Do any of you have an image problem? The only mirrors I have are in the 2 bathrooms, when I pass a mirror in a store or where ever, I turn my head or keep my head down so I won't see my reflection, because when I do I can't believe I am this big. The worse thing I don't feel as big as I am . I am a size 22-24. I feel like a size 20, but when I take a glance at one of those outside mirrors I see the real me and it makes me feel so bad. I am going to get myself one of those mirrors that stand by themselves and put it in my bedroom and force myself to look in it everyday, so I will not have a problem with looking at mirrors, maybe this will give me some push to have the will to keep this up, I don't know. Does anyone else feel like me??
I know what you mean and am definitely happier not seeing myself in a full-length mirror. Last month when I decided to get back on a weight-loss plan, though, I took photos of myself in my underwear, front, back, and side . . . and the images I downloaded to my computer did not match the images in my mind. It was indeed depressing! But instead of ignoring them, I took a good hard look, and got a much-needed shot of reality. My plan is to continue taking pictures, maybe every 20-25# lost, so that I can see my progress, too.
I hope you don't simply use the mirror as a tool to examine the negatives, though -- do remember to compliment yourself on a great smile, gorgeous eyes, sexy cleavage, or whatever other assets you might choose. It's okay to hate the fat on your body, but remember to love the self that's in there, too!
I also hate the mirrors, when they look back at you. You know what that mirror thinking LOL. I just did that last night. Had a good look at myself in the mirror and wanted to cry. I need to take pictures good idea. I had just found out a few weeks ago that one of my sisters has been slowly losing weight. She has gone from a 24/26 to a 14/16 in the last three years. She said she didn't tell anyone because she is afraid of what people will say. She did this many many years before too. Her and I look alike in many ways and we are 8 year apart. Out of 6 kids her and I were the only ones with weight problems. She was trying to help me with what she did to lose it, but, I just can't make those kinds of changes. She lives in Canada so no one sees her often, every few years. Everyone is in for a shock when she comes to the states for her next visit.
Have a great day.
Yeah...I do this too!!! I"m getting better at looking at myself in the mirror and allowing my picture to be taken...but it's taken awhile!!! It's kind of weird...when I was at my highest of 255 or so.....sometimes I looked in the mirror and thought I didn't look half bad...now when I look at pictures of those same "events" or whatever...I am totally disgusted. I guess I've always known I was fat...but maybe was in denial about how big I actually was....if that makes any sense? Someone mentioned the store window thing too...I still do that to this day..I catch a glimpse of myself in the store window and think to myself "that poor woman has a weight problem"..then I look a little closer and realize that person is me...aggghhhhhhhh. I don't know..my mind works in mysterious ways. I am thinking that I look better these days...but in some respects I'm more hard on myself now than I was at 255....maybe because I ACTUALLY do look in the mirror now and my flaws are more obvious to me because I'm actually looking...make sense?..gosh..I don't think so...I better get to bed...long night at work..LOL. Take care my friends
Hugs,
Liv
Heh, I've always had a self-image problem, even way back when I actually used to look good; at least, other people said so.
I've also always hated mirrors, and avoided them at all costs, but lately I've been using the one in the bathroom to really look at myself. I look at my wibbly fat tummy, but instead of being disgusted, I'm imagining what it must have looked like when my waist was 10" bigger. I honestly don't know because I never looked, but I do know it had to have been a lot worse.
I'm also fascinated by my face. It's only just over a year ago that I was carded when buying ciggies (I'm 40 in a couple of months!), and I look at the wrinkles that have shown up since my face slimmed down. I can hardly believe how much more I look like my mother every day.... Now, I just need her body. She weighed 7 stone (98 pounds) wringing wet!
I guess I'm trying to overcome the denial I've been in for so many years. I mean, if I never see myself, I don't have to acknowledge myself, right? And look where that's got me. I'm learning to accept that I am who I am, and I'm even starting to love some of my quirks, like my eyes being odd sizes, and the scar on my back. It's not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.
I have very few pictures of myself at my fattest. It is hard to even find one. I do have one, and when I look at it, it is hard to believe I ever looked that bad! I have some at my thinnest too, and it is hard to believe I ever looked that good! But then I have a few from what I look like right now, and what I looked like just a few years ago when I was at my "thinnest" since getting fat. Some of those I like looking at. I see what I DID do and can do again.
And yet even in them I wasn't that thin. I looked ok in clothes, but forget it if you are talking about naked or in a bathing suit!
We just don't picture ourselves as we actually are. I have a very hard time believing I look as bad as I do when I check out the mirror. Still I don't usually check just for the flaws, I check for the improvements. Sometimes I see them, sometimes I don't. I prefer it when I can see progress.
There are days though when I can look in that mirror and even though I'm 20 to 40 pounds less than I was, I just can't see a difference. That is hard.
I was the queen of mirror avoidance, I once went for a day without noticing a rash on my face because I hadn't looked in the mirror!
I used to hate trying clothes on because not only did I have to admit that the sizes I picked up didn't fit any more, but the full length mirrors in the changing rooms just didn't do me any favours. The rest of the time I could block it out, but not near those mirrors.
Just like Ali....when I was thin, I thought I was fat. Talk about a bad body image. I don't know where or even when I started to have such a warped sense of self. Mirrors...well...like many here, I try to avoid them as much as possible.
I have that reverse body image thing, at my heaviest I thought I looked a few sizes smaller than I really was.
When I started this journey i turned into my own Dr Phil, and demanded total honesty. Every night I look in the mirror and try and connect with myself. This has been a great tool, especially as my body has started really changing and responding to weight training.
One of my biggest fears is not being connected with where my body has got to. That's how I managed to regain a significant amount of weight when I lost weight several years ago.
I have that reverse body image thing, at my heaviest I thought I looked a few sizes smaller than I really was.
I had this problem for a while too. I even bought clothes that I had to lie down to zip up. The change came last summer when I started to sweat underneath my fat rolls and started leaving sweat stains in my clothes . That forced me to take a looooong honest look in the mirror. I hadn't realized until then that I had been avoiding mirrors for so long that I had no idea what I really looked like. I still have a hard time looking at myself in full length mirrors. But it is a great motivational tool. I want my body to match my pretty face
I have that reverse body image thing, at my heaviest I thought I looked a few sizes smaller than I really was.
Exactly! I had the amazing ability of telling myself that I was a lot thinner than I actually was. Which really made everything worse, because when I did see a picture of myself, the shock was even worse, because pictures don't lie. I admit, I still have issues with this. Most group pictures I hide in the back, so all you see of me is the disembodied head. I think once I have lost more weight, and more people start to notice, I will be able to deal with it better.
I know what you mean. When I was at my heaviest, I avoided mirrors like the plague (and pictures too). Now I don't mind so much and sometimes I'll catch a glimpse of myself in a store window of something like that, and wonder if this thinner person I see is actually me. That's the wonderful thing about losing weight, it forces us to see ourselves from what we were and recognize how far we've come. It's really a good motivator.
I've never avoided mirrors. I think it was a pshyche thing or something. I just never saw how big I was. I don't know why! It's pictures, when I see a picture of myself or on video, then I see it. It's pictures that drive me to change. I've forced myself to do my before shots. I look at myself in the mirror all the time and I still don't see the big deal but I see a difference now that I'm losing and toning, so I don't know what that means!
I agree that photos are far harsher than mirrors. For a few years of my life, I had no idea that I was fat - my self-image was phenomenal. That is until I saw a photo of myself - tight t-shirt stretched over a ghastly fat-roll burying my belly button! That was the moment I decided to take action and lose the extra pounds I was ignoring.
To this day (60 pounds lighter and in the 'normal' weight range), I still fear that I'm fat and just don't know it. I feel fit and like what I see in the mirror, but I need photographic evidence. I'm too embarassed to ask my husband to take a picture for this, though!
Image problem??
I can hardly believe how much more I look like my mother every day.... Now, I just need her body. 
She weighed 7 stone (98 pounds) wringing wet!
I'm learning to accept that I am who I am, and I'm even starting to love some of my quirks, like my eyes being odd sizes, and the scar on my back. It's not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.
. That forced me to take a looooong honest look in the mirror. I hadn't realized until then that I had been avoiding mirrors for so long that I had no idea what I really looked like. I still have a hard time looking at myself in full length mirrors. But it is a great motivational tool. I want my body to match my pretty face 
I had the amazing ability of telling myself that I was a lot thinner than I actually was. Which really made everything worse, because when I did see a picture of myself, the shock was even worse, because pictures don't lie. I admit, I still have issues with this. Most group pictures I hide in the back, so all you see of me is the disembodied head. 
