Seeing the thin person in pics/mirror...
trudijoy
Posts: 1,685 Member
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!
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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Replies
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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.0 -
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. Hmmm0
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Take a current pic. Then place that pic next to a new pic. You will see a difference.0
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Been this bf for months. Still see a fat guy.0
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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.0 -
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 yet0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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:0 -
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.0 -
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!0
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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
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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.0
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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.0
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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.0
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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.0
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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 6-8.0
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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!0
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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.
OMG I so do that. Catch a cute guy looking at me and my first thought is often 'shame, bet he thinks I'm fat'. Then he'll wink or something and I get adolescent giggly. I'm better than I was though. Starting to realise maybe I'm thinner and prettier than I give myself credit for :S0 -
Go through your Facebook albums. I just compared photos of me from January to today.... holy crap, what a HUGE difference!!
Also, I compared my ID photo from undergrad in 2008 to my new grad ID taken the other day, my face is MUCH slimmer.0 -
Go through your Facebook albums. I just compared photos of me from January to today.... holy crap, what a HUGE difference!!
Also, I compared my ID photo from undergrad in 2008 to my new grad ID taken the other day, my face is MUCH slimmer.
I have this one! I like this one 0 -
Wow!! You look great!
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I'm just now starting to see my changes. It's taken a very, very long time to mentally catch up with my body and it's a slow process. Before I would go someplace, especially some place new, I'd think, "I hope there are other bigger people there" (don't ask, I don't know either, I guess so I wouldn't stand out as 'the fat one'?). Then earlier this summer, I realized I hadn't thought that in a long time.
I still can't deal with male attention. Part of me thinks they may be making fun of me or staring because I'm so huge and gross.
The funniest was one time last fall when I wanted to get some skirts. I went to the plus size section of Macy's (which at this particular Macy's is in the back corner on the same floor as housewares, linens, crystal and china, and a floor above regular sizes) and everything I tried on was too big. I was getting more and more frustrated that nothing "was in my size." As I was giving up and going home, I finally realized that everything was too big because I wasn't plus size anymore. It just never even occurred to me that I could fit into regular sizes.0 -
20lbs and people who see you very regularly will notice, this includes yourself. It's a sort of rule by the thumb. Look at a before and after picture of a 20lbs weight loss and you'll see a difference, 10lbs not so much but I'm sure you'd feel that.0
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20lbs and people who see you very regularly will notice, this includes yourself. It's a sort of rule by the thumb. Look at a before and after picture of a 20lbs weight loss and you'll see a difference, 10lbs not so much but I'm sure you'd feel that.
I'm at 50 lb lost now lol. I noticed it MORE at around 20 I think. Theres a difference between seeing an 'unfat' person and a 'thin' one I think 0 -
I'm at 50 lb lost now lol. I noticed it MORE at around 20 I think. Theres a difference between seeing an 'unfat' person and a 'thin' one I think
Definitely, I don't see myself as fat (though I never particularly did), but I also don't see myself as thin. I don't think I will until I have a flat stomach.
I took a progress picture about once a month or so, and between the first and second pictures I see a huge difference. Then I can see no difference at all between the second picture and all my others. I think, according to those pictures, I look exactly the same as I did about 30lbs ago. Looking in the mirror though, I think I can see quite a lot of difference. I know there is a difference because I've lost inches, but I just can't see it in photos.0 -
I suspect that the mental picture needs to catch up to the reality for us to keep the weight off because we subconsciously try to get our body to match the mental picture we hold of ourselves. Changing the mental picture takes longer.0
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I suspect that the mental picture needs to catch up to the reality for us to keep the weight off because we subconsciously try to get our body to match the mental picture we hold of ourselves. Changing the mental picture takes longer.
I think you might be right. I think it takes time, and for the new body to stop being a temporary thing.0
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