Body Dismorphia

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pattysanderson71
pattysanderson71 Posts: 21 Member
in Motivation and Support
Anyone struggling with this? Mine is I don’t realize how big I really am. Maybe this why I can seem to stick with a plan.
Any suggestions?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
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    Full body pictures did it for me. Well, that and having to buy everything at the Plus size store.

    How far out of the healthy BMI range are you? It helped me to know I was in a very unhealthy place:

    https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm
  • pattysanderson71
    pattysanderson71 Posts: 21 Member
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    31bmi. I am only 5’2”
  • pattysanderson71
    pattysanderson71 Posts: 21 Member
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    I avoid mirrors at all cost!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
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    pattysanderson71 wrote: »
    31bmi. I am only 5’2”

    I avoid mirrors at all cost!

    Well, sounds like it's time to be honest with yourself. 31 BMI means you have some reality to face. You can do it, though.

    I recommend logging your food every day and studying your food page to see where you can make some small changes. Just staying within your calorie goal is all you need to worry about right now. One good thing is that it's really easy to lose weight when there is a lot of weight to lose!

    Just start. :flowerforyou:


  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
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    pattysanderson71 wrote: »
    Anyone struggling with this? Mine is I don’t realize how big I really am. Maybe this why I can seem to stick with a plan.
    Any suggestions?

    I don't see the correlation between your size and sticking to a plan. Can you please help me understand?
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    pattysanderson71 wrote: »
    Anyone struggling with this? Mine is I don’t realize how big I really am. Maybe this why I can seem to stick with a plan.
    Any suggestions?

    Body dysmorphia and what you are mentioning here seem to be fairly different from one another. Body dysmorphic disorder is severe anxiety and worry about real or imagined defects in ones appearance, often minor. What you are describing seems almost to be the opposite of that. That you feel better about your body than you believe that you should for your size, so you have trouble keeping motivation?

    It could be very much that I am interpreting that wrong. But what it is that you feel body dysmorphic about?
  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
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    Look in all the mirrors! Take lots of pictures of yourself. Be present when people take pictures. That can help you see yourself in comparison to others. Sounds like you are in denial more than dysmorphic. I get it. I’m the same way. Once I started facing up to things, I started to lose weight and I started to like my pictures.
  • Whey125
    Whey125 Posts: 189 Member
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    Pictures taken when I was on vacation did the trick. I was so unhappy with my body. Ironically I lost 3 lbs when I was on vacay due to the amount of walking we did
  • Kupla71
    Kupla71 Posts: 1,117 Member
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    I too have lost sight of my size. I’m 5’1” and have a bmi if 30. I’m so used to seeing myself at this size that I’ve almost come to accept it. I knew I needed to lose weight but didn’t realize how much! When I took a photo of myself from the side view and saw the size of my stomach it was a bit of a wake up call. I realized I am bigger than I thought! I used to be a healthy weight and know I need to put in the work to get there again. Funny thing is when I’m slim I don’t realize how slim I am. Maybe I’m just not very aware of what I look like!
  • pattysanderson71
    pattysanderson71 Posts: 21 Member
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    Kupla71 I feel the same!
  • hist_doc
    hist_doc Posts: 206 Member
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    My psychologist has diagnosed me with body dysmorphic disorder but in my case I see myself as 30-40% larger than what I really am (5'8" 135 lb.). It is, of course, much more complicated than that but to share a bit...

    I was under the impression that BDD caused one to exaggerate (and not the other way around) perceived flaws but I'm not the expert. In my case, I have "incredible" anxiety at times which makes it difficult to even leave the house. It has gotten better through the years (and I take medication) but I've been experiencing episodes as of late. Social situations, even with friends, are very difficult.

    My BDD can cause me to have irrational thoughts that I have gained 20 lbs in one day, even a matter of minutes--I know this is not true and it's physically impossible but there are times that I become "convinced" of it and feel as though nothing fits (though it clearly still does). I experienced an episode similar to this this past weekend. It causes an incredible amount of undue stress--I really can't express it in words here. I avoid mirrors when using public restrooms--not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the fact that if I see something "wrong" it will trigger an anxiety attack and set me spiraling. The thing is, I am not a vain person--I barely wear any makeup and don't even dye my greying hair (lol).

    I am not at all diminishing what you have said but in my case BDD can be a very crippling disorder.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    I've always understood it as having an unrealistic view of your own body.. thinking your smaller or heavier than what you truly are.

    Many of us have it after we've lost our weight..we don't see that we are smaller. Like right now I feel I look the same as before I lost all my weight. Logically, I tell myself that can't be the case, since I am wearing the same shorts I did when I reached my goal weight. But..when I look in the mirror.. I see myself as out of shape as when I started my journey. It is so stupid!! Then there are others who are heavy and think they're thin.

    Go by the BMI chart...make your goal to be in the middle of your healthy BMI.. and go from there.

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