When I look in the mirror vs real life

When I look in the mirror I still see a size 16/18, 1X.  My clothes now state size 10 or a Medium.  I can't make the mental connection yet.  I still see a fat girl even when I know I'm not.  I hope that changes in the future.

I can so relate to that. I still see the same fat person in the mirror as well even though my clothes tell me way differently. I ave heard this is very common and eventually our minds will catch up woth our bodies.

I think it took me almost a year to see myself as the size I was. Even to this day (4 1/2 years) when I fold my laundry my jeans look WAY too small, but they aren't!!

Martha 

I'm 4 months out and down 75 lbs. I have a goal of 215 lbs and still weigh 339 lbs, but it's so funny how we see ourselves. I never saw myself as I was. I always thought that I looked o****il I saw pictures. Now everyone is commenting to me about how I'm looking so much smaller and I don't see it at all. I now see a disgustingly fat girl in the mirror.

That optical illusion was the hardest part of this entire journey for me! I could look at the size of my clothing and logically know my size, but my reflection always looked like the bigger me. I felt like I had no idea what I was looking at.  I went to counseling for this, I learned that I hadn't looked at myself as a whole for like 20 years. When I was obese, I didn't look at my reflection, only bits and parts at a time, and I would never look at photos, I would hit delete, or rip the photo to not see how large I had gotten. So now, looking at myself as a whole person for the first time in a long long time, no kidding I'd have no clue what I was looking at. Thank goodness I can see my reflection now for the most part, but I do still have moments of thinking, what the heck am I looking at! I find it so much easier to understand my size by looking at photos without my head... It helps me block the denial trigger. 

Thanks MissCalla for posting. This lets us know to look at ourselves in a different way - as a WHOLE person. Make a lot of sense!

It's actually quite a common problem with people in general.  I remember a psychologist saying that if you wanted to confront an anorexic never put them in front of a mirror, take a picture.

The way our brain registers a mirror image is not the same as when it registers a photograph, despite them both being, for all intents and purposes, the same type of 2D image.  I totally still see a size 28 from time to time despite the fact that I'm down to a 16 now.

Take lots selfies and look at them, they may help you retrain your brain to remember what you look like now :) 

Congratulations on your journey!!!!

I have to say if you are having trouble seeing yourself as the new smaller person take a pair of your old pants (hopefully you kept at least one pair to remind you of where you had been) and put them on and look at yourself in the mirror and see the huge difference.  I have found it's helped me see the "Smaller me" rather than let my head trick me into thinking I was still the fat girl.