For many years I looked in the bathroom mirror and saw the same (nonfat) image, but reflections in store windows, shadows cast on the ground and photographs told the truth. It was painful to look at myself and face the truth of my fatness.

Now, I still see the same thing in the mirror, but I jump in front of the camera at every opportunity so I can view the real truth. As my body is changing, I can stand to look at my reflection and see the promise of what's to come. Is this a NSV? It sure feels like it.

I'll have to dig deep to scrape up a before photo that hasn't been fat cropped, but looking forward to posting pix in a few months!

Thank you to everyone on the forum for encouragement and great advice!

This really resonates.

I find myself asking my husband to take photos of me. I then stare at them. My company updated my photo on the website and I have been known to stare at that too! I have even taken 'selfies' in my gym or yoga gear just to see if what I see in the mirror is what is reflected back at me in film.

After years of avoiding cameras and deleting any photos of me I found, it is an unusual place to find myself in.