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Old 12-03-2010, 03:39 AM   #16  
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I love this thread!

There is this weird out of body experience that happens when you look at a photo or video of yourself - and you remember feeling sexy and cute and thin- but really, according to the current proof, you are a bit chubby and frumpy!

It is like, you don't even know who you are anymore. What you thought you were was a lie!

It is such a dramatic feeling over something that is so unimportant - but it can really ruin your day or your week.

But, in all fairness, I have some skinny friends that have taken pictures where they appear to have a chubby face or an extra stomach roll. And one of the reasons that actresses are SO skinny is that the camera adds weight.
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Old 12-03-2010, 07:59 AM   #17  
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You know what, I've been there. I've been there even when I WAS at a heathly BMI and I DID look good. It's so funny, though, because now if I look back at those photos I have to admit that I was crazy because I looked AMAZING!

Even my wedding photos where I was about 15lbs above a healthy BMI I looked greats because I was dressed up and having the best day of my life. Plus my arms can be cropped out of some of them.


For me I am just trying to avoid photos like the plague at the moment. I do want to take photos when I reach 200 so then I can compare to my highest weight but beyond that I know that they'd be more discouraging than encouraging. Looking in the mirror is enough for me and seeing how loosely my clothes fits also helps!
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Old 12-03-2010, 08:27 AM   #18  
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Default hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Hey, lets not get down on ourselves. We really want to lose weight and get healthy for lots of reasons.BUT I find big women to be beautiful. Photos don't always reflect how people really look. In real life I don't find my friends who are large to be unattractive. And my DH still finds me attractive even at my highest weight, because attractive is so much more than how we look. Photos can only reflect how we look. I definitely have fat photos I don't like much.
I don't think you were "wrong" to feel good and confident with your weight loss. I bet people you love were happy to see you looking and feeling better. They surely thought you looked good.

I do think its true that there is some body dysmorphia, I "feel" skinny when I am hungry. It may be an adaptation to keep us from losing too much weight.
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Old 12-03-2010, 08:33 AM   #19  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nola Celeste View Post
I've already felt a little bit of that and I'm not even down that many pounds yet (well, this time). I feel gorgeously thin, but let's face it, 220 pounds spread over a 5'2" frame is no one's definition of thin.

It doesn't negate the million-bucks feeling that you had then, though. Everything is relative--and you probably DID look way better in your "during" than in your "before," even if it was early in the process.

And video cameras do lie a little. Like still photos, they visually flatten things--that includes faces and bodies. They say the camera adds ten pounds, and it's true. If anything, it might be an understatement.

If you see someone you're used to seeing on TV or in movies in person, it's downright astonishing how small they really are in person. I was an extra in a crowd scene for "Runaway Jury" when it was being filmed here, and Julia Roberts--who looks slender and healthy to me in movies--was far thinner than she looked in the movie.

Don't think for a minute that you didn't look good then; you did. You just look even better now.
I really like this post.

I don't personally consider this body dysmorphia. I think body dysmorphia has more to do with how we see ourselves at the present time. I think all of us can look back at pictures and see how we look better or worse than we remember looking at the time. I look back at old college photos and think what a fool I was because dang, I looked good! And I look back at pictures of me from this july, 20 pounds heavier, and think...well actually I just think, wow, I've come a long way. I felt really good then and thin too, but I also knew I wasn't quite where I wanted to be. So it isn't any surprise that I look back and see a much heavier me than I felt at the time.

I have been healthy for a long time now. Coming down from a very unhealthy place, both mentally and physically, really puts things in perspective I guess. I dare say my fitness level put me in a healthy place right around the onederland mark which is still obese for my height by about 25 pounds. So the last 45/50 pounds have just been gravy.

Last edited by Eliana; 12-03-2010 at 08:34 AM.
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Old 12-03-2010, 08:47 AM   #20  
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I have sort of the opposite issue - I see pictures of myself and can't believe that I don't look anywhere near as big as what I see in the mirror. Unfortunately, it doesn't do a darn thing for my self-confidence, so I'm in the same boat. It's just backwards.
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Old 12-03-2010, 09:55 AM   #21  
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I've had the same experience. Was on a boat tour with my boyfriend and his tiny, tiny sister and her husband last summer. She had someone snap some pictures of us, and sent them to us later. I saw this unattractive, frumpy-looking woman standing next to my boyfriend and for a moment didn't even recognize myself. I looked so bad it made me sick - and to think that I thought I was looking good that day in a new outfit. I remember thinking that my BF was a really good egg to hang out with a frump like me.
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Old 12-03-2010, 10:18 AM   #22  
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Yes! This always happens to me. I feel like I look pretty awesome for a fat chick then catch my reflection in a store window and feel like a pig with make up =(

I refuse to be in photos and as a result have MAYBE a handful of pics of me and my children in the last 5 yrs. I don't want them to remember me fat.
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Old 12-03-2010, 08:24 PM   #23  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by krampus View Post
As many people have mentioned, having people compliment your losses or say "you can really tell you've lost weight" is a double-edged sword. While I'm pleased my work is being recognized, it hurts to know that they could see the fat/excess that I couldn't see.
I see it a little bit differently. My brother-in-law just lost 40 pounds he really couldn't afford to lose -- he was already pretty slender. It's extremely noticeable that he's lost weight. But was his weight an issue for me before? Did I sit around noticing fat and excess on him? No, it's just that he's lost an amount of weight that's very noticeable, and a certain amount of loss on anyone -- under, normal, or overweight -- is going to be noticeable -- that ratio just depends on how much weight that person can afford to lose.
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Old 12-05-2010, 07:41 PM   #24  
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I completely understand this!! I was home for the holidays and looking through my mom's photos on her computer. As we all know, moms take awful pics without a care in the world. I was appalled at how huge I looked when I thought I was so hot... ugh.

It's ok. It gives motivation to never let yourself get up that high in weight again, and something to think about when you're trying to decide whether or not to eat a cookie. WE can't control the fat pictures from the past but we CAN control fat pictures in the future.
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Old 12-05-2010, 07:59 PM   #25  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fatmad View Post
I do think its true that there is some body dysmorphia, I "feel" skinny when I am hungry. It may be an adaptation to keep us from losing too much weight.
Haha! I feel skinny when I am hungry too. Too bad being hungry doesn't actually make you skinny, because I am ALWAYS hungry.
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