London Mayor Surprised by His Wax Double

They say the camera adds 10 pounds, but when you're faced with an exact replica of yourself, it's a little hard to blame your weight gain on optical illusions.

That's what London Mayor Boris Johnson recently discovered when his wax likeness was revealed at Madame Tussuad's. The museum captured the 44-year-old mayor's friendly, tousled look perfectly, and his expanding waistline a little too well. "It's only when you see yourself in 3-D res you realize just how fat you are," Johnson tells the Daily Mail. "I have got to get out and start jogging more. I have to lose some weight."

Johnson concedes that the waxworks did an accurate job with his replica. He's not blaming that spare tire on an artist's creative license. "It's a brilliant job they have done," he says. "It is an amazing, eerie, lifelike, spooky version of myself."
When people decide to shape up, it's often a picture or video that gets them going. "I never realized," they'll say, "I had no idea." Even overnight singing sensation Susan Boyle admits she didn't realize how out of shape she was until she saw herself on "Britain's Got Talent." "It wasn't until I saw myself on TV that I realized how frumpy I was.... I will be doing a bit more exercise to help me sort it out," she tells a British fansite.

If you think you're in denial about your shape, try investing in a full length mirror or, better yet, have a friend snap a before photo of you. In a few months, that "before" will be an "after" and a powerful motivator. As for Johnson, he hopes he and his wax likeness will shape up in the near future. "I look forward to the figure being remodeled in a few months in keeping with the more lean and lithe physique I hope will soon emerge," he says.

Has a picture or a video of yourself ever shocked you into losing weight?