How do YOU see yourself?

Michelle_MyBelle
Michelle_MyBelle Posts: 56 Member
edited November 2023 in Getting Started
I'm 5'5" tall and currently weigh 307 lbs. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see a 307 lb person. I see myself as if I weight a lot less. Not skinny, just not over 300 lbs. Its when I see pictures that I'm like, "WOW! What happened? I don't look like I did in that picture from a few years ago..." I know I'm fat. I don't think I'm skinny, or thin or anything. I'm still very self-conscious about my muffin-top, and my rolls behind my back and my double chin. But my "vision" of myself is about 60 lbs less than who I see in my pictures. Is that weird? Does that make sense?
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Replies

  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    it's not weird, I was the same when I was obese... still seeing myself as just a bit chubby when I was really fat. I didn't worry about it, just stuck to eating the right number of calories until I was back to a healthy body fat percentage.
  • Vicky_Sinclair
    Vicky_Sinclair Posts: 10 Member
    I'm with you, when I look in the mirror I don't see the same person that I see in a picture. I HATE having my picture taken, I always feel sad when I see them. Not for long though ~ we are on the right path. Good luck on your journey!
  • UmmaOfThree
    UmmaOfThree Posts: 31 Member
    That's how I feel about myself. Because I gained weight steadily over the years, the extra weight seemed to just sneak up on me. It's a real shocker when I see pictures of myself since I always remember myself as not a fat person. It's time to get real and work on getting rid of this extra weight!
  • miss_jessiejane
    miss_jessiejane Posts: 2,819 Member
    I generally see myself in a mirror. Or pictures.
  • TheGymGypsy
    TheGymGypsy Posts: 1,023 Member
    When I was fat I thought I was little curvy, but I still thought I was hot.

    After losing 60 pounds I see a fat person in the mirror.

    I hate my brain.
  • Dr1nkbleachndye
    Dr1nkbleachndye Posts: 441 Member
    I have a slight case of muscle dysmorphia. I am happy with my appearance, and most people are shocked when I tell them how much I weigh.

    I gained about 11lbs over a 10 day vacation in aruba. So right now I am focusing on shedding the water weight, and the 1-3lbs of fat that came along with it. But TBH, with a tan, I look very close in weight to how I did when I was 10 lbs less in avitar pic
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    I was the same. Despite seeing myself in the mirror I seemed to have no concept of how bad things had got.... until people tag you in current photos and you think "Oh my good God WTF????" :huh: :noway: :sad:
  • discodawnyboo86
    discodawnyboo86 Posts: 4 Member
    I'm the same. I look at photos from before and thinking I used to think of myself as fat however I would like to be back to being that 'fat' again!
  • Shari325
    Shari325 Posts: 196 Member
    Not weird or unusual.
    When I was WELL over 300# (weighed 380 at my highest) I did not see my self as super-morbidly obese.
    However, now that I have lost 100# and I am the smallest I have been in almost 25 years - I still see my self as morbidly obese.
    I know I suffer from Body Dysmorphic Syndrome. I will depend on my doctor and husband to honestly tell me when I have lost enough weight. I do not trust myself to know when I have reached a healthy weight. I have never, in almost 50 years, had a normal body weight. I don't know what that is!!
  • kyleekay10
    kyleekay10 Posts: 1,812 Member
    In my mind's eye, I am still at my heaviest weight. Even though I've dropped inches, pant sizes and pounds like crazy, my brain hasn't caught up yet. My friends keep calling me "slim", and I'm always confused. I argue back with "No, I'm average!" when in reality I'm on the low-end of the BMI scale for my height.

    My self image will eventually catch up, but I'm in a weird limbo right now for sure.
  • silmarilliane
    silmarilliane Posts: 133 Member
    definitely still had the weird idea that i wasn't as big as i was, that maybe the clothes sizes were wrong. definitely get some photos of you now as you'll be able to use them for comparison when your weight gets lower. i'm suprised when i look back at photos when i was 40lb heavier. at the time i thought i looked like i do now!
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  • RudeX
    RudeX Posts: 80
    When I was fat I thought I was little curvy, but I still thought I was hot.

    After losing 60 pounds I see a fat person in the mirror.

    I hate my brain.


    This is exactly how I feel ! No matter how much i lose, burn, exercise etc. I still feel like I'm huge!
  • pwittek10
    pwittek10 Posts: 723 Member
    At 126 still see myself as I was at 272
    Weird!
    My family says I'm skinny, I do not see it!
  • ajacot924
    ajacot924 Posts: 31 Member
    I know what you mean.
    When I look back at pictures of myself in my early twenties, I think, "Wow, I wish I looked that thin again." Even through I remember at the time thinking I was fat.
    I am determined that when I lose this weight and I am healthy, I will be happy with my appearance.
  • RingSize8
    RingSize8 Posts: 175 Member
    It's so funny, when I was at my heaviest, well over 300lbs, I didn't see myself as being super fat. At all. I kinda thought I was hot ****, actually. Now that I actually am hot ****, I see myself as being WAAAAYYYYY bigger than I am. Case and point, I have a coworker that I thought I was the same size as - today I found out she is 80lbs heavier than me. Whoa. Reality check. Sometimes when I see photos of myself, it's like it's not me. When I look in the mirror I see someone who is still VERY overweight. Meanwhile, everyone I know, from the guys I date, to my friends, to my family, are telling me to stop losing weight. Crazy!
  • Before I lost weight, I thought I looked fine. If someone had told me I had 20 lbs to lose, I would have thought they were high (I was 5'4", 138).

    Now that I've lost the weight and have toned a lot, I can find about 100 things I find wrong about myself when I look in the mirror. Hate my hips, no matter how hard I work, the weight on the sides of my hips isn't budging.
  • love9705
    love9705 Posts: 465 Member
    As a work in progress. I am not where I want to be but I am also not where I use to be.

    so I am under construction :wink:
  • sub10orbust
    sub10orbust Posts: 706 Member
    dat skinnyfat feel :(
  • GCAsMom
    GCAsMom Posts: 120 Member
    I completely relate to both ends of the spectrum. I wasn't all /that/ fat when at my heaviest... now that I'm at my lightest, I'm huge. Two days ago, I had a complete stranger say I was tiny. I know better than that, but I need to wrap my head around the fact I'm not morbidly obese anymore.
  • It wasn't until a family member tagged me in a picture on Facebook and I scrambled to remove the tag that I realised just how bad things really are. Somehow you just don't see yourself as big as a picture makes you! I hated my sister in law for posting that picture, she too struggles with her weight and won't allow any pics to be taken so I can't help feeling doing so to me without warning was exceptionally cruel.

    However, that pic is now my profile pic, and because of that pic I am now 32lbs down. Actually I owe her one, not that I'll ever admit it! Lol!
  • HeyGoRun
    HeyGoRun Posts: 550 Member
    I was also not seeing how i was looking, until my husband took a full body pic of me back in june without me knowing, that was a wake up call!! I hope he still has that pic, need to compare to now!
  • narwhalpr
    narwhalpr Posts: 65 Member
    I'm 5'5" tall and currently weigh 307 lbs. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see a 307 lb person. I see myself as if I weight a lot less. Not skinny, just not over 300 lbs. Its when I see pictures that I'm like, "WOW! What happened? I don't look like I did in that picture from a few years ago..." I know I'm fat. I don't think I'm skinny, or thin or anything. I'm still very self-conscious about my muffin-top, and my rolls behind my back and my double chin. But my "vision" of myself is about 60 lbs less than who I see in my pictures. Is that weird? Does that make sense?

    I feel the same way. Also when my picture is taken it's hard to believe I look that way. I feel less obese than that! So when that happened, that's when I stopped taking picture of myself. I am glad you brought this topic, I finally feel I can find commonality with other people.
  • 4ever420
    4ever420 Posts: 4,088 Member
    This was me to a tee. I knew I "technically" was obese but seemed to always believe that I hid it well and others couldn't really see just how big I was. When I looked in the mirror I thought I didn't seem all that big but when I would later see a picture of myself in the exact same outfit I was blown away at how huge I looked. Was that what I really looked like????
  • JewelsinBigD
    JewelsinBigD Posts: 661 Member
    I totally understand - I have lost about 60 pounds (almost) and I now look the way I thought I looked 60 pounds ago. I sometimes see myself thinner than I am - but I think I am closer - maybe about 30 pounds off now instead of 60. I think once you cross 300 (which I have more than once) our vision is no longer valid. I still have a long way to go - at least another 60 but I sure hope my vision gets better the closer I get!
  • I'm still really self concious despite only being 60kg now. Mainly because I have always had reservations about my legs and trying to make them toned. I'm getting there but I still see them as huge and flabby. Despite the fact that I won't let myself get back to the way I was, I still feel scared that I will.
  • Frankie_Felinius
    Frankie_Felinius Posts: 1,398 Member
    I always tell people I think I look like a boy dinosaur...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    When I was overweight I didn't really see myself that way. I'm currently right around 180 Lbs which is the weight I maintained for years before gaining. I always saw myself as this weight despite the fact that I put on about 40 Lbs in 8 years. My highest weight was around 220 at 5'10" and I was really in denial and thought I looked pretty good.

    At my current weight, this is pretty much how I've always seen myself regardless of the reality.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I see myself as average. Always have. Average looks, average build, average skills - no worse or better than others.

    I know I could lose a few pounds for sure and certainly get toned.

    I know I do look older anymore, and that kinda bugs me.

    Aside from that, I dunno.
  • I look in the mirror now and think wow i am so big, look at this bulge or this roll... and if i see myself in a photo i think i can't be that thin... no way i am that tiny
    I hate my brain.
This discussion has been closed.