urgh just saw a picture of me taken at the weekend

Hey so i have lost 50 pounds since the beginning of the year. I am 5ft 7 and started off weighing 182 pounds and i now weigh 132 pounds and i am a size 6 sometimes a 4 very occasionally lol. This weekend i went to a wedding and my mother in law wanted to show me thie pictures i am in. I so wish i didnt because to tell you the truth i look chunky. With a bmi of under 20.5 how is this possible? I seriously had the urge to rip them up and it was all of them that looked this way. I was trying to put in my head that the camera adds 10 pounds but everyone else looks the same as they do in real life grr. I exercise 5 days a week, weight train and now i feel worse than ever sigh. Does anyone else feel that they have been doing so good then have a setback that makes them feel really bad about themselves? I hate photographs now never again lol they are damaging to my mind.

I am my own worst critic isn't everyone though?  You look great!! I have lost about 50 pounds this year and i still "look" fat in pictures even though i have lost that much but i am shorter than you and was heavier than you too.  Im sure the picture wasn't as bad as you think it was.  I am just not photogenic so i DO run and hide when the camera comes out.  You only have one picture up so i cant really tell you anymore than that but your profile pic you dont look fat to me just my 2 cents worth.  Try to focus on getting healthy and not worrying about what you look like because to me if you focus too much on the appearance i would be worried about developing an eating disorder too.  Could you maybe get some pictures together of when you WERE heavier then put the pic you hate (the one your talking about) and put them side by side im sure you will see difference. 

Clarice

honestly i think its all in your head. you are a size 4/6 which is great! :) you just have to believe it yourself. Even when i myself was at an unhealthy weight i was never happy w / myself, you just gotta work on your self esteem, good luck!!!

God! I feel like that too! I lost 30lbs and no matter what I did I still looked fat in pictures, but I'm very very very far from fat actually I have a 18.5 BMI, almost underweight. And I have a flat tummy [I finally achieved my goal!] so it can be the position you were in the picture or the fact that you may be big boned or medium boned, just love yourself the way you are, you can't change yourself anyway. Plus in the picture you look gorgeous!

Good Luck!

wow my goal is the flat tummy too i know what you mean though ladies its probably a case of learning to love myself flaws and all. I think the problem is the bride is so skinny and she lost the weight in a very unhealthy way of not eating. I was talking to my boyfriend about it last night and he said wouldnt it be great if you could just tell your body to lose the weight from your stomach and your face. I was so annoyed lol to me that said you still need to lose weight from there as those are the places i am most paranoid about. At least this has motivated me to work out even harder thats one good thing i suppose.

I thought of a motto to tell myself last night that might help you when you get down..

"be proud of yourself, relax, and start living!"

and my b/f is absolutely no help in motivating comments.. he says stupid stuff too that make me think.. hmm.. .maybe I need to do this that or the other thing.. but in reality, guys are so basic and simple-minded (not to be taken offesively, that's actually quite good that they don't overthink things!) that he was probably just commenting b/c you may comment on your face and stomach.. ya know? I don't think he meant you needed to lose more weight, just maybe saying in a weird guy version, you can't spot reduce so stop trying ;)

and, your weight now is my goal weight!! how frequently do you lift weights? I'm at 136 now and also fit into a 4/6 and I think when I get to 132-133 like I want, I'll be a solid 4. I lost 2" from my waist and 4 lbs by increasing my weights.. and I didn't get bulky... lol

I hate pictures too.. maybe try posing different to accent your favorite parts :) I know I keep my arm away from my side b/c pictures catch my "giant" upper arms otherwise.. lol. I usually put my hand on my hip and then my arms look ripped! Look up some different posing tricks online and start tryin them out! also, sometimes I feel like since I'm so tall (5'7" also) that when I hunch to get group pics with girls 5'2" it makes me look funny.. I bend at the knees instead of bending at the waist and it sort of helps... ha..

AND you look great!!!! :D

aw thanks thats very nice of you to say yeah i think that men just don't operate their brains when they actually talk. He told me today not to lose any more weight but i am doing this for me not for him. I try and lift weights 3 times a week but to be honest i hate it i do a lot of stability ball training, lunges etc as well though to try and make up for it. I guess it will probably take me at least another 5 pounds to get to size 4 as that is where i want to be as well. Maybe now though i should concentrate on more free weights and try and get heavier losing 2 inches from your waist is great if i could lose one more i would be amazed. I am a typical apple shape so the fat is clinging on there for dear life right now :S

R you curvy at all?

I am a healthy weight/bmi, but I have hips and a chest and i usually end up looking bigger in pics AND depending on the clothes I'm wearing b/c i have curves. So if your curvy, sometimes in pics you might look bigger than u are b/c of the curves.

just my 2 cents...

good point yes i am a little curvy i have decided to just concentrate on my body fat, the way i feel and the clothes i look good in. I really do curve out at my stomach not much but enough to notice. Maybe i am my own worst crtic because everyone else has told me the pictures look nice. Its just this one main picture where i look like i have a huge double chin and chubby cheeks - i think i should start practising my photo poses in the mirror :)