I love this thread!

There is this weird out of body experience that happens when you look at a photo or video of yourself - and you remember feeling sexy and cute and thin- but really, according to the current proof, you are a bit chubby and frumpy!

It is like, you don't even know who you are anymore. What you thought you were was a lie!

It is such a dramatic feeling over something that is so unimportant - but it can really ruin your day or your week.

But, in all fairness, I have some skinny friends that have taken pictures where they appear to have a chubby face or an extra stomach roll. And one of the reasons that actresses are SO skinny is that the camera adds weight.

You know what, I've been there. I've been there even when I WAS at a heathly BMI and I DID look good. It's so funny, though, because now if I look back at those photos I have to admit that I was crazy because I looked AMAZING!

Even my wedding photos where I was about 15lbs above a healthy BMI I looked greats because I was dressed up and having the best day of my life. Plus my arms can be cropped out of some of them.


For me I am just trying to avoid photos like the plague at the moment. I do want to take photos when I reach 200 so then I can compare to my highest weight but beyond that I know that they'd be more discouraging than encouraging. Looking in the mirror is enough for me and seeing how loosely my clothes fits also helps!

Hey, lets not get down on ourselves. We really want to lose weight and get healthy for lots of reasons.BUT I find big women to be beautiful. Photos don't always reflect how people really look. In real life I don't find my friends who are large to be unattractive. And my DH still finds me attractive even at my highest weight, because attractive is so much more than how we look. Photos can only reflect how we look. I definitely have fat photos I don't like much.
I don't think you were "wrong" to feel good and confident with your weight loss. I bet people you love were happy to see you looking and feeling better. They surely thought you looked good.

I do think its true that there is some body dysmorphia, I "feel" skinny when I am hungry. It may be an adaptation to keep us from losing too much weight.

I really like this post.

I don't personally consider this body dysmorphia. I think body dysmorphia has more to do with how we see ourselves at the present time. I think all of us can look back at pictures and see how we look better or worse than we remember looking at the time. I look back at old college photos and think what a fool I was because dang, I looked good! And I look back at pictures of me from this july, 20 pounds heavier, and think...well actually I just think, wow, I've come a long way. I felt really good then and thin too, but I also knew I wasn't quite where I wanted to be. So it isn't any surprise that I look back and see a much heavier me than I felt at the time.

I have been healthy for a long time now. Coming down from a very unhealthy place, both mentally and physically, really puts things in perspective I guess. I dare say my fitness level put me in a healthy place right around the onederland mark which is still obese for my height by about 25 pounds. So the last 45/50 pounds have just been gravy.

I have sort of the opposite issue - I see pictures of myself and can't believe that I don't look anywhere near as big as what I see in the mirror. Unfortunately, it doesn't do a darn thing for my self-confidence, so I'm in the same boat. It's just backwards.

I've had the same experience. Was on a boat tour with my boyfriend and his tiny, tiny sister and her husband last summer. She had someone snap some pictures of us, and sent them to us later. I saw this unattractive, frumpy-looking woman standing next to my boyfriend and for a moment didn't even recognize myself. I looked so bad it made me sick - and to think that I thought I was looking good that day in a new outfit. I remember thinking that my BF was a really good egg to hang out with a frump like me.

Yes! This always happens to me. I feel like I look pretty awesome for a fat chick then catch my reflection in a store window and feel like a pig with make up =(

I refuse to be in photos and as a result have MAYBE a handful of pics of me and my children in the last 5 yrs. I don't want them to remember me fat.

I see it a little bit differently. My brother-in-law just lost 40 pounds he really couldn't afford to lose -- he was already pretty slender. It's extremely noticeable that he's lost weight. But was his weight an issue for me before? Did I sit around noticing fat and excess on him? No, it's just that he's lost an amount of weight that's very noticeable, and a certain amount of loss on anyone -- under, normal, or overweight -- is going to be noticeable -- that ratio just depends on how much weight that person can afford to lose.

I completely understand this!! I was home for the holidays and looking through my mom's photos on her computer. As we all know, moms take awful pics without a care in the world. I was appalled at how huge I looked when I thought I was so hot... ugh.

It's ok. It gives motivation to never let yourself get up that high in weight again, and something to think about when you're trying to decide whether or not to eat a cookie. WE can't control the fat pictures from the past but we CAN control fat pictures in the future.

Haha! I feel skinny when I am hungry too. Too bad being hungry doesn't actually make you skinny, because I am ALWAYS hungry.