Size pictures and body dysmorphia

[vinesqueen 2]

This has been kicking around in the back of my brain for a while. I know that we have so many people who simple don't have a clue what they look like. For some of us we can't see how much weight we've lost. I think partly because in our head we are still gi-normous, while in other cases we don't see it because we live with it. It's hard to notice change when it is incremental.

I would like to propose a series of threads that show what people look at different sizes. I've never seen anything like this anywhere, so this is why I'm proposing it here. I think this would be very powerful and invaluable for people moving down the size chart.

I also know that size is independant of weight, so I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to post weight too so that people can understand the range of weights that are possible at that size.

What do y'all think?

[Jessiebear 2]

Sounds like an awesome idea to me! But I will need some tutoring on listing pics! LOL!

[Rae 2]

Sounds like a good idea to me. I am one who has a hard time seeing the weightloss. I guess because I see myself every day. The other day when I sent my starting and now pictures to Crystal, she came back and said "holy cow", that made a big difference to me in how I looked. I usually do not have a picture taken very often but would be willing to try this new thread.

[vinesqueen 2]

Why yes Jack, I believe that is definately another NSV!

[DevilMayKare 1]

I WISH I had a pic of my butt at all it's various stages, but honestly I couldn't bear to look at it!!

There was a layout of Oprah just like this in one of the rag mags awhile ago. I bought it just to do exactly as you said--relate to the different sizes. What struck me MOST about those pics tho was her drastic yo-yoing over the years. I sure hope she's able to stay where she is now.

Which reminds me of years ago when Liz Taylor wrote a book after a weightloss. I read that book and found it very inspiring. About a year later I was standing in a grocery line and there her returned fat body was displayed on the cover of the Inquirer with something like: "Elizabeth gains back 100 pounds!!"

I just started crying. Standing there in the grocery line I started sobbing in empathetic pain for Elizabeth Taylor. And also I thought to myself, "If the most beautiful woman in the world, with all her money and help cannot keep off fat...what the hell makes me think I can??"

And the real lesson is, it doesn't matter who you are, if ya got the fat genes you've still got to slay the deamon on your own. Beautiful people, rich people, smart people all have to be hungry like you and me if they want to be thin people too.

[Zoe 6]

Hi Crystal -- I like the theory behind your idea, but I can see one problem with it. Clothes sizes are wildly inconsistent. A Lane Bryant 14 equals a Liz Claiborne 16 equals an Old Navy 18. Most of us need only look in our own closets for evidence! That said, maybe those of us who've posted on the "before and after pictures" thread should include something about the sizes we're wearing in the pictures. Even an approximation can help overcome body dysmorphia. Whether you're wearing a 14, 16, or 18 hardly matters if you're still thinking of yourself as a size 2 or 28. And it helps to know heights, too. Someone five feet tall might be upset at having a 30-inch waist, but it sounds great to me.

[vinesqueen 2]

Gee, I'm 5'5" and I think a 30" waist would be devine!

I hadn't thought about sizes being weird. hmmm, I'll have to think about this more.

[PinkMary 3]

Good Idea! count me in!

[the best me 6]

I love this idea...I actually do this when I see pics of folks. And I check out the stats if they are there, height, weight, etc. It IS odd, because I can see someone in a size 20 or 22 who takes up lots less space than me in my 18/20's. Shape has alot to do with it. As does style (what little I have anyhow) since I don't do tight very well. So I'm likely to buy a larger size and be more comfy letting it get baggy as my weight drops.

Anyhow, I'd love to see what size 18 (or whatever) looks like on many different people and would be willing to post my pics and measurements, all of it. Let's do it, ya'll!

[NJChick 3]

I like this idea too.

Weather my weight is 200 or 160, I still wear a size 16 jeans. Go figure (haa no pun intended).

I'm now a size 22/24

[LilAngel 0]

Odd. I just had a similar conversation with a good friend this weekend. She is 5’9” and her largest weight was 170. I, of course, wish I were 170, but I respect that, as someone who had self-esteem issues already, this was still devastating for her. The good thing, however, was that she was pretty healthy and athletic and able to just hit the gym and lose the weight. She is also one of those odd sorts who naturally have a will of steel and is very disciplined with her food choices. She is now 137 lbs and a nice size 8. Yet, she cannot see that she is attractive. Imagine that, a size 8 and such a tiny waist! She said she has given up on seeing herself as thin. She decided just to believe what people tell her and go completely on that. Otherwise, she knows she is an anorexic disaster just waiting to happen.

After all of that, I thought “Won’t that be a kick in the a$$. I will finally get down to a size 10 and still hate myself.” I don’t know that I will ever get down to a size like that, but when I look back at pictures of me at 140lbs, 150lbs, and sizes I dream about now, I remember that I was horrified with my size even then. Heck I remember even thinking I had a “fat belly” when I was a very small child. Sad part is that I was incredibly underweight at that age. What a head case. Can counseling really help with this? Is this what anorexics are coached through in counseling but they just handle it differently? How can we ever see what we are? How will we be happy? What causes this phenomenon? I didn’t even watch TV as a young girl. Is it really the media? I don’t know.

These are questions I think a lot of us deal with. I guess I am just hoping to do what my friend does…just listen to everyone else and try not to become an obsessed mess. Not the loftiest goal in the world, but a start. I would love to hear from others on this idea of body image for more perspective.

Thanks.

[Marimaru 7]

I like this idea, but another thing that I'm doing is, when I get down toward the smaller sizes, I'm going to have my sister point out to me other people close to my size. I did the same for her and she was totally amazed (and she had 20 lbs to lose at the most ever). I think it will be helpful when I get there. I'm at a size 16 now and 225 lbs, and when I look at a picture, I see the difference, I even see a difference in the mirror, but I don't see the difference when I compare myself to other people. And I don't see the difference when I look down at my body, if that makes sense.

[vinesqueen 2]

That makes perfect sence Sarah! Other people have said the same thing. That they can tell the difference in pictures, but not live. I think Alex said she needs to have a group pix for her to tell.

[Kelliebelly 13]

Ughhh I am the same. I know this sounds terrible but when I go down the street etc and see a large person I compare myself...like if we are sitting in chairs I will look to see how much room is on either side of their thighs in the chair. I have never told anyone that and it actually sounds abnormal saying it outloud, well typing it anyway. I cant help it...I dont think I will ever think of myself as anything other than fat.

[vinesqueen 2]

Fat was never about hating myself. Fat was/is about protection. Not gonna be date-raped if I don't go on dates.

Shit! okay, that was increadably powerful, now I have to go cry.