i dont know if anyone can relate and i apologize but i had to rant about this, i have kept it in for way to long. yesterday i was looking at the newest glamour magazine and saw a few pages talking about swimsuits for your body type in which each girl with a bathing suit had their weight next to it. i was stunned and almost cryed when i saw pictures of women who weighed around or less than me.. they looked huged! i couldnt belive that i looked like that! now i dont know if it had to do with height but they looked pretty tall to me and im tall so i just pictured myself and compared myself and i freaked out. this isnt the first time this has happened. i watched as people on celebrity fit club weighed in and i just couldnt belive my eyes in knowing that i weighed more and they looked the way they did. i dont know if im just lying to myself or if my weight distributes differently than the pictures or people ive seen but i was shocked and still am, am i really that huge, its sad. i sometimes joke around with my mother in saying that those people are just inflated ballons lol and that we are tree trunks lol.

I know what article you are talking about! I have that issue. It is a little difficult to look at the pictures. I did, however, see some swimsuits that I want to purchase!

The only way to know is to actually look at pictures of yourself. Honestly, I think I look smaller than I do. When I look at pictures of myself, I say "do I really look that big?". Not to discourage you but often our picture of ourselves in our mind is different than if we looked at a physical picture of ourselves.

I totally understand, and it's very likely that you do look different than people who weigh the same as you. Height obviously comes into play, but so does the amount of muscle vs. fat, as well as just how you carry it. Some people can carry a lot of weight but don't look like it if it's more evenly distributed over their bodies, whereas others with the same # on the scale can look flabby.

I know for me.. I don't see how big I really am when I am actually looking in a mirror... it has to be a video or picture..

I know that many women who suffer from Anorexia, see fat on themselves when they look in the mirror that isn't there.. they think they are fatter than they really are.

I believe many women who are overweight yet have good self esteem.. actually have the opposite of this... I know when I look in a mirror, I see myself more like my mind's eye.. not myself in actuality.

I was just talking to a coworker who was complaining about her heaviest time being 1 pound heavier than I was 2 months ago at my heaviest time. I'm 5 foot 3 and she is 5 foot 10. That was a reality check for me.

I have not read the article, but I can relate.
It's not uncommon that people of the same height and weight look very different because of their weight distribution, bone structure, etc.
Take me for example, my coworker and I are both 5'4", somehow I look taller than she(because of my shorter torso). One of my co-worker is petite and full-figured, people often mistake her as much heavier than she actually weighs. So, there you go.

Honey...don't despair. Muscle makes all the difference in the world. If you have it and they don't, that is probably the reason. I have a co-worker who say's she's about 5 lbs less than me, but is about 2 sizes bigger than me. She doesn't weight train or have a significant amount of muscle. She's got about an inch on me too, which would normally be to her advantage, but not in this case. Keep building muscle and you'll have the edge on them all!

I hear you... I recently saw a picture of myself and didn't realize it was me- that girl was WAY too chubby!

I feel the same exact way! I feel a lot smaller then I look thats why it breaks my heart to look at pics of myself........... Or I'll pick up a pair of pants and go OMG those are huge they'll be way to big on me then I put them on and there tight!

heh i'd like to think that i see myself as bigger than i really am! hahaha

im guilty of loving my bathroom mirror - i can look in my bathroom mirror and feel great. then i catch a reflection in public and feel betrayed by my faithful mirror!

it always hits me when i hold up my jeans! if i hold up my pants and actually look at how LARGE they are - its my reality check!

I don't like to look in the mirror, because my mind had a different image than what reality shows. I would guess that self image has a lot to do with it. I am just keeping the faith that eventually reality will catch up with the more healthy, slimmer image of myself that I have in my mind.

I like to think I look like I weigh less than I actually do, at least with clothes on. Without clothes you see all the jiggle and cellulite and I can tell I still need to lose weight, but with clothes on I think most of the problems are covered. Of course when I was at my heaviest, 189 pounds, I still really didn't think I looked that big. When I look at photos of myself from then I cringe, and I can definitely see the progress I have made. I suppose if I hit my goal (ok, ok be positive, WHEN I hit my goal) I'll look at photos of myself from now and think I look chubby.

Oh, I just wanted to add that I thought each of the women featured in the 'curvy bodies' section were beautiful!