Photos surprise me. Because I've done my fair share of modeling, I just assume I'm very photogenic and therefore am really NOT as attractive or as thin as I am in photos
Sometimes, I'll catch a glance of myself in the mirror and I'll be very surprised at how thin and fit I look. But for some reason, I still think I look like I could stand to lose a few pounds. And when I see other women who wear the same size as I do, I think, "Oh, no way. She is SO much thinner than ME!"
I don't know if my body image will ever catch up to my weight loss. I think I look "normal sized" which is a **** of a lot better than FAT or chunky, but I know in reality I wear sizes that I would normally associate with "skinny" people and I can shop at "skinny" places.
There is no way for me to get an accurate idea of what I look like. I even think that I look thinner on VIDEO CAMERA than I must look in real life, when in reality, video camera adds 10-20 pounds! I'll never win; I keep denying the fact that I actually have a decent body
I actually saw a photo of myself recently and really thought "wow is that me?" it is crazy. I was actually smaller than someone else in the photo and looking at the person, I thought I was bigger. I really do see myself still as a 300 lb woman.
Although I look in the mirror now and don't recognize myself
Good to know that I'm in with a good crowd. I have no idea what I look like either. I catch myself sitting in church, in a meeting, in a mall, looking around at women and trying to decide where I fit in the scheme of things. Am I smaller than her? Am I bigger than her? Maybe she's my size. And, no, I'm not judging, I'm just trying to find someone who may be my size.
Like Meg said, a photo really is the best way. Remember how most of us were surprised to see how heavy we were in photos before we lost weight? Seeing it in print was a real eye opener for me. I always used to think that it was a bad angle, bad lighting, bad colors - anything that could add 150 lbs. I still have that problem in reverse. Now I think that it was just extra good angling, lighting, etc.
Heather, I love your idea too. I'm going to hang around the size 12s this weekend and see what the women look like there.
I've never actually tried to see what other women that wear my size look like compared to me although I haven't worn plus size clothing in a while but I still get nervous being in the misses section. I always figure someone is going to say "your sizes are over there" or think I'm buying for someone else and can't believe it when I go into the dressing room. It is actually one reason that I buy a lot of clothes online, much easier that way.
I have a hard time with body image for a couple of reasons. Since I was obese for pretty much all my life (right now, I weigh what I weighed in 5th/6th grade), the "fat girl" mentality is definitely set in. Also, I work on a college campus, and I think that that will skew anyone's vision of what's "normal." I stopped going to the campus gym (which was about $30 a month cheaper than the Y where I go now) because I was going crazy being on a treadmill next to a 100 pound, 18 year old!! I've been at this weight for about 2 1/2 years, but photos still surprise me. Also, I was shocked to learn at Thanksgiving that I could wear some of my "skinny" sister's clothes (the tops at least!).
I still see a 250lb girl when i look in the mirror...
I have lost an amazing amount of inches since restarting my journey and really only losing 10lbs (go exercise!) and i often find it hard to believe i'm a size 12.
I maintained at 210-200 and a size 16/14 for so long but i still see someone much larger in the mirror...
yesterday while doing laundry I actually accidentally put one of my newer pairs of jeans in the pile with my boyfriend's work pants because the waist was so small they couldn't possibly be mine (he's 6' and quite slender)
I've accused stores or having trick mirrors before because I can't possibly be this small.. but at the SAME TIME.. I see people who wear the same size as me and I think "i am definitely smaller than so and so" and then i'll find out that so and so weighs 20lbs LESS that i do, or more. I know that part of that is fitness and body shape.. but what is wrong with my brain? I guess we are all going through similar things, and are having very similar experiences but when does it all end? never?
what am i going to do when i get to goal?? I see where all of you are coming from.. I am not a fan of the camera - I wasn't even when I was slimmer, so i don't have many pictures to go by..
I definitely don't have an accurate idea of what I look like. This really occurred to me the first time I bought something in a size small. I bought size small running shorts and I told my sister this -- she said, "Well, you're really small in the hips and butt now." I laughed my head off, and I still don't believe that. But still -- the fact that I have a few items of clothing that say "small" is kind of crazy to me. Most of my stuff says medium or large, but even that is still hard to get used to. And the single-digit sizes? So weird.
LisaMarie - The exact same thing happened to me. I bought some size small exercise pants...and several size small shirts...and every time I look at the tags I think to myself "heavens, these sizes run so big!".
It takes time for your brain to catch up to your eyes, due to the way our brains all work. It's called pattern recognition, and it is a fairly well-studied idea about how our brains work. See, when you see something, you are only really seeing the outlines/general shapes of it. Your brain fills in the rest from memory. This happens in mirrors too. Since you see yourself daily, your brain has a well-locked idea of what "you" are, and if you've been heavy a long time, your brain sees your outline, says "oh, that's me!" and fills in the image in your perception with your heavier self.
It takes a long time to change what our brain fills in the pattern with, and it happens slowly. Right now, I see myself in the mirror as I imagine I looked at about 200 lbs...or, approximately, a year ago.
Incidentally, this is why photos can be so revealing, both in terms of weight LOSSES and in terms of weight GAINS (how many of us started when looking at a photo, thinking, "there is no WAY I can be that big!!"). Our brains don't do the same pattern recognition with a photograph (It is smaller, certain details are blurred, etc), so we see closer to reality than when looking in a mirror.
Sadly, photos don't work for me either. Again, I DO see that I am smaller, but I just can gauge "just how small". Photos are too flat. I think I need dimension. Oh, I don't know what I need.
But I never got an accurate feel of what I looked like when I was overweight, I always thought I looked way worse in the pics then in person. Now, I think I look better in the the pics then in person - sometimes.
I really find this whole concept interesting because I have the exact opposite problem. I think of myself as much much smaller than I really am. Seeing myself in pictures or clothes shopping is always something of a shock. Maybe this is because I rapidly gained a large amount of weight? I have been overweight since I was about 9 or 10, but I gained an additional 75 pounds in under 2 years. Another strange thing about my thinking....when I've been on-plan for a few days, I feel so much thinner..even though there really hasn't been time to lose any real inches.
My friend recently filmed me for a project - WOW, an eye opener. I've gained recently, and it made me face it. I also sound really different than I thought I did. Video made much more of an impact than photos
Oh wow! finally a bunch of people who have similar problems to me
After loosing over 160lb i have been struggling to adjust my internal body image to match the outter. I still pick up clothes at the shop and think 'nah no way that will fit' only to find them too big. I try and compare myself with others to get an idea on what size i am comparitively also but often because im heavier (i lift weights & am very athletic) and height differences it just doesnt work.
Ive even got to the point where i would walk up to total strangers and ask them their clothes size to get an idea what i was compared! (much to the amusement of my better half and kids) :O
Also i find it hard to judge just how much of the leftover weight is excess skin. The skin has a layer of fat beneath it and that confuses it even more. So ive gone with the body fat % mark now (which i need to do again soon also) which is probably about 20% at a guess.
I totally look at what sizes people are picking up. I wear a smaller size, but I am always disappointed at how I look in pictures. I seem to look squat and not at all what I see in the mirror or feel when I run my hands down my body.
lol I have that with pictures now also. I sat with a camera once day trying to figure out what looks good and what i was happy with.
I eventually decided that me standing somewhat on a diagonal so you get my front and side more seems to look good so i try and 'assune the pose' now whenever i see a camera
Also i find it hard to judge just how much of the leftover weight is excess skin. The skin has a layer of fat beneath it and that confuses it even more.
Yep, I know what you mean. I don't wonder so much about the weight of the excess skin as I do the bulk of it. I think alot of the "bulk" on my thighs is skin, but it's hard to tell, and it's not going anywhere....
I still have that problem in reverse. Now I think that it was just extra good angling, lighting, etc. 
