Seeing the thin person in pics/mirror...

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trudijoy
trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just chatting with my friend who has a baby (coming up 1) and we're experiencing something very similar so throwing it out here as a discussion topic....


How long does it take after you lose a lot for it to register in pics and the mirror for you? I know that 23 kg / 50 lb is a lot to lose. I feel the changes in my body and when I look at individual parts I see changes, but on the whole I don't yet look at myself and see a thin person. I AM a thin person now and I know that. BUT I don't SEE that yet. My friend is the same with her baby weight.

It's not a lament about ineffective dieting or whatever, I simply don't think my head has caught up to my body yet!
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  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    I was in denial for quite some time. I remember seeing myself in a plate glass window and thinking that the glass must have been warped because it made me look so thin. So I called my husband over to stand in front of the same window, and oddly, the "slimming" effect didn't seem to work on his reflection.

    The same kind of thing happened to me about a week later, when we were touring new apartments for rent. I saw myself in a full length mirror in one of the units, and I was shocked at how thin I looked in that particular mirror.

    Part of the perception issue was due to wearing my same fat clothes even though they didn't fit me any more. It wasn't until after I bought new, and correctly fitting, clothes that it really hit me how much smaller I had become.

    I recommend that you buy some new clothes, and see if that doesn't help you see your new and thinner self. Even if you see yourself in your underwear or nude in the mirror daily, it is really hard to tell the difference. Proper fitting clothes will really shine a light on your progress.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Yeah for sure. I have a new wardrobe and it helps a lot. I look thinner...but not thin. Yet i know Im thin now. Hmmm
  • stinkypoopy
    stinkypoopy Posts: 24 Member
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    Take a current pic. Then place that pic next to a new pic. You will see a difference.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
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    Been this bf for months. Still see a fat guy.
  • cingle87
    cingle87 Posts: 717 Member
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    It all depends on how you see yourself. There are many people who even though they have lost weight will still see themselves as fat no matter what they look like in the mirror or in pictures.

    Me personally I started to notice clothes fitting better early into my journey but only recently 20lbs+ that ive notice it in my face, arms and shoulders in the mirrors. Side by side pictures are a great way of seeing loses, take a pic in the same place with the camera the same distance from you after every 10lbs or so and you will notice the difference.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Take a current pic. Then place that pic next to a new pic. You will see a difference.

    Actually I did that, now you mention it. I was super proud but I guess it wasn't quite enough for me to be convinced yet
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    Just chatting with my friend who has a baby (coming up 1) and we're experiencing something very similar so throwing it out here as a discussion topic....


    How long does it take after you lose a lot for it to register in pics and the mirror for you? I know that 23 kg / 50 lb is a lot to lose. I feel the changes in my body and when I look at individual parts I see changes, but on the whole I don't yet look at myself and see a thin person. I AM a thin person now and I know that. BUT I don't SEE that yet. My friend is the same with her baby weight.

    It's not a lament about ineffective dieting or whatever, I simply don't think my head has caught up to my body yet!

    Because transformations happen so slowly, it's best to take photos every couple of weeks to remind you how much you've changed.
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    Just chatting with my friend who has a baby (coming up 1) and we're experiencing something very similar so throwing it out here as a discussion topic....


    How long does it take after you lose a lot for it to register in pics and the mirror for you? I know that 23 kg / 50 lb is a lot to lose. I feel the changes in my body and when I look at individual parts I see changes, but on the whole I don't yet look at myself and see a thin person. I AM a thin person now and I know that. BUT I don't SEE that yet. My friend is the same with her baby weight.

    It's not a lament about ineffective dieting or whatever, I simply don't think my head has caught up to my body yet!

    Because transformations happen so slowly, it's best to take photos every couple of weeks to remind you how much you've changed.

    Yep definitely do that. I look THINNER and everyone else sees a thin person but I don't, yet.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
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    It took me almost a year. I really just finally saw size 6 me (instead of size 22/24 me) a couple of months ago (maybe not even that long). It's still disconcerting to see the smaller me. It's kind of a relief on the days I look and see morbidly obese me. I don't know why or how it happened, but one day I looked in the mirror and saw smaller me. I noticed the difference in pictures before that, but I didn't really recognize the pictures as me. I don't know if that makes sense. But it took me a long, long time. And now that I see it, it's still messing with my head.
  • jdm_taco
    jdm_taco Posts: 999 Member
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    When I lost all my weight, I could not believe that my new body was me. I remember many times walking past a mirror in a store and thinking it was a thin person walking alongside me. Kinda freaky!

    This lasted for probably 2-3 months.
  • TINAHUNTER1969
    TINAHUNTER1969 Posts: 219 Member
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    When you were bigger did you see yourself bigger in the mirror?

    Don't be too hard on yourself your head will catch up eventually, I think for so long we convince ourselves that when we are big we don't look that bad, we don't have much to lose etc. that it takes quite a while once we do lose it for us to believe what we are seeing.

    Just be glad that you are now thin and put a before and after pic on display somewhere so you can see the difference.

    Well done on the weight loss, I've got a long way to go but love reading all the success stories

    :flowerforyou:
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    When you were bigger did you see yourself bigger in the mirror?

    Don't be too hard on yourself your head will catch up eventually, I think for so long we convince ourselves that when we are big we don't look that bad, we don't have much to lose etc. that it takes quite a while once we do lose it for us to believe what we are seeing.

    Just be glad that you are now thin and put a before and after pic on display somewhere so you can see the difference.

    Well done on the weight loss, I've got a long way to go but love reading all the success stories

    :flowerforyou:

    I carry weight well - even now my friends are like 'I didn't think you were big, but now you look amazing' etc. I was mired in depression and in pain and I didn't really see myself at all, let alone clock any size differences etc. About ten kg ago I started to recognise myself in pics. Not sure if that was a weight or happiness thing though.
  • DianneP6772
    DianneP6772 Posts: 272 Member
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    I still have a ways to go. I put my goal at 30 lbs to lose, but now that i am getting closer, i will lower that goal. I have lost about 22lbs,, and although that is far off from what you have lost ~ My strange thing is - when i get on the scale - i still can't believe it! I am so afraid i will see that old original weight again. It doesn't make any sense - and i haven't lost it overnight - its been almost 4 months - so i should be believing this!
  • trudijoy
    trudijoy Posts: 1,685 Member
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    I still have a ways to go. I put my goal at 30 lbs to lose, but now that i am getting closer, i will lower that goal. I have lost about 22lbs,, and although that is far off from what you have lost ~ My strange thing is - when i get on the scale - i still can't believe it! I am so afraid i will see that old original weight again. It doesn't make any sense - and i haven't lost it overnight - its been almost 4 months - so i should be believing this!

    Yeah I have no issue believing the scale and i'm becoming very good at seeing my trends. I think it's really a case of you realising little bits at a time then one day you wake up and you get it, maybe?

    I'm hoping my 'get it' day is soon :)
  • nogoldilocs
    nogoldilocs Posts: 87 Member
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    It takes time. Just as the weight gain can happen slowly and imperceptibly day by day, catching up with what you see in the mirror and pictures also takes time. I notice it now, but mainly because of the change in my clothing size, looking back at before pics compared to now and the fact that people who have not seen me for a while comment on it. And for me I don't feel so very different on the inside, I just get more attention from the outside.
  • lucystacy71
    lucystacy71 Posts: 290 Member
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    I just took a long look in the mirror before taking a bath a minute ago. I can't see a single change so far. I'm still as well-rounded as ever.
  • tidesong
    tidesong Posts: 451 Member
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    As a friend told me: I've spent most of my life overweight. It's going to take my brain time to catch up to the new body that I have now. It's not going to happen overnight. And it certainly hasn't happened yet. It's actually been a very emotional journey for me because of the self-image issues I have. I look in the mirror, and I still see the same fat girl. I still enter a room and feel like everyone is staring at the fat girl. I can see difference in pictures sometimes, but then think, "No, that's not me." It's going to take me a long time, I think. One day at a time.
  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
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    I think it's a psychological defense mechanism. You would rather think that you're fat but actually thin rather than the other way around, because the latter can lead to embarrassing situations. Congrats for your success, and keep on it.
  • TrailNurse
    TrailNurse Posts: 359 Member
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    It took me about 2 years to see the thin person in the mirror but even now I see myself as a size or two larger than I really am. My husband has to remind me that I am a size 2-4.....and not a 6-8.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    This is definitely a strange phenomena. Sometimes I do see the thin person in the mirror...but then again, I used to see myself as thin sometimes when I was 50 pounds heavier. That said, yesterday I had shorts on and my hand was on my lap and I was shocked to realize that my hand (with fingers slightly spread apart) was spanning my thigh. A couple of years ago I think my hand would have looked small amongst all the thigh that was there. I see it in these ways much more often than in the mirror. I also giggle sometimes when I fold my teeny workout shorts!

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