Perspective. How you see yourself and how others see you - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

jitterfish · 08-25-2011, 10:19 PM

So this site allows you to enter your weight, height and other things like clothes sizes (all optional) and will then give you images of other women (sorry no guys) who have those measurements.

Interesting I looked at it thinking wow they look so much better than me, until a friend said no you look the same. At first I thought she was being nice, then I pulled up a pic and went wow yeh I do look the same. My perspective hasn't changed yet, I'm still seeing myself as the fat girl I was (ok I'm still fat, but not as fat!).

Then I looked at girls with my goal stats. Motivation!

http://www.mybodygallery.com/news-and-info.html

kelly315 · 08-25-2011, 11:02 PM

I love this site. It helped me to realize that my old goal weight (130) didn't reflect what I actually wanted to look like, so I jumped it up to the 140s. My only problem with it is that there are a lot of women who put themselves in the hourglass shape category (wishful thinking) who are far from hourglasses. It makes it harder to compare and contrast. But for the most part, it's a great motivator!

bellastarr · 08-25-2011, 11:13 PM

cool site, thanks for sharing

jitterfish · 08-26-2011, 04:08 AM

I have no idea what body shape I am - too much fat hiding the shape -LOL- I think pear, guess I'll have to wait to find out!

whiningawayxz · 08-28-2011, 11:53 AM

I like that site. What was interesting was that I didn't actually see that much difference on a 20lb loss--which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I thought the women in all three groups (140s and 130s and 120s) looked good. There were differences obviously, but I think I was surprised by how subtle--since these changes are much more noticeable when you are looking at your own body. And like you, jitterfish, I also thought the girls in my own weight/height range looked much better than me, but I think that's a bit of dysmorphia.

Aileen · 09-05-2011, 05:08 PM

There was nobody with my stats! LOL Although it's funny, this happened to me yesterday when I was looking at the before and after pictures here. There was a girl who was the same height, 3lbs less, stats were all within half and inch of mine (some up, some down) and she looked damn good while I look like a fat cow. How is that possible? I asked. Perspective right? What do you do to fix that really? It's actually a little scary because I've been everywhere from 125lbs to 215lbs as an adult and I felt fat and gross at each weight and every weight in between. Scares me a bit because I really hope that this time when I get close to my goal weight (anything under 130lbs) that I'll be able to look at myself without calling myself every name in the book.

lilmommajnn · 10-15-2011, 02:30 AM

So this begs the question....how do we fix what's in our head? How do we reach the point when we can see ourselves as we really are?

yoyoma · 10-15-2011, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiningawayxz

I like that site. What was interesting was that I didn't actually see that much difference on a 20lb loss--which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I thought the women in all three groups (140s and 130s and 120s) looked good. There were differences obviously, but I think I was surprised by how subtle--since these changes are much more noticeable when you are looking at your own body. And like you, jitterfish, I also thought the girls in my own weight/height range looked much better than me, but I think that's a bit of dysmorphia.

I find it interesting too, and I think it goes to show how muscle/tone is more important than ten or twenty pounds once you are a healthy weight. I was looking at a twenty pound range as well, and a soine of the lightest had more belly than many of the heavier (who were often depicted in running shorts, etc).

I also don't think I look as good as the folks at my own weight, but I think I am older than any of the pictures I saw and since I've lost a fair bit of weight, I've got some sagging going on and I think folks who were motivated to post pictures there generally don't. I wish they'd add an age range filter, but then I probably wouldn't have any pics in my range.

StephInLA · 10-19-2011, 01:50 PM

This site was really helpful - thanks. My husband has recently been asking me to stop losing weight because I've gotten really firm/toned and he thinks I've lost a "womanly" feeling when he holds me. He also says I look too skinny. He likes me to be soft and squeezable. I can feel his point (my stomach, legs and back are hard!) but I still thought I looked big. I took a look at the photos and realized that I'm not big at all - in fact I'm probably just lean and thin with big boobs/butt. I wish I could find a photo of a woman with my measurements because like Kelly315 says, it's difficult to find a true hourglass - I'm 38-27-37. I suspect that I have a little bit of body dysmorphia because my skin is flabby and loose and this makes it difficult for me to appreciate my actual size since I'm focused on how my skin and stretchmarks make me feel versus how I actually look in clothing.

Although I'd love to have new, smooth, tight skin...it's obviously not a big deal. My skin is not bad, but it's not something I'd show off in a bikini. My husband says my loose skin is the softest part of me. He says it gives him something to hold on to (gross perhaps, but true).

Thanks for the site. I feel better now. Turns out I'm not fat anymore...

...probably not even chubby!

speedy2697 · 11-29-2011, 08:06 PM

I think its hard for most of us to realize what we actually look like. I had lost about a 100lbs before and felt fatter at the lowest weight than I did at the highest. Probably why I was able to put it all back on plus some! I really think if I carried around an accurate picture in my head of what I do look like it would help me make healthier choices. The website you mentioned might be a good way to keep a reality check other than carrying around a photo of myself in a bathing suit. No one wants too see that!

InsideMe · 11-29-2011, 08:17 PM

I'm on this site! LOL There aren't many my height and weight that wear my size, but I do compare sizes over weight and it does help to put things into perspective.

ChickieChicks · 11-29-2011, 09:21 PM

I like that sight, but my body never matches up to the women posted on there with the same stats. I am 129 right now and I look more like the ladies around 115, which DRIVES ME CRAZY. It's all in my head, obviously, but also annoying to feel small and see a "high" number on the scale!

sabri711 · 12-03-2011, 04:47 PM

and I have a new addiction.. I think I spent the last 30 minutes looking at photos of ladies my height at different weights...