Mirror Image vs. Real Life

Yes! Oh God Yes!!!!

That was how my weight loss journey started.

In high school I weighed about 140 lbs and wore a size 5.

Fast Fwd 4 years after graduation. I ended up weighing 220 lbs. :noway:

When I looked in the mirror, I saw chubby-ness, but thought it wasnt that bad.

When I took pics of myself, it was always flattering angles.

Then, my brother is the one handling the camera on a family outting.

I saw the pics and was discusted!!!!! My belly was hanging over my shorts, my shorts were riding up in the middle, I was wearing a grey and black striped tank top.

Oh it was God awful!

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...."

This is how I feel, I don't like the way I look at all in real life or the mirror, then I see a pic and think oh wow, it's not that bad, but that little spark of confidence only lasts a few minutes. (though now I think about it there were a few pics of me looking too thin, almost sickly when I went through some stress and that prompted me to consider putting on weight in the first place, and my pregnancy pics were never pretty either, total moon face!) And pics of my face Suck!!

Its amazing that as individuals we are all unique, however, most of us have similar thought process and insecurities. I go through the same thing. Last year when I lost about 10 lbs to get to about 220, I thought I looked decent. I look at pics now after losing an additional 30 lbs and wonder how in the world I thought I actually looked cute at the time. lol.. I looked horrible and fat. Even going back 4 years ago and looking at pics in college I realize how big I was. I never saw myself as being that big. Its amazing!!! Seriously! I know I have lost a lot of weight since then, but now I understand why I never got hit on as much by men or asked out. I was fat even though people said I didn't look fat. BS!! A picture can tell a thousand words. I rather go by pics now because I see myself in the mirror daily, and I know it can be difficult to see that I'm getting bigger. It really gives you a clear picture how you really look most of the time. We look at ourselves daily, so its more difficult to distinguish 10 lbs from the norm, IMO.

yep that was from friends! they were watching ross/monica/rachels prom video
LOVE that show!

This being in reference to the "how many cameras were actually on you" post

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 have good and bad days. I look at myself in the mirror and think I look great, but then look at a picture of myself and think I look terrible...

or I have days I look in the mirror and could swear I look fatter than the previous day. My fiancee tells me it's all in my head and I don't look any different. A lot of times bloating affects this.

Mirror: You look HOT today!

Me: Woohoo!!!

*takes a photo to document*

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

Me: ...:sad: ...

YESSSSSSSSSS! ohh lord all the dang time!

I'm pretty photo shy to begin with. I'm an extremely flamboyant dresser (love the goth/punk) but pictures are scary. But yeah, one day the mirror told me an outfit I was wearing was SMOKIN.....and someone else at the college had snapped a random picture.....yeah, not so smoking. I compared it to another picture of me at my heaviest weight a few years ago - the same me was staring out of both of those photographs.

It was awful. But it's good motivation,.

It depends on my mood! Sometimes I will see a fit girl looking back at me. And then there are times when I see huge thighs, flabby tummy and just all around fat person looking back at me. And the same goes for pictures. I will take a good pic and then there are those bad pics. I found one on my mother in law's phone this past weekend. I was mortified! I looked terrible in my workout clothes. But then again, it may have been the angle and so on. I just try to go on each day thinking others see the better of me when I see the worse.

I think this is rather common for most people. I think it's just because you look at yourself every day, the same as people who see you ALL the time...they most likely won't notice weight loss before someone you barely ever see does. I think if you were to not look at yourself in the mirror for a LONG time then come back to the mirror you would probably see the difference. We just get used to seeing what's in front of us, and it eventually just all blurs together!!! It's odd, but I hear ya! I'm the same way Lol