Body image issues
Megan_Taylor_P
Posts: 8 Member
Anyone who can relate?
3
Replies
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I definitely can. I've dealt with body image issues since I was 11, even though I was a thin child.0
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I still look at myself and see only the flaws. When I see a photo of myself I'm always shocked at how thin I look, because when I look in the mirror, I mostly see the areas that aren't super thin.6
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Yes, I can relate. I'm a normal weight BMI wise but my tummy and thighs look so large and jiggly.
I'm working on self-love. 1 -
spiriteagle99 wrote: »I still look at myself and see only the flaws. When I see a photo of myself I'm always shocked at how thin I look, because when I look in the mirror, I mostly see the areas that aren't super thin.
This exactly. And when I look in the mirror I still see the chubby girl from before, it's like my mind can't process what I actually look like.3 -
I saw a video of myself dancing, and the first thing I thought was "whoever that is looks really good. They have a really nice body. Seriously, body goals." and then I looked closer and it was me, and I didnt feel like "they" looked so good anymore. Thats when I realized I definitely have some body image issues. Its crazy that I see myself 20 plus pounds heavier8
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It's so frustrating because you can't see yourself for how you really look. I took pictures of myself in a bikini today to try and make myself feel good about my body, and although I realize how healthy I look, all I can look at is the fact that I don't have six pack abs and my "chubby" face. Others would think I am crazy for thinking this but it's how I truly feel. I just always want to lose more and more weight, even though I know ill never look like a supermodel.2
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Yep.0
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So can relate. I've lost a significant amount of weight and desperately need new clothes but every time I go to the store to buy a new wardrobe I get so frustrated because while I'm happy to be going down so much in weight, I struggle seeing the difference and everything looks bad. I've worked my tail off and still have a ways to go but geesh...never thought about this part. So happy yet brain overload.0
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I'm relatively lean now. If I look puffy one day, or am a little bloated...I really notice it and don't feel as confident.2
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I think most of us have, to a greater or lesser degree. I have a normal weight now, but I don't think I "look like it". The problem is that my concept of "normal weight" is in fact "underweight". Thank you, media
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I used to be happy. Then I decided to start working out more and used workout videos on YT. Don't get me wrong, they are great. But seeing those fit people made me increasingly aware of how I looked.
Yesterday I went for a BBQ. Chose a nice skirt, but could not find a top I was fond of and left unhappy with how I looked. A friend I haven't seen for a long time and who is very direct and honest told me how nice I looked and how I "glowed". Sudden realisation of body image issues there...2 -
Yup. Moreso since becoming involved with bodybuilding/competing2
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Yes, definitely. Sometimes I look in the mirror and only see the parts that need work.1
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Absolutely, and what's worse is that It's different from day to day. I think I struggle with seeing myself objectively at all as somedays (when i'm bloated or after cardio) I see my old self and some days I see myself as much more "fit" or better than i objectively look.3
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I feel this on the regular but especially every time I race. There are without fail a hoard of beautiful, much shorter, gazelle like creatures in my corral each and every time- I feel like Brienne of effing Tarth.8
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YES... I've been realizing lately that I'm never happy with my body, even when I lose weight. Something always seems wrong or could be better. I'm trying to find the positives and the strengths in exactly where I am now. I know I'll look back when I'm like 70 and wish I had appreciated my body in my 30s, regardless of loose skin from kids or cellulite or whatever.7
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YES... I've been realizing lately that I'm never happy with my body, even when I lose weight. Something always seems wrong or could be better. I'm trying to find the positives and the strengths in exactly where I am now. I know I'll look back when I'm like 70 and wish I had appreciated my body in my 30s, regardless of loose skin from kids or cellulite or whatever.
Never a truer word @raegold.
I am the same weight at 64 as I was in my 30's and have very few pics because I thought I looked chubby.
When I do find a pic I really wonder what my problem was.
(In retrospect, hanging out with tall pear shapes when I was a short apple)
Cheers, h.4 -
I'm much more self conscious at 145 than I was at 220. I look way better in clothes, but the flab and loose skin look worse to me than the extra pounds when I'm in a bathing suit. A lot of what we do is in a boat, pool or beach and my husband thinks I've become completely anti-social, but really, I'm just embarrassed.0
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I'm much more self conscious at 145 than I was at 220. I look way better in clothes, but the flab and loose skin look worse to me than the extra pounds when I'm in a bathing suit. A lot of what we do is in a boat, pool or beach and my husband thinks I've become completely anti-social, but really, I'm just embarrassed.
Is that you in your profile pic? If so, you look awesome!1 -
@MrsBeccaM5 It is and thank you for saying that. We are our harshest critics right? I've been trying to get from 150 (in picture) to 140 for over 6 months and it's been brutal mentally and physically. What you don't see in that dim light is the jiggly bits that are hanging on in to my arms, thighs, belly and the insides of my knees. I recently had someone say to me, "you look like someone who's lost a lot of weight", but he was a stranger who works in the fitness industry who is obviously familiar with the tell-tale signs of going from obese to normal. It leaves scars of a different kind. Only time will tell if my skin will snap back and more important, my joy for life.5
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I hear you loud and clear on this. When I look in the mirror the ONLY things I can see are my stomach and the blemishes on my skin, it's like no other part of me exists... Has only got worse as I've got older!0
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I'm experiencing the same too. I reached my goal weight so my old clothes are loose on me. Everyone even tells me that they visibly see the loss. But when I look at myself in the mirror I just don't see any difference, I just see the same old me. And after becoming more active, I see parts on my body that needs to be worked on, like toned, defined, muscle... Etc. I know it's a distorted way of thinking and I've been trying to stay more positive and accepting of myself regardless of how I look. But at times I have those off days and feel less motivated. Regardless I'm still trying to push myself to have a happier mindset...!0
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It just sucks because, for me at least, it's like a constant vicious circle. I'll look at my stomach and want to lose more weight (because I still can't see abs), so then I'll set out to lose some more pounds, then I'll feel so hungry and deprived and convince myself I don't need to lose anymore weight (because I am relatively thin already), then I'll eat a normal amount of food, and then I'm back to wanting to lose weight to see my abs...it's ridiculous and drives me and the people in my life crazy.
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No yeah I'm in the same boat! I have an all or nothing mentality so I restrict myself on certain foods and sweets. But then I end up having less energy to work out. And once I eat a little more I end up getting frustrated Bc I'm back to where I started (I'm at that point where it's really hard to lose a few more pounds). And I know it's silly of me but whenever I see in the mirror those missing abs or muscles on my body I get sad. I know it takes time, more physical activity and proper food planning/moderation, but it's just irrational thoughts on my parts...0
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I feel worse about myself the more I read fitness sites. After I lost some weight and felt worse about myself and how far I have "to go", I realized I have issues that no amount of weight loss can fix. I try to read blogs peddling a specific type of "fitness" far more critically now; silly me I should have put them all behind me once I realized barefoot running is the exact opposite of what it takes for me to avoid injury, and after I tried paleo and wound up starving all the time on almost twice as many calories a day as I eat now, and after some of them STILL body shame and fat shame even though a lot of the science behind being super low body fat has been debunked in favor of other measures of fitness.
These all-or-nothing ways of thinking are toxic, and we gotta let them go.5 -
Yes for me as well. When i look in the mirror, i like what I see. I look great in clothes, and ok naked. I have some loose skin and still have a bit more extra weight, but I'm happy with the results and don't want to go back ( i lost over 75 lbs). Problem for me, that my mental picture of me is often the old, fat me. And it seems to want to stay, no matter what i see in actual pictures and mirrors, and what people are saying to me. So I'm working on reminding myself often, and , probably being annoying to others to some extent with often mirror checks. It's not sticking well though.1
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I imagine most of us on this site have body image issues. When I was a teenager I always thought I needed to lose 5-10 pounds. I didn't, and looking back at photos I looked great and I wish I had appreciated that. Then after I got married and had a couple of kids my weight started creeping up. After my kids were grown I started walking my son's dog and came on mfp and started counting calories. That led to my weight loss and eventually I started doing yoga and running. I am now pretty fit. Even though I feel like I shouldn't say that or people will look at me and think "she's not as fit as she thinks she is". It's like I go through both extremes of feeling like I look good and noticing all of the problem areas I still have. On the one hand I think my arms look great. They used to look like giant sausages and now I can see some real muscle definition. The problem is in certain positions I can see loose skin too and that makes me feel bad. My stomach is another problem area. I know that I have loose skin there, but honestly it is not all loose skin. There is still a lot of fat there. But my upper ribs are starting to show and I can look in the mirror and think I look fat and scrawny at the same time. I hope that my loose skin will improve with time. And I hope that I will just become more accepting of myself, flaws and all. I think that it is sad that someone like @nowine4me is embarrassed of the way she looks. You look fantastic. But I understand. I do think that for the most part I look pretty good in clothes, but when I look closely I do still see the flaws more than the improvements. It doesn't help that people think they have the right to comment about your weight loss in ways that are not helpful. I've been told I was obsessive and that I shouldn't lose any more weight because I looked better heavy. That doesn't do much for your body image.3
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Yes, and my views will change from day to day and sometimes from morning to night. lol I just posted on my wall asking others to "commiserate" with me - then came to the community and saw that you all had already started! I echo many of the things mentioned in this post...most of which did NOT come until I lost the weight and became a bit of an athlete. I am harder on myself now than I have ever been. Folks that I have mentioned my insecurities to in "real life" DO think that I am crazy! lol I hear all the time how I inspire them and look Great, but all that I can see some days is my LAST problem area, my arms. I am taking even MORE action though to fix the physical "problem" by doing another cut which WORKED the FIRST time... (grumble, grumble)... and just reflecting more on all the great things that I do have going for me (thankfully) to work on the mental piece.
Edited to add: arms are my last problem area that sometimes seem insurmountable...I have other little things that may or may not go away but are not a BIG focus/hangup for me...a bit of loose skin right under my navel..four kids so I don't know if that will go All the way away, but in undies you would never see it...still building my lower half - it's not a problem so much as an ongoing effort to stay a bit shapely and hopefully, jiggle/cellulite free.0 -
I can definitely relate. I have had weight issues since I was a preteen. I had four children in the span of 7 years. All babies were considerable size (smallest being 8 pounds, 6 ounces; largest 10 pounds, 7 ounces). I gained a lot of weight with each and bounced back and forth. I have a lot of excess skin, especially in the torso and even my hips/thighs have some. No matter what, all I see is the jiggle. Sure, some fat is holding on...that's all I seem to focus on. I just wonder if I'll ever get to a place when my self-talk isn't "I'm so fat. I need to do better. I'm not pretty enough." It's tiring and frustrating.0
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