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Original poster

To be horrified how much of a fat monster I look in pics

58 replies

gahga · 12/11/2024 09:03

This is a bit of a light hearted post.. but I look in a full length mirror and I'm like - ok this looks ok.

I look at my face in the mirror and it looks alright.

Then I see myself in photos and I look like a fat monster.

What's that all about ?

OP posts:
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Idratherbepaddleboarding · 12/11/2024 17:01

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Katemax82 · 12/11/2024 16:53

I cringe at every photo of me...not so much looking like I've been scooped up and dolloped into my dress but the having aged about 30 years in the last few

KnopkaPixie · 12/11/2024 16:34

Now look at photo of yourself from ten years ago which you hated at the time and...

"Bloody hell, I was gorgeous!"

Gettingbysomehow · 12/11/2024 16:30

I just did a passport photo today, I looked like a deformed potato. What the heck? 😂

Littleannoyingperson · 12/11/2024 15:50

I have this, I find it shocking, but I notice no one else looks weirdly big in pics so it’s clearly I’m really fat and don’t know how bad it is.

DesertGecko · 12/11/2024 15:47

I recently saw some photos of me at my fattest. I look like a little round dough ball.

Cheeseandcrackers40 · 12/11/2024 15:47

steff13 · 12/11/2024 15:42

Same. Except in Teams, we don't use Zoom. I look fine and then I get in the team's camera and I look like the trash heap from Fraggle Rock.

Show quote history

I use a ring light on calls these days, does help me look less fraggle adjacent...

Ohhhthedrama · 12/11/2024 15:45

Oh, I absolutely feel this. I went out on Friday night, and I thought I looked good. Some pictures were posted on Saturday. Christ, I look old and fat. I haven't been in a family photo for at least 5 years, and I think it will stay that way.

StevieNic · 12/11/2024 15:43

Yes I’m hideous and very fat in photos but look great in the mirror and in my head

steff13 · 12/11/2024 15:42

toodles9 · 12/11/2024 09:07

Zoom is the same for me.

Mirror view is ok. Zoom view = short, fat troll

Same. Except in Teams, we don't use Zoom. I look fine and then I get in the team's camera and I look like the trash heap from Fraggle Rock.

Cheeseandcrackers40 · 12/11/2024 15:41

Camera adds 10 pounds!!

I am a size 8 and 5 ft8, exercise most days. I still think I look enormous in photos, I think the solution is not looking at them??!

Lovemycat2023 · 12/11/2024 15:37

Me too. I’ve put on weight over the last couple of years (only a stone) and my view of how I look in my mind doesn’t match reality.

RoastPotatoConnoisseur · 12/11/2024 15:32

It's funny, I have had the exact same conversation withy husband recently. A few very unflattering photos of me in different settings, taken by different people, that I actually can't believe are me as I don't look like that in the full length mirror but absolutely are of me. It's shocking and quite frankly frightening and depressing too.
I have a BMI of 26.5 so not big enough for weight loss jabs and only a size 10-12 but in these photos I look almost twice my size in my face and body 😭

mathanxiety · 12/11/2024 15:29

If it's all camera angles and lenses, why do the other people in the same group shot look like themselves?

FooFighter99 · 12/11/2024 15:25

@gahga I've recently lost 6 stone with WLS but STILL look shite in photos, not to mention the fucking suitcases under my eyes!! 😂

Soozikinzii · 12/11/2024 15:23

Yes know exactly what you mean . Go out feeling OK then afterwards see any photos - horrendous . And other people who also look just OK look great on the photos !

Mylovelylittlepetbedbug · 12/11/2024 15:16

My late mother who was slim and attractive even in old age always looked evil in photos.
I tense up sp just look odd and sort of square.
I one bought a floral outfit for a wedding. When he saw the photos DH said i looked like " a small 2 seater sofa,badly upholstered. I did !

RetroTotty · 12/11/2024 14:55

Yes, I didn't realise that I waddle until I saw myself on the door camera.

Same! couldn't believe how waddley I was. Thought I just walked, like, y'know, a person, not an overfed, somewhat elderly duck!

Mizzarde · 12/11/2024 11:56

There is a LOT to do with camera angles, lighting and posing/positioning/distance.

I am big and have a big face. Nowadays I try to stand towards the back in any group photo - it does absolute wonders (especially because so many photos now are taken by somebody who's actually in the photo, and unless they have telescopic arms then the camera is far too close and really screws up proportions).

If I stand nearest to the camera then I look as though I'm about to shout FEE FI FO FUM and start eating the people next to me.

puzzleofapuzzle · 12/11/2024 11:54

A lot of it will be camera focal length - phone cameras and laptop cameras don't have a flattering focal length at all, and it's where most of us see ourselves...

As demonstrated here

Whattodointherain · 12/11/2024 11:34

Therehastobesomegoodnews · 12/11/2024 09:32

I'm the same OP in that I look in the mirror and think I look OK - not great but passable.
But I've got a security camera that records activity in my garden. And I sometimes have to look at footage of that which has me in it. And oh its horrible! Can't believe that's what I really look like and that's how other people see me. It really really depresses me because it's not just my weight and clothes but the way I walk and my mannerisms that all look awful. Very bad for the self esteem.

Yes, I didn't realise that I waddle until I saw myself on the door camera.

BambALamb · 12/11/2024 11:30

I’m another person who has been met IRL and told they look so much better/prettier/taller than their online photos. I really struggle to get a good shot of my face and even at my slimmest/size 6 I look so big (camera adds ten pounds!)

Apparently we see ourselves more attractive in the mirror than other people see us though, which is quite depressing! Especially when I so often dislike the mirror anyway!

FrequentlyAskedQuestion · 12/11/2024 11:05

It was a photo of me at a significant family occasion that prompted me to adopt healthier eating and exercise habits.

Having said that, photos and films are ‘unkind’. People who look average on TV are often tiny in RL.