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strange perception of self

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Kara_xxx
Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
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I try to explain what I mean...

In anorexia people perceive themselves to be much larger / fatter than they really are, right?

I think I have the opposite problem...

I go into a shop, happily pick up a size 12, genuinely looking at it thinking it'll fit me... and then end up all surprised when I can get it half way up my thighs... scratch my head and double check the label that this isn't really a size 8 I picked up...

Same with photos... I go out have a quick look in the mirror and all hunky dory... then next days I see photos and think "who is the fat heffer who was wearing the same dress as me last night"?

I'm joking a bit but is there anyone else who was genuinely surprised to be faced with the reality of how bad things were? I wasn't in denial... I really didn't see it. :-/

Replies

  • charlottey22
    charlottey22 Posts: 71 Member
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    yes i had the same problem, did an event a couple of weeks ago with my fiance and MIL, ended up clocking 14km, felt great, had checked myself in the mirror before going to the event - thought yea i look pretty good... anyways on saturday i was given a photo of the start line as i was at the front with my MIL...i looked at it and thought "oh dear god, is that really what i look like?" looked awful, i cried then hid the photos so id never have to look at them ever again.

    think me and you are in the same boat, it sucks :ohwell: xx
  • lesley1981
    lesley1981 Posts: 329 Member
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    I was exactly the same! It wasn't until I attended a charity ball and had a photo taken with a friend of mine... I looked like a giant next to her! at that stage I was a size 16.

    Even now, at a size 12 I look at some photos and I think "gosh look at my belly"! Although it is only SOME photos, and I realise that they're taken at a bad angle!
  • sixfootaliw
    sixfootaliw Posts: 62
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    Totally understand! I was convinced that as I am six foot tall being a size 20 was fine for my height. All my mirrors show just my top half and that bit looked fine so I was convinced that I looked great!

    My step-daughter visited at Christmas and took a snap of me while I was cooking dinner. When she posted it on Facebook and I saw how huge my butt looked I was really upset. It was the first time I saw the reality and not my mental image.

    I am delighted to see in the full length mirrors at work that the 30 pounds I've lost so far have slimmed down my butt!!! lol!

    Ali
  • tadpole242
    tadpole242 Posts: 507 Member
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    I sure that I’m not the only one who hates having their picture taken, as I get to see what I really look like, it is almost as bad as listening to yourself speak, on tape or on the television. I solved the problem by learning how to use a camera, that way I had an excuse not to be in the pictures. The few photos that exist of me make me look as if I have taken all the cushions off the sofa and jammed them up my shirt.
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
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    LOL tadpole! Yes I spend a lot more time behind the camera now rather than in front. :laugh:
  • cherrypie556
    cherrypie556 Posts: 17 Member
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    Oh God yes! Especially on a night out I'll get ready, think I look slim ish and okay and then the photos hit me! Im generally only a size 12 but still look huge!
  • Meee2012
    Meee2012 Posts: 14 Member
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    Same with me! I was beginning to think I was a complete freak for feeling that way so it's good to know I'm not the only one :)
  • nevertoolate2
    nevertoolate2 Posts: 309 Member
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    In my head I was an acceptable lean who knew he had a bit of a tum but it was ok if I breathed in! Until I saw a picture my wife took of me on holiday where my young son could pretty much sit in the shade of the overhang of my gut - yuk!
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
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    Same with me! I was beginning to think I was a complete freak for feeling that way so it's good to know I'm not the only one :)

    Ditto!! :laugh:
  • dcazll
    dcazll Posts: 65 Member
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    I have the same problem and the same name as the OP, but I'm at the start of my journey! I think I look fine in the mirror until I go out shopping and catch glimpses of myself in shop windows, or mirrors in changing rooms (hate those ones that are angled so you can see what you look like from the back) and it's always a shock. So I sliming down even though my mirror doesn't think I need to.
  • Eleanorjanethinner
    Eleanorjanethinner Posts: 563 Member
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    Yup, I was in denial (and not the river in Eygpt!). I really was a size 16, but I just stopped shopping in shops with smaller sizing and convinced myself I was buying XL tops 'cos their sizes were too small. Nope, I was too big! I also thought I had a lot more of an hourglass figure than I did - my waist actually got fairly thick.

    I dressed quite well to flatter my size but the double chin in photos was hideous! (It's still there a bit but definitely improved...)

    I'm pleased that I'm this way 'round rather than most of the folks on this site who seem to not be able to accept their weightloss, but I do need to watch the scales, the tape measure, the clothes sizes to see I don't slip upwards again.

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