"Until five years ago I had no idea I was fat, let alone grossly overweight. I was a busy working mum to two little girls, with a thriving career and a man I adored.
Life was good and although I knew I wasn't ultra-thin, after a life time of yo-yo dieting, I certainly didn't see myself as having a major weight problem.
When I looked in the mirror I saw an attractive face, with immaculate make-up and perfectly groomed hair. I always had manicured nails, wore gorgeous shoes and chose my clothes carefully."
Last edited by susiemartin; 04-22-2010 at 07:27 AM.
That's really interesting. A couple of people at work have told me lately how thin I and another employee are, and we're both actually at a 'healthy' BMI (and fit/active). I wondered if they didn't seem themselves as obese, with the one at the age of 28 or so, being very obese.
it's so true!! I always kept (and keep) my makeup nice, hair nice, nails nice, toes with nailpolish, never wore sweats outside **gulp** i hate that, the universal symbol for 'i give up' lol, so all i ever 'saw' was lookin' ok! a few pics from an office thing made me go Whhhhhhaaattt???? I was sitting next to my boss who's a BIG dude, about 6'4 and 250, and I WAS BIGGER THAN HIM lol makes you go hmmmmmmm
Ah, see I'm the strange one. Half of me knew and that half of me didn't feel worthy of nice clothes or make-up. The other half of me, however, did not know I was so fat. I never felt fat. There's an avatar around here of a tiny person trapped inside a huge body. That's me!! I am a tiny person inside here somewhere and that outer shell is simply that...a shell.
I guess I could look in the mirror and totally disassociate myself.
I honestly never really saw myself as fat either until I saw a picture of me and a friend of mine, she was nine months pregenant I was a LOT bigger than she was. When I saw myself and still see myself in the mirror I see a pretty girl. But in that picture that was the start of my life change for me.
Gosh, now. I'm just the opposite. When I first joined 3FC, I looked at a lot of before pictures and I always identified with the pictures of people who weighed 100 lbs MORE than me. I mean, I was definitely fat, but I imagined myself even fatter.
Now that I'm slimmer, I still imagine myself fatter.
I actually envy the people who felt good about themselves in spite of the weight. I think of you all as being the psychologically healthy ones.
Like ubergirl, I am the opposite. I always saw a fat person in the mirror. Even when I was in college and weighed 125. Now, when I look in the mirror all I can see is all that fat that is still on my body. I need pictures to be able to see the change in me.
When I weighed 278 pounds and was wearing shirts with food stains and black stretch pants with holes in the inner thighs, I looked in the mirror and saw about 235 pounds. I absolutely did not see the hugeness or how big I was.
After I lost 30 pounds the pictures shocked me. Even now I look at the 278-pound pics and my jaw drops. I do NOT remember looking like that. I do remember FEELING like that... the pain, exhaustion, inability to move... but I never saw it in the mirror.
And now at 214 pounds I am shocked at pictures of me at my current weight, how thin I look, because usually when I look in the mirror I still see morbidly obese. I see myself the way I look in pictures at 245 pounds.
Wow - I completely understand this article and used to joke with my friends that I had reverse aneorexia because I can't see myself as fat. My therapist actually told me that women who were thin growing up, and didn't gain weight until their 20s, would never see it. That is me!!!!! I KNOW I weight 260 pounds, I see it on the scales, but when I look in the mirror, I think I look darn good! I don't see the fat. I recently said if I did, maybe that would motivate me more to lose.
I love the fact that I don't have body issues (and so does my SO - he recently told me he's glad he never has to answer the "do I look fat in this" question). I love the fact that I'm confident in my appearance, but I wish for a second I could see how heavy I really am.
I gained all this weight in my twenties, and it took me a while to get used to it. For a long time I just thought I looked the same - even now I'll sometimes forget that I'm not thin anymore. I'm not so shocked when I look at pictures, but when I look in the mirror I always look better. I think it's because I don't have another person there to give me a sense of scale. If my husband is standing next to me and I look in the mirror I suddenly feel much bigger than if I'm standing there by myself.
Me Too! I Look In The Mirror & Don't See Fat
