How we perceive ourselves versus how we really look.
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Thanks @LaceyBirds! That is the link I was looking for. I got 7.5% smaller than I think. It is interesting to me to see how much different we really look compared to how we think we look. I remember in high school I always thought that I was chubby and needed to lose 5-10 pounds. Then as an overweight adult when I looked back at pictures I realized that I actually had a really cute, slightly curvy figure. It seems like I may be doing the same thing now. I do know that I look better now than I did a year ago, but it is hard to not think of myself as chubby.
I had an eating disorder in highschool so I felt fat and like I needed to lose weight even when I was only 104 pounds with bones showing. Sad. I look back at pictures and I was a totally normal sized good looking girl before I decided I was fat and needed to starve myself, and I was way too thin to the point of looking really bad when I was at the peak of my ED. Self perception is so odd.
This also reminds me of someone I follow on YouTube- she always thought of herself as "chubby" in highschool but was actually a normal size and quite athletic. She later got PCOS and had some emotional eating issues and became obese. She started a YouTube channel called "back to chubby" because now her goal is to get back down to the size that she once considered "chubby" but now realizes was a healthy weight and she would love to be that size again now that she's become much larger.2 -
The test told me I was full of myself and I'm larger than I think I am.
Idk I sill feel fat or skinny depending on the day. I don't even think pictures are helping me out much but the one thing that has is measuring myself. I guess I'm losing evenly all over. My waist has all of a sudden made an appearance these last few months so now I have an hourglass when before I believe the internet told me I was rectangle. I might be headed toward the pear shape as my hips and shoulders/bust the whole thing used to be basically the same and now the top is a little smaller BUT when I look in the mirror I think I look top heavy so idk what's going on. Must be the appearance of the waist throwing off my perception of top vs bottom heavy. My brain is like a fun house mirror. 1 -
I saved that link (if we're talking about the same one) from this discussion: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1061178
But the link doesn't work anymore. 0 -
Susieq_1994 wrote: »I saved that link (if we're talking about the same one) from this discussion: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1061178
But the link doesn't work anymore.
The original link doesn't work, but as I said upthread, it can still be accessed:LaceyBirds wrote: »This was driving me crazy, as I really liked that link. It turns out the site no longer has that feature, but I checked the Wayback Machine, and you can still actually take the test on the WB Machine's archived page: https://web.archive.org/web/20160330024156/marisota.co.uk/shop/freeformat/page.action?pageId=77580 -
I like that site. I have been struggling with what I really look like quite a bit the last few weeks. I have a full length mirror that I think makes me look much bigger and a half mirror (dresser mirror) that I think makes me look smaller. I put into the website what I think I look like in the half mirror and it said I'm 22.5% smaller then I think I am. I will *try* to feel better about that (I'm one to think "what if it's lying?"). I've always had body image issues though. Had an ED from age 10-20. I look back at my weight then and think I must have been crazy. I was not overweight, I was healthy. Grrrr. Oh to be that weight again! I'm glad this link was posted. Even if it's not right on target, at least I know my view of myself is skewed.1
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SusanMFindlay wrote: »Those are polar opposites of reality for me. Once I enter my age and weight, they assume I'm extremely over weight when actually I'm quite close to a professional athlete near half my age. I'm sure they are off the majority of time for everybody.
Did you also enter your measurements and how many hours a week you work out? (It seems to assume that more hours working out = more muscle mass, so increasing that slider makes you look slimmer.)
Yes I entered my measurements and workout hours. Problem is it does not have a body fat entry.
I actually have a lot of muscle, I'm considered an elite athlete by my body type.0 -
I wasn't sure where to post this. A while back I saw a really neat link to a comparison photo. You looked at a lineup of women and guessed which one you most looked like. Then you entered your actual measurements and it showed you which one you actually were closest to in size. Does anyone remember that or know where I can find the link? It was really interesting.
I had started a thread with that link here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10268800/perception#latest
But sadly the company has taken it down.
It was good ...
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LaceyBirds wrote: »Susieq_1994 wrote: »I saved that link (if we're talking about the same one) from this discussion: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1061178
But the link doesn't work anymore.
The original link doesn't work, but as I said upthread, it can still be accessed:LaceyBirds wrote: »This was driving me crazy, as I really liked that link. It turns out the site no longer has that feature, but I checked the Wayback Machine, and you can still actually take the test on the WB Machine's archived page: https://web.archive.org/web/20160330024156/marisota.co.uk/shop/freeformat/page.action?pageId=7758
Oh thanks for that!!
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I loved this!! It said I was actually 15% smaller than I thought. That was surprising!1
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LaceyBirds wrote: »I wasn't sure where to post this. A while back I saw a really neat link to a comparison photo. You looked at a lineup of women and guessed which one you most looked like. Then you entered your actual measurements and it showed you which one you actually were closest to in size. Does anyone remember that or know where I can find the link? It was really interesting.
This was driving me crazy, as I really liked that link. It turns out the site no longer has that feature, but I checked the Wayback Machine, and you can still actually take the test on the WB Machine's archived page: https://web.archive.org/web/20160330024156/marisota.co.uk/shop/freeformat/page.action?pageId=7758
That's amazing!!0 -
Hm. That is interesting. I chose that I looked most like the second to slimmest and it said I am the perfect pear, but the slimmest. I really don't think I look like any of those body types at all.0
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Perfect pear and 17.5% smaller than I think I am.0
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JaydedMiss wrote: »
You look hourglass in your profile pic.
I'm technically a pear at 32, 27, 40.
I used to be 34, 29, 44. lol. That's some serious pear action.0 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »
You look hourglass in your profile pic.
I'm technically a pear at 32, 27, 40.
I used to be 34, 29, 44. lol. That's some serious pear action.
Thats why im hella confused at being called a pear haha im very top heavy ...and i guess bottom heavy to but pears arent top heavy0 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »
What are your measurements?
I know they only called me an hourglass because they can't see my shoulders. I feel more like an inverted triangle. My shoulders are huge. And my breasts are 4 inches larger than my hips.
I'm 38, 25, 340 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »
What are your measurements?
I know they only called me an hourglass because they can't see my shoulders. I feel more like an inverted triangle. My shoulders are huge. And my breasts are 4 inches larger than my hips.
I'm 38, 25, 34
Heck, it called me an hourglass at 34-27-35. I'm built like a 14-year-old boy, but with extra shoulders (which I know this doesn't count) - I'm not even built like an egg timer! "Plank" would be more realistic, in my case, if you ask me. I think it just likes to call things hourglasses . . . .
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »
What are your measurements?
I know they only called me an hourglass because they can't see my shoulders. I feel more like an inverted triangle. My shoulders are huge. And my breasts are 4 inches larger than my hips.
I'm 38, 25, 34
Heck, it called me an hourglass at 34-27-35. I'm built like a 14-year-old boy, but with extra shoulders (which I know this doesn't count) - I'm not even built like an egg timer! "Plank" would be more realistic, in my case, if you ask me. I think it just likes to call things hourglasses . . . .
8 inch difference between waist and hips/bust seems pretty hourglass-like to me.
I got "rectangle", so it was an option. Inverted triangle would probably be more appropriate once I get to goal weight. (My hips are never much more than my waist, but my waist ought to get smaller; my bust won't. At least, not based on past history.)0 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »
Don't worry it said I was pear too.. the hip measurement also includes the booty so maybe that's why? I'm going to go with that
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My boobs and booty are roughly same. My booty is only 2 inches bigger than my boobs
My waist is 12 inches smaller thn my booty. Im such a pear XD 0 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »My boobs and booty are roughly same. My booty is only 2 inches bigger than my boobs My waist is 12 inches smaller thn my booty. Im such a pear XD
Well whatever you are.. looking good! 0 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »My boobs and booty are roughly same. My booty is only 2 inches bigger than my boobs My waist is 12 inches smaller thn my booty. Im such a pear XD
Well whatever you are.. looking good!
As are you.
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »A lot of people lie -- badly -- on mybodygallery. So that's really a hard site to use to get a grasp on things.
No kidding. Three pics in and I was like, this is *kitten*. All of the pics were off by what seems to be a good 20lbs.
I always felt like I had the opposite of body dysmorophia, like I had too good an opinion of myself when things were actually going downhill... candid photos will disabuse you of a lot of notions though. These days (I'm pushing 40, I've had some time to figure it out) I want to be fit not thin, and that makes a huge difference in how I treat myself.3 -
LaceyBirds wrote: »Susieq_1994 wrote: »I saved that link (if we're talking about the same one) from this discussion: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1061178
But the link doesn't work anymore.
The original link doesn't work, but as I said upthread, it can still be accessed:LaceyBirds wrote: »This was driving me crazy, as I really liked that link. It turns out the site no longer has that feature, but I checked the Wayback Machine, and you can still actually take the test on the WB Machine's archived page: https://web.archive.org/web/20160330024156/marisota.co.uk/shop/freeformat/page.action?pageId=7758
Thank you!! Bookmarked. 0 -
I see myself 10% bigger than I actually am. And it seems I'm a pear. But at the rate I'm losing my hips and not my bust... not sure how long that's gonna last.
My brain just hasn't caught up to the reality is seems. Also doesn't help to see myself naked in a mirror... there's still far too many wobbly bits for me to be anywhere near slim and currently those wobbly bits seem to redistribute on a daily basis...
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It can take a while for our heads to catch up with how our new body looks...even for me approaching 4 years at goal and I still don't think of myself as slim. Its only now and again when people tell me 'you're lucky you're so slim' that I realise, yep, I am slim (I'm not lucky at all btw, I work darn hard to stay this way). 3
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RunRutheeRun wrote: »It can take a while for our heads to catch up with how our new body looks...even for me approaching 4 years at goal and I still don't think of myself as slim. Its only now and again when people tell me 'you're lucky you're so slim' that I realise, yep, I am slim (I'm not lucky at all btw, I work darn hard to stay this way).
I'm not sure I've caught up lol. My wife and I were going through some pics of a wedding we were at a couple of months ago and it took a moment to realize the skinny guy in one picture was me. I really needed that. 5 -
RunRutheeRun wrote: »It can take a while for our heads to catch up with how our new body looks...even for me approaching 4 years at goal and I still don't think of myself as slim. Its only now and again when people tell me 'you're lucky you're so slim' that I realise, yep, I am slim (I'm not lucky at all btw, I work darn hard to stay this way).
It's kinda reassuring to know it's somewhat normal. It's frustrating sometimes when what you logically know and what you 'see' in the mirror don't match up...2
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