I know I'm a good 15 pounds overweight, but I can't help but feel like I'm a whale sometimes when looking in a mirror. Even after working out or eating a healthy, low-calorie meal, I still see that fat girl in the mirror.
Some days I wake up and think "WOW! I look great!" and other days I think "OMFG!!!". What I see can even change in a matter of minutes-like walking away and then returning to look again. I don't want to say I have bdd because I haven't done anything like starving myself or over-excersizing, but I still can't help but think I do based on what I've read/or heard, and what I see in the mirror. If you constantly see a fat person vs. your perception changing, is that body dismorphia? Or could it be both? I want to nip this problem in the bud before it could get serious. Any ideas or suggestions?

People with body dismorphia see a grossly fat person or really monstrously ugly person in the mirror all the time. They see the extremes of even very slight imperfections.

I don't think you have that from what you describe. I'm no head doctor but what you describe sounds like a normal pattern of thought. Everyone has days when they look in the mirror and feel fine, and on other days see every fault.

15 lbs is not a very large amount to be overweight at all. and you could easily lose that in a couple of months if you focus on it. I'd say avoid returning to the mirror or scales frequently, and simply concentrate on your regime. Don't linger in front of the full length mirror critiscising your body, just whip your clothes on and go.

Thank you!
I didn't want to think I had had it, and I most likely don't.
I'll try to stop the constant looking in the mirror problem. I don't want my habit to morph into actual an actual disorder.
I'll do my best to focus on me and my goal.
Again, much appreciated!

We all have fat days and days when we feel unattractive and gross. What makes body dysmorphic disorder different is that those feelings of being fat and gross and unattractive become crippling, overwhelming and obsessive. Also, people with BDD have no concrete perception of what they actually LOOK like, so they are constantly trying to figure it out, trying to reconcile what they see in the mirror with what they see in their head, or what they want to see, or what other people see.

I have BDD.

I’ve learned to handle it better, but there have been times in my life that it was a mild handicap. I lived my life in avoidance of mirrors and all other reflective surfaces because what I saw in them was enough to bring me to tears. At one point, all the mirrors in our house were covered with paper. We had them everywhere and I felt suffocated by my own reflection…it drove me crazy not to be able to walk through the living room or down the hall without seeing myself. There were times that I didn’t want to leave the house…and times that I actually didn’t, all because of my appearance.

You just have to keep a handle on it. It doesn’t sound to me like you have BDD, but I am also not a professional and it’s not my place to say. You have the power to control your thoughts, but it can be difficult. Most women don’t have an entirely accurate perception of their appearance…we have been trained to seek out our flaws and criticize ourselves endlessly. Make a conscious effort to say and think positive things about yourself…I believe in fake it till you make it. Find things to feel confident about and focus on those things. Don’t let the negative thoughts win the battle because once they do, it can be hard to pick yourself up again.

Good luck!

I wouldn't say I have BDD, but I have made a discovery most people never get to make.

As a thin young woman (late teens/early 20's) I did not see it. That's awfully darn common at that age. Then I gained 100 pounds and I still had a distorted image of myself, only the image in my head was WAY thinner than the woman I was presenting outside. Now, right around 175 pounds, my inner image finally matched my outer image. It was very surreal because for the first time in my life, I matched.

Now it's just starting to get out of proportion again, and I knew that would happen. Knowing makes it easier. I am smaller than the image of the person I see when I close my eyes. Apparently the image I hold of myself weighs 175 pounds. LOL!

BDD must be troubling because I know I finally felt like a whole, complete person for that brief time that I matched. I feel out of sorts when I do not match.

I think you're right. Because of the media and our own self issues, women have come to scrutinize their looks. And because I have such a neagtive perception sometimes, the image of myself becomes increasingly flawed. I've come to think of it not as BDD, but a depressive state of mind. I have been clinque-ly diagnosed as depressed since I was a child. And I can only attribute to how I feel to depression, since I do usually feel my self-esteem lowering everytime I look at myself.

I think it helps only having one mirror in my apartment. However, walking down the street and looking at my reflection in store shop window's or in a cars' side mirrors, I can't help but compare myself to what I use to be, and if I look any fatter from just a few minutes to a few hours ago. Recently, I have been starting to get paranoid with how people on the streets view me. I know that doesn't help me in my "be positive quest", but its defetly an issue with my everyday life. Again, I have been trying to look in mirrors less, but there's still that constant need to know how other people view me.

I'm am happy to say that I have yet to stay in the house because of how I feel. I know I have a job to go to and friends to see, so that helps me to push myself out the door. I wish you luck and happiness too. Its hard to let psychological and emotional issues not control us and our behaviors. We can only try our best to make ourselves happy.