Reversed BD??

PennyRLane · January 4

Hello everyone, thank you for reading and maybe I am not alone out there.
I have suffered from BD most of my life from when I was about 7-8 years old till about a year ago.
I decided a year and a half ago to really change things up since my weight really yoyo'd all over my timeline of life. I stopped drinking all alcohol, I became veggie/pesca, I walk 4 miles every day and get 10-12k steps a day, eat at a calorie def and get all my macros and vitamins I need, drink all my water, stopped smoking. I am still not at a goal weight or anything BUT I am so much happier and healthier than I ever was before even super skinny.

My issue I am having, and wanting to know if anyone else has this issue, I see myself in the mirror and I think "Hey, you look pretty good! Look how far you've come!" or "this outfit looks great on you, look at your curves and your figure!" really HEALTHY HAPPY self-talk.
Then I see photos of myself... and it is like I see myself 100 pounds heavier than I am. I seem SO MUCH BIGGER than I am! I know that normally when I would look in the mirror for YEARS I could almost watch myself grow in size and see myself getting bigger. Oh, the fun parts of BD. But I actually am liking the way I look IN PERSON and much more accepting of myself now a days. EXCEPT when I see a photo and then I think, "Do I really look like that? Is it my BD talking? Am I delusional in the real world? Is the photo telling the truth I don't want to hear?"
I have chatted with my therapist about this and she says it is a form of BD and since I have changed so has it. It never leaves, as we all know with mental health issues.
I just wanted to know if anyone else has ever experienced this as well?
Do you like how you are looking and progressing in person, until you see a photograph and then think, "do I really look like that?"

runlikeananna · January 4

Yes. I am old enough now that I don't care. Get friends who take better photos. One thing I have to be really on the ball with is buying clothes. I will buy miles too big in a dress/top and too small in pants because I just can not assess my body size without using a tape measure.

louis4472 · January 4

what does BD stand for?

Lietchi · January 4

louis4472 wrote: »

what does BD stand for?

Body dysmorphia, I'm guessing.

Melwillbehealthy · January 5

Yes, I feel very similar feelings. I’m older and I still care very much. Sometimes, after getting dressed, I think I look pretty good in the mirror. However , I’ve never seen a photo yet that I actually liked. My body and shape is constantly changing, slowly, but I can’t keep up mentally with the changes. I try to tighten things up with weight training. As for clothes sizes, I have to try the item on. I’m all over the place with sizing, but maybe that’s just normal. When I get to my goal, I hope to love my shape again.
I do love how much better I feel, walk, breathe and just enjoy life after losing 50 lbs. I can’t wait to see what happens after I lose another 50.

manderson27 · January 5

Yes I have a similar thing. I get dressed and think, well that looks nice. I think I look quite trim and chic and then when I see the photos I look a lot bigger to the camera than I did in the mirror. I accept that I am still overweight. I lost 30lbs on here and maintained for 7 years. I am now trying to lose a bit more (hence the small loss shown on my page). But still it is rather disheartening when you have an image in your head and see something different in a photo.

nchrty · January 5

Stop obsessing about how you look.

Lietchi · January 5

nchrty wrote: »

Stop obsessing about how you look.

Wow, that's supportive. A bit like telling someone with a depression to 'just cheer up'

bekahViolet · January 5

I think that we are our biggest critics so don't judge youself so harshly when you see pictures of yourself. You're a human, we have bodies that move and look different in certain lighting. Pictures especially of influencers or of people online are carefully curated, and could even be edited. I always think in the back of my mind, no one will remember how I looked, but they'll remember how I made them feel, and that's what truly matters. Hope this helps!

Reversed BD??

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