The Opposite of Body Dysmorphia

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  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    Any distorted image of the body is a form of Body Dysmorphia. It really does just mean that you don't perceive your body accurately.

    I experience it with weightloss. I can't 'feel' how big my body is anymore, and don't have a remotely accurate image of it.
  • monkeymouse74
    monkeymouse74 Posts: 288
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    Yep, I suffered from body mass imagination.:blushing: I only realised how big I had become when I saw a photo of myself on holiday in Morrocco.:noway:
  • louisau
    louisau Posts: 159 Member
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    This thought came to me in a recent thread about body dysmorphia, and I felt like it would be inappropriate to bring it up there.

    Do any other fat people look in the mirror and not see a fat person?

    I am 100% serious and this is wicked not meant to be a troll post. When I look in the mirror, I don't see a fat man. I mean, I can see that huge ball of fat on my stomach, but it does not process in my self image. I look in the mirror and think, "Dang, you look good today." Rarely, my size will hit me and I will feel self-conscious, like when I was at my wife's company's Christmas party and I realized that out of 500+ people, I was the fattest in the room. I don't even hold onto that self-consciousness for long, though, before I'm back to thinking I'm all that.

    Do any other fat men and women out there not see themselves as fat?
    This is common with men.

    We don't see what the world sees.
    Our delusion runs deep.

    Well said. LOL
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    I see myself as fat in the mirror, but if I imagine myself in my mind, then I totally don't. Actually, my goal is to make my self-image match what the world sees.
  • PrfctGdess
    PrfctGdess Posts: 257
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    This is common with men.

    LOL Maybe I just relate more to guys in this case, then, because this has always been me. :-) At my highest, I was well into the Obese BMI, and I'm just now at the border of Overweight/Obese. I can see the fat, but inside, I still feel like I look hot :) That's probably why its taken me so long to get to where I really can stick with getting healthier and pulling off the weight. But even now, as I lose I feel like I just want to make the outside match how I feel I already look :-P

    So yeah, you're not alone :-)
  • PrfctGdess
    PrfctGdess Posts: 257
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    I see myself as fat in the mirror, but if I imagine myself in my mind, then I totally don't. Actually, my goal is to make my self-image match what the world sees.

    Ditto! This EXACTLY!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    "Bigorexia" is a term used for many body builders. They can't seem to get big enough, so they pile on with enhancement drugs, eat tons of food, work out to excess, and the rest of the time they "rest up" so they don't needlessly burn off any calories that could go to muscle growth.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Yooperm35
    Yooperm35 Posts: 787 Member
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    For many years, I looked in the mirror and didn't actually see that I was 'overweight'. I knew I had a few extra pounds - but it wasn't until I saw a picture of myself that I realized just how big I really was. Even then I thought to myself, "Well, the camera does add 10#" I think I never looked at my whole self in the mirror. I looked at areas, like my face, my arms, my stomach -but never really put it all together. It was a wake up call, for sure, to see that dreaded picture.

    And it's funny that you say 'the opposite of body dysmorphia' because I asked a co-worker at the time, "Is it possible that I have the opposite of body dysmorphia where I don't see a fat person?" We got a laugh out of it, but deep down I knew it was true
  • echoica
    echoica Posts: 339 Member
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    I definitely do not see a fat person either. I know I am and I do see it in pictures though. I used to be tiny (100 lbs) so I do know what I would look like with the weight off so not sure if that has something to do with it....I basically feel like a 140 lb person in a 300 lb person's body. Like wearing a fat suit when people take pictures lol

    It's very strange indeed.

    Kind of the opposite effect as you have when you are anorexic (I've been there too) where you see a fat person when you are skinny!
  • sassylilmama
    sassylilmama Posts: 1,495 Member
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    It was definitely true for me. I knew I was big and was not happy but my mind did not really see myself as big as I actually was. When I took my first undies "before" pic I was astonished.
  • pinstripepirate
    pinstripepirate Posts: 605 Member
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    I understand where you're coming from. I have some days where I think I look fantastic, and others where I feel like I'm really fat. But that was always the case for me, even before I started to lose weight. Now I look back at pictures of myself when I was really heavy (because I'm just "less heavy" now) and I say to myself, "wow! I can't believe that I ever thought I looked good then!" Confidence in your body image is important at any size, though. Otherwise everyone would be miserable all the time. Nobody is perfect, and if you're confident and feel good about the way you look, you're going to carry yourself much differently than if you have low self-esteem, which (in my opinion) can make you look worse.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Oh yeah, you're totally not alone. In the mirror no matter how hard I try, all I see is a slightly overweight guy. It's when someone snaps a photo of me that it hits home that I'm obese.

    I think it's technically still "body dysmorphia"... incorrect perception... just in the less common direction.

    I also think (total specualtion here), that this opposite form seems to affect men more than women. Anyone else want to chime in on that theory?
  • latinqueencee
    latinqueencee Posts: 120 Member
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    I always thought " I look damn good" even when I was weighing 245. I couldnt see how fat I was in the mirror and with pics my thought was "I am not photogenic at all' Not once did I think that I was fat, even though my pant size was a 22. Now , it;s the opposite, when I look in the mirror at 171 pounds, I see a fat person. I wont take pictures, or rather, I havent taken pics because I am afraid of seeing myself big. I have issues, I know, but I'm really trying to work on them.
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,077 Member
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    bump
  • Hyperspace
    Hyperspace Posts: 78
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    I get compliments all the time on how I look when actually I am overweight. This makes me lack motivation in getting back to my goal. People say "you look great for having 5 kids" But you know what I don't want to look great for having 5 kids, I want to look great PERIOD! I

    Same kind of thing here--- I look good for my age but I want to look GOOD, period. And being told I look good de-motivates me. I've got around 31% body fat and a nice little muffin top. It's not bad but I want to have under 25% fat and no muffin top. So I have to keep telling myself I'm fat fat fat, otherwise my brain doesn't get it.

    As for the OP-- I think men tend to do that. My hubby thinks he looks great despite his big beer gut. He doesn't see how it's not sexy.
  • oouurr__aayylleeyycan
    oouurr__aayylleeyycan Posts: 149
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    I realised the other day that I'm a skinny person in a fat persons body.

    I was always naturally skinny when I was younger and then BAM! I started putting weight on. I'm now a good 3 stone over weight and yet when I look in the mirror and when I look at other people, I consider myself in the "thin" category.

    Need to snap out of it and wake up!!
  • sprinkies
    sprinkies Posts: 309 Member
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    oohhh yeah when i was 40 pounds heavier i'd look at myself and think, ehhh you're a bit bigger then you were, but you're tall and it fits on your body ok! then when i'd see pics or a mirror, i'd think eeek that's just a bad angle, i don't really look like that. i started avoiding windows/mirrors so i didn't have to see my chub.

    i totally get where you're coming from.
  • vegibowl
    vegibowl Posts: 5 Member
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    I've often said that my biggest dieting problem is high self esteem! When I eat, I'm happy. I don't think of myself as unattractive even though I've made it as high as 312 lbs in my life.

    That's why I'm so digging MFP. I don't feel deprived at all, and I'm moving toward a place where I can feel like I'm a healthy role model for my kids.

    Thanks for posting, glad to know I'm not alone.
  • KickassAugust
    KickassAugust Posts: 1,430 Member
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    I get it.

    Until a year ago didn't see myself as fat. So much so that when I started to work out my goal was to get under 200 and stop, cause I didn't see myself as fat at 199.

    I get it.

    Plus... someone has to tell me what on earth a TROLL POST is, please!
  • Hyperspace
    Hyperspace Posts: 78
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    Plus... someone has to tell me what on earth a TROLL POST is, please!

    A troll post is a post a person makes to be provocative and deliberately stir up anger, indignation, etc. This is how they get their jollies. It's called a "troll" post because of the relation to trolling in fishing-- where the fisherman drags a lure behind his boat in hopes of a bite.

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