Mirror Image vs. Real Life

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Replies

  • Flafster
    Flafster 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
  • paintlisapurple
    paintlisapurple Posts: 982 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.
  • 1RBelle512
    1RBelle512 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 :(
  • iheartmarshall
    iheartmarshall 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 :)
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    Race photos are particularly bad like that for me. Those photographers do it on purpose! :tongue:

    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!
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    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?

    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!
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    Yes. Every.damn.time. I hate photos of myself. Finally, I'm starting to get a few that I don't "hate".

    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!
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo 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
  • jordanreddick
    jordanreddick Posts: 197 Member
    I am the exact opposite. I look in the mirror and think my arms look flabby, my thighs could be more toned, my stomach is too round, the list goes on....and then I see myself in photos and I'm like "oh...I actually look pretty small...."

    Yes this here too.

    Yep, me as well
  • iheartmarshall
    iheartmarshall 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.
  • 2muchsauce
    2muchsauce 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:)
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 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.

    I now take photos of myself when trying on clothes. Or make my husband do it. So the mirror doesn't fool me LOL.
  • janessafantasma
    janessafantasma 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.
  • Toxictwist
    Toxictwist 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.
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 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.
  • Alexzya
    Alexzya 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.
  • janessafantasma
    janessafantasma 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!
  • 916lude
    916lude Posts: 305
    I have abs in the mirror, but not in real life!!?!?
  • skinnybearlyndsay
    skinnybearlyndsay 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)!
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 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.
  • VoodooLuLu
    VoodooLuLu 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!
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 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! :)
  • Berto0391
    Berto0391 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:
  • placeboaddiction
    placeboaddiction Posts: 451 Member
    I have abs in the mirror, but not in real life!!?!?

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

    I am far better looking in real life.
  • Robin1109
    Robin1109 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.
  • aallen8599
    aallen8599 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
  • mogletdeluxe
    mogletdeluxe 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.
  • HartJames
    HartJames 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.
  • aj_31
    aj_31 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: