Does the Mirror Make U Look Bigger?

[jaysunderstudy]

I have been wondering this for a while now, this mite not be the rite forum to ask this but I'll give it a shot neway. Ppl tell me my arms are big and other compliments but does your reflection in the mirror make u look bigger than you really are? I was just wondering that, I'm not talkin about one of those carnival fun mirrors just the one hangin in ur bedroom or the gym does it reflect how big u are or does the way its made make u look bigger? Kinda a stupid obscure question but it was on my mind so i thought I'd ask neway and see sum opinions on it.

[znak]

Mirrors are different. Some will make you bigger, some smaller, some are optically correct (rare.) Depends if the surface is generally convex or concave.

[jaysunderstudy]

Ohh ic, I was just wondering I guess I am bigger than I think, we are our own harshest critics after all.

[Dizz28]

Ohh ic, I was just wondering I guess I am bigger than I think, we are our own harshest critics after all.

Just like anorexics think they are fat...

[jaysunderstudy]

Shit, I dont' see how ppl can be that way, i get upset if I can't have a simple meal much less starve myself. altho I have heard that ppl who try to be inhumanely big suffer from a disorder I can't think of the name but its like anorexia in reverse. I saw it on one that special with Greg Valentino after they took out of context what he said, so much for fair and balanced journalism.....cough Fox....News...cough

[JasonR]

its called muscle dysmorphia or bigorexia

[topnotch]

many mirrors in clothing stores, or deparment stores, are actually i think a little concave is right...it's so slight you can't really tell, but they'll make you look taller and slimmer...just enough to make ya look good in what you try on...

[Consistency]

if it is a completely flat mirror then you will see an exact replica of yourself

[Marek]

many mirrors in clothing stores, or deparment stores, are actually i think a little concave is right...it's so slight you can't really tell, but they'll make you look taller and slimmer...just enough to make ya look good in what you try on...

Don't you just love the tactics these places use to make you look good in your clothes? God forbid we should have a mirror that would reflect exactly what you look like.

[-B-12_Overdrive-]

haha.

[hugovsilva]

I like car windows. Always look huge on them...

[YouAintKnow330]

Man I have no Idea... I think mirrors definately make you look bigger... but then again Im not a genius lol

[Amorphic]

i think gym mirrors give the illusion of looking bigger since you are pumped up and when you are at home or somewhere else you are just in regular clothes and might not have the same pumped up look you see at the gym

[InsaneInTheMembrane]

It also depends on the light you are standing under when looking at a mirror. Spotlights make you look big, area light or ambient light can make you look small/undefined. natural light brings out alot of your definition IMO.

[Dumbbell_Blonde]

If you're really not sure, take a photo of yourself and cut your face out of it. I know that sounds ridiculous, but take the photo so that your head's out of the frame. I have mild body dysmorphia (sometimes I still see the fat kid in the mirror) but the photo thing helps you get a real look at your body, without the direct confirmation that it's YOU. You'll get an honest look.

[WelshWarrior]

I find the gym mirrors make you look shorter and wider. Also one of the reasons I have changed gyms is cos my old gym had awful lighting that would make a competitive bodybuilder look flat. Some lights just wash away all definition and the ones in there really depressed me and affected my training.

New gym is much better in loads of other ways, but one perk is the lights make you look great! That may make me sound ubervain, but it helps me train better!

[WelshWarrior]

I like car windows. Always look huge on them...

Haha! Reminds me of washing your car on a hot sunny day with your top off thinking the same!

[DIESELPWR]

the gym mirrors make you look thinnner.. reason being is because not everyone is like us and trying to grow... majority of the people in the gyms are tryin to lose weight

[WelshWarrior]

the gym mirrors make you look thinnner.. reason being is because not everyone is like us and trying to grow... majority of the people in the gyms are tryin to lose weight

Agreed for regular gyms that are part of national chain, but proper independent bodybuilder/weight gyms are prolly the opposite.

[frignugs]

I like car windows. Always look huge on them...

Hahahah, man ive been caught soooo many times........vanity, gotta luv it!

[realmafia]

Have your girlfreind take pictures of you at all angles some with only your boxers on and then with clothes. There was difference to me looking in the mirror then at pictures.

[asleep]

probably the best way for me to deal with my "distorted body image" , thinking i am skinny at 5'10 and 235lbs, is having a couple of pictures of myself around. it usually helps especially if there are other people in the picture, because i can see myself compared to others in a third person point of view. and btw, car windows, yea ! they are great. maybe if i get bad enough i'll rip a door off a car and hang it in the bedroom. lol

[RuhlFreak55]

Shit, I dont' see how ppl can be that way, i get upset if I can't have a simple meal much less starve myself. altho I have heard that ppl who try to be inhumanely big suffer from a disorder I can't think of the name but its like anorexia in reverse. I saw it on one that special with Greg Valentino after they took out of context what he said, so much for fair and balanced journalism.....cough Fox....News...cough

quit talking about all of us!!

[Consistency]

I find the gym mirrors make you look shorter and wider. Also one of the reasons I have changed gyms is cos my old gym had awful lighting that would make a competitive bodybuilder look flat. etter!

I disagree, the mirrors in gym are completely flat. It is all mental if you think you look smalller in the mirrors, its opposite of anorexia.

But I do agree with you that lights make all the difference. I can workout at 3 different gyms and all the lighting is different (some real high ceilings, some low ceilings, some flouscent, some incadecent, etc...) Shawdows and lighting makes a difference.

[WelshWarrior]

I disagree, the mirrors in gym are completely flat. It is all mental if you think you look smalller in the mirrors, its opposite of anorexia

You're prolly right cos I asked the gym owner and he said he got them from a barber shop.

[soulstealer]

the gym mirrors make you look thinnner.. reason being is because not everyone is like us and trying to grow... majority of the people in the gyms are tryin to lose weight

I dunno about your gym bro but my gym is a goddam dungeon the mirrors combined with the lighting make me look more jacked/ripped and vascular It makes me feel like the man... but its kind of saddening when I look at home =P

[NotSmall]

All mirrors are different, probably, as others have already said, due to concave/convex surfaces but also hugely down to the lighting, case in point - my bathroom mirror, with the blind down and the light on it is my favourite miror, I look cut and defined, however with the light off and the blind up with natural light streaming in I look soft and washed out - I have a mild panic attack if I inadvertently wander in there with my shirt off and the blind is up!
The worst mirror in the world is in my local tanning shop - I look anywhere but in the mirror when I go in there!

[WEBB]

NotSmall...you always look best with the lights completely off...just me opinion though....Love...

[scottythebody]

I feel like I look completely different when I see a picture of me, compared to what I see in the mirror

[K.Biz]

Hahahah, man ive been caught soooo many times........vanity, gotta luv it!

hahaha oh man thats to funny, my ex told me she used to catchme checkin myself out in the car windows all the time, she said it pist her off cause i wasnt checkin her out more

[paulzane]

NotSmall...you always look best with the lights completely off...just me opinion though....Love...

[peteroy01]

got it! stand Xft from a large mirror and take a pic of yourself. then get someone to stand in front of the mirror and take a pic.