Body Distortion: Do Our Brains Fool Us When We Gain or Lose Weight? by Kyle Stephenson

One of the questions I get asked a lot since I lost weight is, “How did you allow yourself to gain so much weight?” I respond by letting them know that I experienced this weird phenomenon each time I looked in the mirror: I saw a “normal” version of myself. I never saw a fat or obese person! Perhaps what I saw was similar to what anorexics see when they look in the mirror. They see a fat person. It appears we see the opposite of what we really are. I was able to avoid reality and create a fictional reality that everything is fine and tell myself I was really not fat.

And here is the kicker! Up to two months after I lost the excess weight and confirmed on the scale that I was over 60 pounds lighter than before, when I looked in the mirror, I still saw myself as fat!

I also did some research and realized I was not crazy! Other people have reported similar issues. If a person has had a history of being overweight in the past and they lose weight, at least for a while, they may only see their overweight self in the mirror and not their current self. And if you have had a history of being skinny and you gain weight, for a while you may see your skinny self in the mirror. 

Has this happened to you?

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