Talk about warped self-image

[MissMillie]

This weekend my sister gave me a picture that she took of me in September, when I was 60 lbs. heavier.

You know, I have always been aware that I am not a small person, but to see myself in pictures is downright shocking. I guess when I looked at myself then I didn't see the person that the camera lens shows.

I mean, I apparently used to have this HUGE double chin. Is it really possible that I didn't notice it? How is that possible?

And where the &#@*$ were my cheekbones?

What makes us see (or not see) what is real in our own bodies?

[Wapsie B]

1. I try to see the good

in myself which makes me overlook being overweight. A picture however can be very dispassionate about things.

[LSdemocrat]

2. People have a way of seeing what they want to see

Of course pictures aren't necessarily a true representation of what things look like. The picture could have been taken at a strange angle or the lighting can also make make things appear to be a certain way that is misleading.

[yardwork]

3. Congratulations on losing 60 pounds!

I think that we always see, in our mind's eye, the size we were when we were growing up. I was always thin, and I still think of myself as thin, but the fact is that I am about 30 pounds overweight!

My husband was showing me photos he took of our visit to relatives at Thanksgiving, and I was shocked at how I look! Triple-chin, jowls, saggy arms. Yikes!

Time to take diet and exercise seriously.

Again, congratulations on losing all that weight!

[Midlodemocrat]

4. The main reason I always TAKE the pictures!! :-)

[Kali]

8. you got that right!

:P

[skygazer]

5. You can get dizzy thinking about it

Or sick. What's real? A mirror is a reflection but is it an accurate one? A photograph is like a mirror - but is it accurate too?

Years ago, I used to look in my mirror and see someone who was repulsively overweight. I was obsessed with it. I had a scale that measured half pounds and I'd agonize over every one of those half pounds.

The mirror, or my perception of the mirror, lied to me. By the time I came to my senses, I was borderline anorexic and it was very difficult for years afterward for me to eat properly without getting frantic about my weight.

I don't know what it is that causes us to see things differently than what they really are. But I do know that it's important not to let it rule your life. ;)

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. In your case it's called "positive bias"

and it's a sign of good self esteem. It's the same thing that makes guys suck their gut in and pose in the mirror and think that they look as good as they did in college. To see yourself as looking a little better than you really do is a good thing. Actually, most women have the opposite self image. They see themselves as looking worse than they really do.

Now, if you were looking at a scale and thought "Oh, 300 lbs. (just picking a number here) isn't THAT overweight", that would be called DENIAL, and that's NOT HEALTHY.

[MissMillie]

7. LOL.... can't say that I EVER

thought I was a healthy weight.... but I'm getting there! :bounce:

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. Well, I was at one time

actually, only 10 years ago, and I'm working on getting back there. Fortuantely, I have a 30 year high school reunion next summer, so that's a BIG motivator.