial? Is this some sort of mental block?

    Me too! When I got to my high weight of 263, I would have sworn that I was 175 until the scale told me the cold, hard truth. I hadn't stepped on a scale in over 15 years prior to July last year, when I joined MFP.
  • gorgeousness999
    gorgeousness999 Posts: 12 Member
    Me too!!
  • irjeffb
    irjeffb Posts: 275 Member
    When I was 300 pounds, I had the same problem. I'm still shocked when I see pictures of myself from then. I never really believed that I looked like that.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,029 Member
    Does anyone else struggle with this?

    I am 5'4" and 280lbs so I know I am obese. I look in the mirror and in my mind I think I'm 4 or 5 dress sizes smaller than I actually am! Then I see photos of myself and am shocked at how big I look. Especially next to my skinnier friends! Or if I see myself in a shop window... objects in the mirror are larger than they appear (in my mind.)

    Why is this? Am I in denial? Is this some sort of mental block?
    Video tape yourself...........................that will show reality.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • litlmeg919
    litlmeg919 Posts: 2 Member
    yep yep yep! it's in pictures and also when I try to wear my clothes from a year ago and they are so snug, I'm like WTF this should fit!
  • melbogg
    melbogg Posts: 135 Member
    I thought I was the only fool who did that to myself!!!
    I'd get dressed for a party and feel so cute, so sexy........then see pics of myself at the party and get totally deflated. Like who is that fat,old woman?!?!?
  • bcbuza
    bcbuza Posts: 4
    Oh, yes, I do, and in discussing this with others have found it is a common thing. I think one of the reasons that happens is that we overweight and obese people "forget" what a full length body view of us looks like. We AVOID looking at ourselves in full length mirrors. Were you ever walking into a store and look up just in time to see yourself on the monitor and quickly avert your eyes? Or the same with your reflection in a store window? What about when a picture is being taken of a group? Do you try and stand behind someone? Or do you try and avoid the picture? I do the same thing with age -- inside I do not feel the changes of age. I am the SAME person as I always was. My wrinkles shock me but I have gotten used to the premature gray (now white).
  • mwah7
    mwah7 Posts: 7 Member
    the story of my life. meh
  • kristelpoole
    kristelpoole Posts: 440 Member
    I am the worst at this and it's so depressing. I saw a video of me bowling the other day next to someone who is very overweight. Turns out our butts are almost the same size. I couldn't look anymore. But I went to the gym the next day so I guess that's good. Sigh.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    So there are over 8 pages already, so apparently I am not alone in this anomaly. I definitely do not look as big in the mirror as I do in pictures. I wonder if it has to do with the difference between 2D and 3D? And why they say the camera adds 10 pounds. Altho in my case it adds about 30 pounds.
    Since losing weight tho, I have noticed that I do think I am bigger than I am when it comes to clothing. I will pick up a shirt and think it will be way too small, but then it fits. YAY!
    I can't imagine my body back into a size 8 again, so I guess it will take time for my mind to adjust back down.

    I will be glad for the time to come that I can see a picture of me and say, "I look skinny!!"
  • mizzie1980
    mizzie1980 Posts: 379 Member
    Yes, I'm like that as well. It's actually something of an issue now. I've lost 50 pounds from my heaviest, but I just flat out don't see it. What I see in pictures and the mirror is pretty much exactly what my mental image of myself was all along. Friends and family assure me that they see a HUGE difference, and people I haven't seen in a long time are always shocked to see me, so it must be true. But, I just don't see it.

    The only time I see it is when I compare pictures of myself from back then to pictures of myself now.
  • vickiessecret
    vickiessecret Posts: 119 Member
    I kinda feel that way too...well I know I'm fat now, but I wasn't always & I know what it feels like to be thin. That's what I want to get back too..I dont' really like getting in pics, because I know I'm not the skinny person I used to be, but definitely working on it. But I also don't feel like I'm as big as I am, because I guess I shouldn't be.& I still feel like I did then..just alot more out of shape., .it's confusing..lol
  • tacdusty
    tacdusty Posts: 3
    One big mind game. On a side note tho, this very thing keeps me to eat healthy and keep working out. I hear it from everybody I see but it's sometimes to notice it yourself. Motoivation for me.
  • SoySalva
    SoySalva Posts: 136 Member
    At 224lbs I would say to myself "how can I possibly weigh this when I don't look like I am that heavy"? Well it took a trip to Disney World for me to realize that indeed I was obese.....trust me, it was not magical when I saw I could barely fit in the rides.

    Long story short, that was my rock bottom so I took charge and almost 80lbs lighter I look in the mirror and NOW I see 224lbs when I am about 10 lbs away from ideal weight.....go figure.

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