[Windchime]

I went out with some friends on Saturday night. I was wearing my cute shirt, feeling like I looked good. Even got some attention from an old friend from high school.

Well the pictures are on Facebook today and I look FAT. Gahhhh. In one picture, the guy friend has his arm around my shoulder and I look chunky and big. Talk about discouraged! I feel like I was in denial all night long when I was feeling cute.

[lolcat]

Windchime,

I'm betting you DO look cute, and I bet you looked REALLY cute in that shirt!
I think your view of yourself is probably skewed, and your mind is not processing what you actually look like, but how you THINK you look. I know a lot of us think we're a lot bigger than we are, and I know I am the same way.

Plus, we tend to be the most critical of ourselves.

Anyway, you've lost what, 40 so far? That's awesome, you're doing a fantastic job.... and soon that cute shirt is going to be too big for you.

Hang in there!!!!

[Windchime]

Thanks, lolcat.....I lost 55, but then gained 15 back so even though I'm still 40 down, my mind is telling me that I'm back up to my all-time high weight.

But something good has come out of it. I've been telling myself that I've been trying to lose for weeks now, but really, I haven't been trying too hard. So just now I counted up today's calories. I'm 136 over my usual goal of 1600m which isn't too bad considering that I wasn't counting during the day. Wait. I forgot that I had a piece of birthday cake. Shoot. I'm way over.

Tomorrow I have a lunch with a friend that I haven't seen in months and we are going to Arbys. So I checked it out and found a 300 cal sandwich I can have there; I'll skip the fries and eat a nice big banana for my morning snack.

So I think I can get this back on track. But I sure didn't like that picture; it was a real disappointment.

[Cglasscock1]

If that guy had his arm around you, he must have thought you were looking cute! Try not to be so hard on yourself!
I do the same thing. I wonder if I will ever be satisfied with a photo even when I reach goal. We'll see. We all know the camera lies!

[Findmyself]

Don't worry Windchime.

I feel the exact same way. I took some webcam pics of myself, and I thought it looked really really good. That same evening (Saturday) we had a bbq at my house and some pictures were taken. I can't believe how big I look! I guess the low specs and lots of light helped with the webcam pics. I really thought that my current weight is starting to look 'normal'... But no, still big and red in the face with a double chin.

I am sticking to it this time - I am fed up disliking my pictures.

[170starting]

awww. I am sure you looked FAB!!! I know how you feel. I still cringe when I see pictures of myself...

I think we are our own worst critics. :/

[M0vingon]

No matter how you feel about the pictures from the weekend, just remember that you are a work in progress (as are we all)! Of course, it's one thing to be thinking negatively about yourself and quite another to think that everyone else is judging you as harshly- which they likely are not. Be kind to yourself!

[TXMary2]

You probably do look cute!! That said, I joke sometimes that I have reverse anorexia......because for years I looked in the mirror and didn't see that I was as fat as I was. Then I would see a photo and literally go into shock over how hideously large I really was. I am still struggling with this now. The 37 pound loss feels good, I am fitting into clothes I haven't worn in years (which incidentially are still "fat clothes") and so when I took a progress picture I was disappointed that I didn't look as good as I felt. I think those of us with food/weight issues just have skewed body images and warped thoughts on how we should look etc. Don't be too hard on yourself - seeing the picture dosn't change the fact that you had a good time and felt good!!

[Beach Patrol]

Windchime - I know exactly how you feel! -

I had family visiting over the weekend, a cousin I haven't seen in about 6 or 7 years, and his sons ages 9 & 11... and my aunt - my FAVORITE aunt! - well, I took them to a small aquarium we have at my work place, small - but very cool! - and I wore a little denim skort & a cute tank top - .....

...looking in the mirror before leaving, I thought "I look pretty OK for 180 lbs!" .... but OMG.... when we returned from the aquarium and I uploaded my digital photos.... ugh!!!! Not so cute... nope! not cute at all! - I just looked like a big ol' blimp!!! Supersized & all that!

But my aunt said I don't "look like" I'm 180 lbs... so that's kinda a compliment... still, I felt ... well, just like a cow.

And yet still... I was able to ENJOY THE PICTURES. Because I love my fam! And I realize that in 20 or so years, when my aunt is gone, I will totally appreciate that pic because of HER... regardless of *my* size.

[kestrel]

Originally Posted by TXMary2

You probably do look cute!! That said, I joke sometimes that I have reverse anorexia......because for years I looked in the mirror and didn't see that I was as fat as I was. Then I would see a photo and literally go into shock over how hideously large I really was.

This is exactly how it was for me! It took over 10 years for my mental picture of myself to catch up with the (much larger) reality. Then it finally caught up right around the time I started losing weight about 2 years ago. Once I dropped a good bit of weight my mind readjusted its mental picture back to a thinner me, and now that I have a good bit of pregnancy weight to lose again I'm back in picture shock mode.