Do you guys see your body differently from what others think

[NeedPaintoGain]

Just a question, because I think that I am small for my size but my friends tell me that Im crazy and that I have good size. Do people usually view themselves to be smaller than they really are, are they usually wrong in thinking that they are smaller than they really are?

[KeyMastur]

People are their own worst critic. I view myself as gettin skinnier once again (since I haven't been lifting as rigorously).

[e cruz]

dude i have the same prob my girl go's nutz when i say im small. i look in the mirror and just say i wish i was bigger............

[maz]

i think a lot of people suffer from this "bigorexia"

[pumpseeker]

that's because we strive to look like 300 lb pro bodybuilders, we are small compared to our goals....everyone else thinks a 200 lb guy is big

[Slypknot]

The other thing I think most of us suffer from is singling out one part of us that needs major work.... for me it might be my shoulders one month, then back, then abs, then chest, then legs....and so on.

Never satisfied! Which is good - helps keep me motivated!

[Mr.gH]

hahaha. I feel the exact same way as you guys. I tell my friends, man look out, next summer im about to be huge. They just turn and shake their heads, and reply, your already bigger then anyone else, whats your deal? I guess its just a mental thing, great example about the 200lb guy lookin big to normal people. But hey, theres nothing wrong with ambition and the motivation to reach a new physical level.

[Beantown Abuser]

haha i feel so small... maybe once i get bigger and more muscular the greg kovacs w/o the GH gut then maybe i'll feel aliitle better. But bigger is always better.

[sp9]

Being skinny your whole life doesn't help. I hope to hit 6'4" 235+ by the end of the year and I will still think I am skinny.

[Bigpumper]

very true... I always think I am small but when I ask my friends they say I am one of the biggest guys they know that is my height. Girls always say I look huge... who knows?

BIGPUMPER

[NeedPaintoGain]

Im 6'2" and about 205. Im trying to cut bodyfat so I think I would look solid around 190. Man I feel so freakin small though. I look in the mirror and though I have grown a lot in the last year and a half, its not satisfying anymore. Im not expecting to be a 300 pound professional bodybuilder, I dont think I have their genetics or time to be like that, I dont want to be that big anyway...I sh*t enough with eating 5 meals a day, I hear those guys eat like 10, and Im sure I dont even eat enough calories throughout my entire day compared to what they eat up to lunch time. Anyways, just wanted to know if I was the only one that looks at myself and says "damn, Im still small".

[tatty]

I think no matter what goals I reach, I will always think I'm small...unless of course I hit 260 @ 5'7...

[thetank]

man i dont even like looking at myself in the mirror really without a pump..too me it looks like i dont even work out and am just a fat ass with a bunch of stretchmarks on my arms. when i go out im always wearing baggy sweatshirts and shit like that...i honestly done think ile be satisfied with my appearance for years. i at 225 i wish i was at 250, i gaurentee when i get too 250 ile want too be at 275, its a fuct up complex we all have....i just think i have it worste than most because i was a fat kid for most of my life and its done something too my confidence. when i am satisfied however...i doubt ile ever wear a shirt again.
peace
tank

[NeedPaintoGain]

I hear you on that fat kid thing.<- No offense. I was a chubby kid growing up and was picked on a lot about being that way. Didn't start thinning out till High School and when that happened I still had fat on my chest, made me look like I had tits, and had fat in other places. You're probably right, that might have fucked up my perception of myself. F-ing bastards.

[NeedPaintoGain]

By the way Tank, is that you in your avatar, dude what are your stats? Thats a size I would like to shoot for.

[Polska]

I think it all comes to down a personal insecurity originating from childhood. Myself I was always a skinny kid... always underweight and always picked on. Then I got into bb'ing. Now I am approaching 190lbs once again and at 5'11 @ 10% bf it's certainly not scrawny, but I feel that way sometimes too. The only time I actually feel that I look what I weigh is when I get a crazy pump after working out. Then I am happy, but it's such a tease at the same time.

[Black_Curtain]

Man I can't even look at myself in the mirror without a pump! Makes me feel small AND fat.
I do think I look better than the majority of people, but most people do not assume I am muscular by any terms since my body is shaped weird (big hips and ass, and smaller upper body in relaitivity).

Oh well.

[shlape]

Originally posted by NeedPaintoGain
Just a question, because I think that I am small for my size but my friends tell me that Im crazy and that I have good size. Do people usually view themselves to be smaller than they really are, are they usually wrong in thinking that they are smaller than they really are?

The old bodybuilder's disease -muscle dysmorphia- comes to mind here..
Looking at pix of ol' Ronnie too much will do that. I'd be interested to know the cycles he takes thoughout the year...

[gundam675]

hahahahaha, pure jokes, i have 17.5 inch guns, and when i see a dude with 15 inch guns on the street or 16 inch guns, i think, more barbell curls, yet ppl say my arms are huge ! but they arent in my eyes, they are small, but the meter tape says different !

[NeedPaintoGain]

Do you guys think that people who are low in bodyfat come off as looking bigger than someone that is big but has bodyfat? Like Gundam675 said, hes got 17.5 in arms, now im not saying your fat or anything, but if he had bodyfat with 17.5 arms, and was placed next to someone with 15 or 16 inch arms but like no bodyfat, would the guy with 15 in arms look bigger?

[BASK8KACE]

Originally posted by NeedPaintoGain
Just a question, because I think that I am small for my size but my friends tell me that Im crazy and that I have good size. Do people usually view themselves to be smaller than they really are, are they usually wrong in thinking that they are smaller than they really are?

YES! I though I was going insane. I'd tell people that I want to get bigger and they always pause, look to see if I'm joking, then blurt out, "How much bigger do you want to get??" I say "180, 190 lbs." Then they say, "WHAT?! You're already big. Why would you want to get any bigger?"

Originally posted by NeedPaintoGain
Do you guys think that people who are low in bodyfat come off as looking bigger than someone that is big but has bodyfat? Like Gundam675 said, hes got 17.5 in arms, now im not saying your fat or anything, but if he had bodyfat with 17.5 arms, and was placed next to someone with 15 or 16 inch arms but like no bodyfat, would the guy with 15 in arms look bigger?

When you're cut, I think people tend to see you as being much bigger. When I was 150 and cut, people used to estimate my weight at 165 lbs. There is a HUGE difference between 165 and 150 on a 5'-6" body.

[BASK8KACE]

Originally posted by SGFuryZ
I decided to force myself at a cutoff size of no more than 250 lbs. @5-6% b/f.

You wrote that as if 250 were not as big as you would wish to be, but you'll "settle" for that. 250 is friggin' HUGE, bro--especially at 5-6% BF.

Yes, we all seem to suffer from this.

[ichiban]

I hope none of you boys find this out of place......

I have found great relief knowing that guys feel the same way I have felt my whole life (allmost)!!!....but the opposite. I (being a gal) see myself as huge when I want to be smaller. At one point I lost 20 lbs. that I did not need to loose and everyone said I was tiny blah blah.....I still did not agree. Finally I ended up run- down and sick. I got the nick- name skeletor by one of my guy friends. It took that for me to see how skewed my perception of myself was. I feel your pain!!

Just remember don't push your body to unhealthy extremes in the name of vainity....it's the only body you've got and it's gotta last a long time!! It's good to strive to be your very best....YOUR very best.

OK now I feel better ....thanks

[GregM]

I also have a problem with it. im 6 3 270, and no matter what Im not satisfied with my body, whether im cutting or bulking, as is the current case. If only we were as obsessed with the improvemnt of our minds, and media pumped out brainy broads and not busty ones.

[skinnyhb]

read The Adonis Complex. great book, discussing all of this.

[ichiban]

GregM--I couldn't agree with you more!

[clockworks]

heh, i look in the mirror and see small because i AM small...=P hehe, yeah i got the disease also. i'm actually quite average, but i feel so small that if anyone bumped into me, i'd prolly stumble and fall down...=P i'm gunna change all this via a few cycles though! =)

a part of the problem is i keep coming into this forum and looking at all you buff ass fuckers...

-- clocky baby

[broncojosh]

I just can't seem to get to a point where I'm satisfied. At 270 and a 36" waist I felt big/strong but fat...so I dropped to 230ish 10%bf and a 32" waist and I feel small/weak and still fat. I know what I want, where I want to be, and I just piss myself off because I do this dance sometimes, instead of staying focused and being there already.

[tt333]

I still see myself as small and im 5'10 230 with 15 bf. People tell me im too big and I see myself as small.

[Assassinator]

I always think im small, 170-180 aint so special, but im working in my boundaries... but when a 135 lber says im big, im sure we know why he thinks that

Me is midget

[Feli Fly]

I'm 6ft 170-175 10%...

It's two worlds sometimes. When I'm at school, in normal life, or playing basketball, I'm average build or on the big side of average (well, excepting any fatasses; they call me skinny LOL).

Definetly on the boards, and in some weightrooms, I'm one of the smaller bros.

I'm always cool with it when I look in the mirror in the morning, but I will probably be even better off when I get over 200 and then diet down to around 190 or 200 with low bf%.

[massbuildah]

No matter how big or cut i get, I'm always going to feel small and fat!!