Do you picture yourself being bigger or smaller than what you are or is your body image pretty accurate?

I have a horrible self-image. I always see myself bigger/fatter. It makes me feel so good to hear people say otherwise, but when it's my husband I tend to not believe him for some reason. It's annoying for everyone, me too.

Ya, I don't believe my husband either b/c I figure he HAS to say I'm tiny, or he'll be sleeping alone. LOL

I think I've got a very distorted body image, but I don't know. I look down at my legs and still see FAT...I still see lots of fat on my stomach, arms, etc...BUT I think I can't possibly be as fat as I see myself b/c of what the scale says. Course when I was fat, I didn't think I was as fat as I actually was...I always used the excuse that it was just the clothes I had on making me LOOK fat. LOL

Basically, yes I think mine's very distorted.

LOL! you guys sound like me. I wish I could stop it. I don't believe my husband either. I think he has to say that.

My body image is pretty accurate. But I've never been more than 20 lbs. over "ideal" weight, and I like being muscular as opposed to slim. I look great right now and am only trying to get down to 130 to be able to gain a bit back at Christmas.

I think I will always bounce around between 130 - 133 and I'm absolutely fine with that. The only time in my life I felt fat was when I was up to 150 lbs with a 42" butt.

DH thinks I look great and he loves my butt - my "biggest" feature!

Dagmar

I think my body image is pretty realistic.

There are days I think I look smaller and days I think I look bigger, but I know what I look like on a whole.

Treighsie - I totally understand the not believing people close to you. Friends/family can say you look great and it's so hard to believe. Which is just plain stupid of course.

I have small bones. I think my ring size is about a size 4. I wear children's watches on almost the smallest setting and I can't wear women's hat as they are huge on my tiny pea head. That's why I think I will be ok at 120-125

Bigger. That's why I like looking at pictures cause I look smaller than what I think I am. I am wedding singer, and they taped this audition we made for some clients and I was looking at the tape and thinking "wow, I look quite good" lol. My body image always improves when I exersize.

I see myself as about ... 28lbs bigger than I ACTUALLY am, I'd say. It drives people mad!

Emily
xxx

My SO simply doesn't give compliments (sigh) and he definitely doesn't give them if doesn't believe they are true. So on the rare occasion that he does actually say something nice about how I look, I have no trouble believing that he thinks I look good.

The problem is that the opinion I care most about is my own, even if it's clear to me that others can't see the flaws that I can see. So while it's nice to get the compliments, it doesn't really change how I feel about myself.

I've been at my current weight for about a year now, but in my mind I'm still 30 lbs heavier. I spent most of my life overweight and it's just going to take a while for my mental picture of myself to catch up. So I spend a lot of time looking in mirrors to reassure myself that I'm still thin.

I TOTALLY agree. I'm about a size 10 now but I feel way bigger than that. When I look in the mirror, I see about a size 20. It's terrible!! Everyone says I look fantastic, but I never believe them. When guys hit on me, I'm like you have got to be kidding me! Hahaha.. I've been at this for about 2.5 years but it's still hard to see myself as what I am....

I posted in this thread that I was absolutely fine with 130-133 as my maintenance weight.

I think I will drop that to 127 -129 . There's just some sort of huge psychological thing about being in the 20's rather than the 30's. And the hot dresses fit just that little bit more .

I have to stay just under 130 though, or I won't be able to control the dogs. No worries about me being too skinny. DH will help with that - he's already wailing about my butt disappearing. I sense chocolate on the horizon .

Dagmar

Dagmar, are you reading my mail about the 20-30 thing? I feel good and look good at 130 but 128 sounds SO MUCH lighter!!!!!

It's so true. We all get the basic mechanics of dieting - they're simple. Eat less, move more, lose weight, yes?

I think the most complicated things about dieting are motivation and psyching yourself. The 20-30 thing is definitely a psych. Two lbs. do not make that much difference (unless you're a cat - I'm speaking from experience here) to the body but the head, the head is so much happier in the 20's.

Dagmar

Absolutely true! 128 here I come.