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    Mirror Image vs. Real Life

    24

    Replies

    • Posts: 106 Member
      Have you seen this site? I find it quite useful to work out where I am vs where I want to be.

      http://www.mybodygallery.com/index.html
    • Posts: 985 Member
      Yep me too! I suppose its because we can "pose" to best form in the mirror. Difficult to do in front of a camera where you can't see yourself, and even harder with candid shots.
    • Posts: 53 Member
      I definitely see a difference, and that's actually how I figured out what my goal weight should be. I look best in photos at 135, so that's what I'm trying to get back to! Even just 10lbs more makes me ruin pictures :(
    • Posts: 39 Member
      I am SO glad that I am not the only one like this! I thought it was just me so it's reassuring to know other people look at themselves differently too. I think that's part of the reason why I was never motivated to work out before... when I saw myself, I didn't think I was that bad. Just recently did I realize I could/should lose weight. For reference, my starting weight was 236 and I am a size 18. I've lost two pounds so far and my current goal is to lose 56 pounds and go down to 180... we'll see what happens from there :)
    • Posts: 3,265 Member
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      AGREED!! :noway:

      I have to say...in my last race I watched for the photographers and when I saw them, I made sure to over-exaggerate bringing my feet up behind me. And I don't hate the pictures. In fact, I actually ordered two of them!
    • Posts: 3,265 Member
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      I do :(. I never feel I look bad when I look in a mirror but when I see a photo I freak out. Its odd, dont know why the images seems so different in my head.

      I really think it's because when we're looking in the mirror, we naturally position our head and body in the most flattering pose. We can't do that when someone is taking a photo of us!
    • Posts: 3,265 Member
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      Wondering if we like how we look in mirror do we like photos taken of us in mirrors?
      LOL Sorry just found it funny.

      Yes, I do think I look better in photos I take myself in the mirror!
    • Posts: 3,634 Member
      I think its normal that we look 10 lbs heavier in photos or videos which is the main reason many Hollywood celebrities are starving themselves to thinness so they can look slim in photos. I also look 10lbs. heavier in pics but in person I look way skinnier than that & people also tells me that I look way too thin. Also I notice that I look uglier in pics than in mirror.

      By the way, I took this pic in front of a mirror
    • Posts: 197 Member
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      Yes this here too.

      Yep, me as well
    • Posts: 39 Member
      I really think it's because when we're looking in the mirror, we naturally position our head and body in the most flattering pose. We can't do that when someone is taking a photo of us!

      Yes! When I feel pretty, I'll take the standard mirror pic and what I see in the mirror usually translates in the photo. I never thought about it like this, though... very good point.
    • Posts: 1,078
      I really hate seeing photos of myself. I'm usually VERY disappointed. That's not the main reason I'm here but hopefully it will be a nice side effect if everything goes as planned:)
    • Posts: 3,265 Member
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      Yes! When I feel pretty, I'll take the standard mirror pic and what I see in the mirror usually translates in the photo. I never thought about it like this, though... very good point.

      I now take photos of myself when trying on clothes. Or make my husband do it. So the mirror doesn't fool me LOL.
    • Posts: 312 Member
      That's how I felt when I had my school id picture taken, I looked at it and I wanted to cry. To me, it appeared that my face had gotten so fat that my eyes were being robbed of their space on my face, and I had a double chin. ..oh man. It was so miserable.

      Now I feel like I actually look better naked, because my natural curves are coming back, but then I put on clothes and someone takes a picture of me and then I get all sad and disappointed again. Ha...oh well. I'm slowly making my way to where I want to be.
    • Posts: 274
      I still see the over-weight me when i look in the mirror. Even when people tell me I am "Pretty" or "Hot" i want to argue with them lol cuz i only think of the Old me.
    • Posts: 368 Member
      I'm the same. I look in the mirror and think "I look cute," and then I see a picture and wonder how I turned into a frumpy cow. I have to say that, for me, mirror pics are also less flattering than looking in the mirror. My first, totally appalling, before pic is a mirror pic.
    • Posts: 12 Member
      Mirror: You look HOT today!

      Me: Woohoo!!!

      *takes a photo to document*

      Camera: Seriously? The mirror told you that? HA!!!

      Me: :cry: ...:sad: ...

      OMG that's so cute! made me smile!:smile:
      I feel the same way though. I hate photos of myself.
    • Posts: 312 Member
      I still see the over-weight me when i look in the mirror. Even when people tell me I am "Pretty" or "Hot" i want to argue with them lol cuz i only think of the Old me.

      Aww, don't think of yourself as the old you. I have heard a lot of people say they feel this way after losing a significant amount of weight, that no matter how much their bodies have changed, they still have a "fat identity". Oddly enough, I read a study about fat identities in a social deviance class I took and it makes me so mad that people have to be labeled so much in society that even when they change, they can't remove that label.
      Hope you start recognizing yourself as the amazing person that you are!
    • Posts: 305
      I have abs in the mirror, but not in real life!!?!?
    • Posts: 798 Member
      Some days I look better in the mirror, others I look better in pictures. It depends on my mindset for the day. But most of all, I can't believe how much smaller I look compared to this time last year in pictures. What a difference a year makes (for the better)!
    • Posts: 1,896 Member
      JUST recently, actually. When I see myself in the mirror, I love what I see.

      I just saw a picture of me and I was horrified.
    • Posts: 636 Member
      I hate going on pictures, caus i know they will bring me down...
      so i just keep looking in the mirror and windows where i look good
      not realistic but let me live in lala land!
    • Posts: 2,050 Member
      Yeah, it used to be that way for me... When I was at my largest I didn't like looking at the mirror or photos.... when I was about 160 I thought I looked ok in the mirror but pictures proved different... but now I am really starting to like both! :)
    • Posts: 273 Member
      Yup I look fat in my pictures but when I look in the mirror I think I look pretty good.

      My mom says I have my fat face again:sad:
    • Posts: 451 Member
      I have abs in the mirror, but not in real life!!?!?

      ME TOO!!!!
    • Posts: 4,500 Member
      I'm not going to lie here.

      I am far better looking in real life.
    • Posts: 231 Member
      Seeing a photo of myself is was got me motivated to really lose the weight for good this time. I barely recognized myself. Sobering, to say the least. Now I'm better about pictures (20 more lbs and I'll really like them). I still don't like being stuck on the end of the group in a shot. Haha.
    • Posts: 73
      Does anyone else ever look in the mirror and think "Hey, I don't look that bad!" but when you see a photo of yourself, you have the OMG moment where you're like "Holy crap, I look like a cow!" Yeah. That moment just happened. I saw a candid photo of me from three weeks ago and it was the first time I really saw how fat my legs and knees looked... I don't really see myself that way when I look in the mirror. Sure, I know I'm overweight but I thought I looked okay, you know? Just wow. Talk about motivation!


      What do you see when you see yourself in a mirror versus in a photo? Do you see a difference like I do or is it the same?

      Not only this^^ but how many of you also look back at old photos where you used to think you were so fat and think, "why did I think I was fat then?? Look at me now! I'm 20lbs heavier now!" I've done that. Weight is the devil! and I think it's best friend is the camera!! lol
    • Posts: 623 Member
      I used to think I didn't look that bad. You know, a bit of pudge, nothing major. Then I saw a photo wherein my thighs looked about a foot wide each and had a bit of a reality check.

      Now? I see photos of myself and am surprised at how small I look. My brain hasn't caught up; and it's sometimes a bit alarming. In my head, every now and then, I'll think I'm still Fat Girl.
    • Posts: 789 Member
      Yes! I have some kind of reverse dysmorphic disorder I swear! In photos, I look 300 pounds, in the mirror I think I look okay. Wish I could see myself accurately :( Seeing a pic of myself really sets me into a depression.
    • Posts: 994 Member
      Yep - happens to me all the time. I have a 'skinny' mirror at home and when I lift at the gym in front of the mirrors I also feel thin. When I see pics I think I look huge - especially in my belly area.

      * Oh and my husband was moving things around in the house and broke my skinny mirror. WTF! Now what am I going to do? I used to love looking in that mirror. Ugh..:sad:
    This discussion has been closed.

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