kinda a follow up to my earlier question - as i said i always grew up feeling very unattractive and still doesn't consider myself to a particularly attractive person - but I was going through some old pics yesterday (a dear friend of the family passed away and i was trying to find some pictures) and I came across some of myself when i was about 24 (now 37) and for the first time ever thought - WOW - I was pretty!!!
So - ever have that moment where the impression you've held of yourself kinda shifts?
I grew up thinking I was so fat. When I look back (after having three kids) I realize I was not fat. Bigger then average but certainly not fat!
Now, I am fat. LoL
I also felt like the ugly duckling compared to other people but I felt like I looked good for me. If that makes sense?
Yep! I get those.....I thougt I was fat! Moments.......3 kids and 3 csections later I wish I still looked that good!
I came across a picture of me when I was 15...the same age as my eldest daughter was at the time...we BOTH did a double take because it looked JUST like her!! Long hair...same profile...same build...NOT BAD really!
But then she took a LONG look at me...and maybe was NOT thrilled with her potential 'future' looks!!
LOL
michele/cat
same goes with 37.. embrace your looks at this age as well because when you get into yours 40s and you really begin to see some changes in your skin and what not, you'll think .. WOW 37 wasn't too bad either :) it all becomes relative...... :)
Yes!!! A friend posted some pictures of us all when we were in college, and I was shocked to notice how pretty I really was then. I have struggled with weight ever since I hit puberty, and at the time, like so many young women, I had bought into the idea that to be attractive, one had to be skinny. I wasn't skinny - I was voluptuous. What an eye-opener.
Now my big question is, how can I keep my daughter (who most likely will also have generous, um, assets) from hating the athletic, strong, sturdy, tall, baby-bearing baby-feeding body she will most likely inherit and grow into upon adolescence? One thing that made it hard for me was growing up with a mother who was willowy, beautiful, and snide about other people's bodies. I know better than to behave as she did. But how to combat a society that gives girls the message that unless they are built like an old-school Barbie doll they are somehow lacking? So far, the solution I have come up with is to emphasize that beautiful comes in all shapes and colors, and that a healthy, able body is a fun, useful body to live in, regardless of its shape.
I'm the opposite. I look at pictures now, and think I look so much better. I have filled out more, and am not so gangly. I think I'm happy I'm finally starting to look older then 18...now that I'm 29. I looked so young and awkward in my high school pictures. I'm glad to have grown out of that. Now...get back to me in ten years...and I'm sure those high-school pictures will be looking pretty darn good :)
I was looking at pictures from just a few years ago, and thought 'my god, my skin has AGED'... particularly my face... but I'm still not too shabby ;)
Yes, I had an eating disorder all through high school and into college, so I thought I was fat the whole time. I weighed 114 lbs. So, even now, I'll see a picture of me when I was that age and think "wow, I was skinny, and yes, cute". What a waste of youth spending all that energy obsessing about food and weight, to the point where I couldn't even enjoy normal things.
I started working out in my 20s and that ended the destructive eating patterns, mostly, and I was able to believe that I was healthy and fit and attractive. Now, at 50, I am absolutely thrilled (most of the time :-) with my body.
I have found that my skin and hair were much better in my early to mid 20's and I do look back at pictures and realize I was a lot prettier then I often thought at the time but I stressed so much about it too. It's funny that now after two kids and not as great a body I feel actually a lot more comfortable in my own skin. That has especially helped me in my physical relationship with my husband.
I think i have a distorted view of what i look like. When i look in the mirror i think i am thinner than what i appear to be in pictures. Its wierd.
When i was younger i think i looked better. EVen my face. i didnt have that double chin or as many freckles.
I was looking at myself in the mirror today and thinking am i gonna be an old lady with the gobble turkey thing under my chin?
Makeup helps. Having my hair fixed helps. I think if i was born with a different nose and chin i'd look better , but even if i could afford to fix those things i wouldnt because then i would be me.
Now my body is a different story id totally get plastic surgery if i could afford it.
I have my days where i look in the mirror and think man i look rough. I have those days where i think i look pretty too. It helps to have someone around who thinks you are hot too. : )
Yep. Me too. And it makes me really sad I was so hard on myself. :(
ofc! really wish i would've thought so at the time instead of beating myself up with criticism and calorie-counting antics. don't we all?
Haha, yes, I was cleaning the office and came across my senior yearbook and thought I looked cute...but that was 11 years and 90 lbs ago :-(
I was like Sue and struggled with eating disorders. I always thought I was huge, but looking back at pictures now, I was way underweight. I had super curly, very thick hair that I wore long and didn't really know what to do with, and it over-powered my small frame, and now I wear it straight in a much more flattering style. My husband was looking at old pictures with me a few weeks ago and informed me that I'm improving with age. I completely agree. :)
Yes! Found a pic of me from college and one of me when my daughter was 2 that I had totally forgotten about. I wasn't dressed up or wearing anything special in either photo, but I looked so pretty! (and skinny) LOL! Never would've thought that about myself at those stages.
Just happened to me this week. I had to do a double take as I didnt recognize myself in the pic. :-) It put a lot into perspective and made me think to not be so critical of myself each day. (We always tend to be our own worst critics, right??)
Yeah all the time.....im cute now but i used to be a knock-out. Wish i had known it then.
Yes, I've done that too, it's amazing isn't it! I always think I look so young and so skinny in those pictures but I would probably have never classified myself that at the time! It's sort of sad that I always think I'm a bit chunky and then I look back and realize how great I was...what happened! ;) Just kidding...mostly, I'm not too shabby, but I'd sure like to lose some of this extra "30s" weight! Haha!
oh definitely! My friend gave me a pic she took of me at my apartment right before I met my man. I was so freakin skinny!!!!!! It made me feel so good to myself as I was just 5 1/2 short years ago and it totally inspired me to get there again. Then a couple days later I asked my hubs where that pic was and he told me in his car, LOL. That made me feel awesome :D
