Mirrors: I used to hate them. Mirrors reveal what you don’t want to see, and when you’re significantly overweight, there’s a lot you don’t want to see.
At home, there are mirrors in the bath, bedroom and hallway to remind you how you look. It’s your own personal carnival fun house, which isn’t fun at all. And these mirrors aren’t distorted, making you look stretched or squatty or bulbous. No, they provide a perfect reflection which is perfectly awful.
No matter how good clothes look on a store mannequin, even a plus size mannequin, the dressing room mirror always shows something else. Plus size mannequins don’t have bulges which make the prettiest, most fashionable clothing lose their style. Plus size models in plus-size clothing catalogues never show an ounce of cellulite, thanks to airbrushing. But there is no airbrushing in the dressing room, just another truthful mirror, unashamed to reveal the unabashed truth which the fashion world and marketing agencies try to hide so they can make more money: there is no hiding fat. Seriously, do they think fat ladies don’t know that wearing leggings with a tent of a top over it is still wearing a tent?
I despise most the mirrors of people’s eyes. Just a glance and you know what they’re thinking: How could she let herself get that way? She really shouldn’t eat that. Ever heard of a diet? That is, when people actually look at you. Most avert their eyes, pretending the fat lady isn’t there. But it’s kinda hard to ignore a size 28 butt.
The magic mirror in the story of Snow White also told the truth. How wonderful would it be to invent a magic mirror which lies, allowing the viewer to see what they want to see, so that no matter how ugly or fat or repulsive they are, a glance in the mirror says otherwise? You ARE the fairest of them all, even with bulges and rolls and size 28 trousers.
But hiding from the truth never helped anyone lose weight or learn to love themselves. No magic can do that. Love can. And you have to love yourself before anyone else will. You have to love yourself enough to make the changes necessary so that mirrors show you what you want to see.