We can all be very self critical about ourselves. Just gotta try and appreciate yourself. =) Nice work on the contrast here.

Thank you. It's long long way to begin accepting own body.

Yea true, I guess if your desperate to make your body look better it's easy to keep thinking that it can be better still no matter how far you've come.

It's amazing he sees himself that way at all.

I kinda exaggerated, but overall it is true sometimes.

So it would seem. Some guys look like they're on their way to becoming a real life Hercules, but somehow convince themselves they're still puny.

I wonder if it is *literally* like this, or is it just feeling permanently unsatisfied?

I'd say it varies from basic dissatisfaction how your body looks (no definition, twig arms etc) to self-loathing and depends on overall mood. Though as for that guy I assume that he's less likely to see himself as making no progress whatsoever, but likely hating because of stagnation or too high bf% at some spots or bad skin.

The more severe cases literally SEE themselves as small, no matter what happens, a kind of memory projection of the past self upon the present self. Always the same size (small) no matter the real size. The less severe cases often perceive themselves as smaller than they really are. Kind of like how most people are unable to tickle themselves, the brain filters out additional information (like apparent weight change) regarding ones own person than it does about other persons.

Excellent piece! What is the particular vent though? You don't think you are making enough progress, or you know you are making progress but you don't think you see that reflected in the mirror? Or something else?

In many ways: mostly no visible progress, constant anxienty about losing what you've gained with such efforts, obsessive checking weight/reflection, comparing to others. Mirrors, tbh are usually friend; photo with bad light are the pure nightmare. On the flip side I know how to put lights and camera to look really big, but what for if in reality I am still far from be considered as athlete.

Ah, wasn't sure if this was a personal apprehension or a social commentary. Personal apprehension it is.

While I don't trust all his advice French bodybuilder Lorenzo Becker says for him, the less he focuses on the number on the scale or the person in the mirror, and the more he shifts that focus to making sure his diet is sufficient and his workout/ workout plans are good the better he feels and the less dysmorphia gets him down. Sure check you weight once a month, or even once every two months, give yourself a good inspection in the mirror, but be for dang sure you are getting all the right things to eat at all the right times all day every day, and your workout(s), are the right ones for what you want.

Basically try and refocus the time and energy you spend checking your progress into time and energy focusing on the elements that will insure you make progress, it makes the dysmorphia more bearable.

I hope this was helpful!

I've heard about this. I've also heard it called "bigorexia" - kind of a flip side to anorexia. Instead of being so preoccupied with fat that you starve yourself to skin and bones, this obsession with becoming bigger can lead to binge bulking, overexertion, and potential abuse of steroids.

I know this feel too well...

I feel for this pic.

I'm with achilles on this one. No matter how much bigger I get, I still feel small. I've gone from 64 kgs to my current 104 kgs in 13 years, and I still worry that people at the gym think I'm too small and are talking about me. I know even when I reach the magic 120 kg mark, I'll still see a small skinny 64 kg guy in the mirror.