Completely in tears
 

you know, i felt like i have been looking pretty good!
i left the house feeling good about myself, i was dancing around and having a good time... then i saw the pictures from the night. the first full body picture i have seen of myself in a very very long time...
im in shock, i'm humilated to look that badly and barely want to be seen in public now. :( :(

pictures are evil.

thats me in the jeans and black shirt dancing with the girl in the white top in the one picture, then in the second picture, i'm in the background...

my thighs, my bum, my belly, my face... i'm so fat! :( :( :(

:hug:
Picture moments are tough, and we have all had them. Don't let them get you down, use them for motivation to keep going. You have already lost 16 pounds!

KateRN, I can't believe your feeling the same way as I. Last night my hub and I went to an engagement party and table pics were taken - I thought I looked pretty good yesterday - Yep, the bride to be developed those photo's at a one hour place and to my amazement I did not look the way I felt. OUCH, OUCH and OUCH!

Ok, here's the perk - when WE do get there - IMAGINE how we are gonna feel then...don't get discouraged, get empowered - your gonna love that photo in a month or so ... (that's how I'm looking at it-and I'm doing all in my power to make that a TRUTH)...

Keep us posted - btw, I think you look good!

Pictures are evil.... just know that your progress is coming along and soon enough the pictures will follow... just hang in there...

(hugs)

I think you are a beautiful girl but I know how you feel. I hate seeing myself in photo's :(

You are on the way to a new and healthier you though! you go girl!

Full body pictures will be the death of me. I HATE them with a passion.
IMO, You don't look bad at all. :)

I agree, you are a beautiful girl :) and dont get too down. you are doing something about it! you are on your way, so dont be discouraged by those pics. I also avoid full body pics like the plague because they are so horrifying to look at, but like chunkymonkey said, you will love that picture in a few months when you can see how far you've come. keep your head up

:hug: Hi I know how you feel! I can't remember the last time I willing took a picture. I'm so embarrassed to go out most of the time and seeing the latest of my pics was a awake up call! I think you look great already, but hey we're all in this together! Welcome to the forum

Pictures are terrible. Period. They should not change how good you felt about yourself! 16lbs is 16lbs! And that is a huge starting accomplishment! You will continue to like what you see in pictures more and more. Don't let it get you down!

Pictures are evil... and mirrors... Every time I look in the mirror I feel like a centaur... that my butt is as big as a horse.

We can be so hard on ourselves. Give yourself a break. You deserve it. Really, I noticed how much fun everyone was having before I noticed your thighs and butt :) I wouldnt have even focused on you. When I first look at the pic on the right, I noticed the man and woman in the front holding each other and smiling so BIG, then the girl dancing with you. She is really into it. I didnt "notice" you at first. I looked for you because you told me to. I guarantee if you were smiling in the cameras vision ~ I would have focused on that before anything else. In the second pic ; I automatically saw the fun the couple in front was having. Don't let a picture (a moment in time) dictate to you how you feel about yourself! Don't think that everyone who saw their pictures from that night was satisfied. We are our worse judge. I like pictures that catch people in a moment (lively and free) versus a portrait. JMHO!!

You see yourself as looking bad because we all focus on every little thing about ourselves that we'd like to be different. There are features you called out that I wouldn't consider problem areas at all.

I see someone who's confident about herself.
I see someone who's having a good time with friends who are having a good time.
I see someone who is being physically active! This is going to help you in your weight loss goal and in trimming up your shape.
Now you'll have the "almost" before pictures you wouldn't have taken voluntarily. You'll appreciate these as you get closer to the end of your journey.

Don't let these pictures stop you from going out and having a good time and exercising for fun again. Just use them as motivation to continue your weight loss journey. :hug:

Webrover summed it up pretty good. I see exactly the same thing. And not to mention, you look absolutely stunning. You have to remember that people don't look at us how we look at ourselves.

Everyone has stated many of the things I've been thinking. I didn't notice your size....you look like you're have fun. Pictures can really take the wind out of our sails.

You are doing well, friend. You are not just a 'weight'...you are a person with friends, a job and much more.

Please don't be so hard on yourself.

Everyone has the photo moments... try not to let it take over your mood. You are a fabulous person and super cute. You are on the right track, stick with it!

I agree with what's been said so far. You look great & it's hard not to be critical of ourselves. You're on the right path though & you have lost 16 lbs
already which is awesome. Keep going and one day you will look at a picture and won't be able to believe that it's actually you standing there.

I know how you feel, I've cringed at so many pictures of myself over the years. Everyone is right about you being much more critical of yourself than anyone else. Just don't do what I did... throw the pictures out so no one would see them and stick my head in the sand and do nothing about the problem.
You are well on your way, sixteen pounds is great! You are taking charge of your weight now while you are young which is wonderful!

Just adding my 2 cents... I agree with everyone else. You all look like you're having a great time!
But, I do understand evil pics. So looking forward to Christmas pictures.... not!!!!

I think you look beautiful. I will echo what others have said about you and that is you look like you are having a great time! Hang in there!:):hug:

I think part of the power of photos is that we think they're objective - "fact" - with the unpleasant evidence right in front of us, but they're really just as subjective as the mirror - beauty and fat is in the eye of the beholder.

I remember a boyfriend taking a photo of me sitting in a tree trying to look "sexy." I hated that picture so much because the angle of the shot made my butt look HUGE (I thought). My boyfriend at the time, loved the photo, and I thought he was just nuts (or trying to make me feel better). Then a year or so ago, I found that picture again, and I thought WOW! I looked HOT!

The photo hadn't changed, my perspective had.

I'm not telling you that you won't prefer photos that reflect a smaller you. I'm just saying that photos are not who you are.

As part of the program i'm in at school I have to be videotaped and then watch an hour of me sitting in a chair talking to someone. Then I have to show the tape to my peers and watch it with them and one of my professors.

At first it was not fun - and that's an understatement! But now that I've had to done more than 50 hours of tapes I'm kind of over it. And it's kind of cool to see how I did lose some weight over the past three weeks. It's very obvious in the video. So now I'm almost glad that I have the videos to compare.

So hopefully six months from now you'll be really glad to have a before picture to put up next to your after picture!


http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt...OYl/weight.png

I see a young woman with beautiful hair and skin. If you want to appear smaller you are already on your way there!

I recently went to a party with a bunch of girls. I was the youngest person there and the fattest by a long shot. I knew the host was taking pictures. I told her that I would edit them and put them on a CD for her. I really just wanted to edit myself out of the pictures.

I was horrified at how fat I am. At lease the host knew what I was up to.

Stacie

I sooo understand your pain, I have lost 30lbs and have been feeling pretty good about myself until I saw the pics from my friends baby shower that I hosted OMG. It is so hard when you work your butt off to lose weight and you are feeling better about yourself then you see pics and realize wow I still look HUGE well that is how I felt at least. BUT you can't let those pics beat you down, you are doing amazing and cameras never do a person justice!!! Keep up the good work and don't let that pic undo everything you have worked for!!

I hope this doesn't seem like I am being insensetive to your feelings, but my first thought upon looking at your pics was one of admiration. I think you look fantastic. I mean, I get that you your are perhaps unhappy with your body, and you should certainly try to lose weight if that's what you desire, but as far as how you look right now - you really have nothing to be ashamed of.

aw thanks guys!! i really really needed to hear that.
i went to the gym today... still feel disgusting and trying to sort out my head because the woman i see in the mirror is not the woman i see in the picture!!
i know they talk about anoretic people having body dysmorphic disorder and seeing themselves as fat when they are too thin... can we see ourselves as thinner when we are not?!

yes, i think we can see ourselves as thinner when we are not. when I was at my highest weight (305lbs) I didn't feel that big at all! I knew i was heavy and way overweight...but i was in somewhat of denial at how bad it really was. after i faced my weight head on, and decided to do something about it is when i realized the reality of it all:o

:hug: I know how you feel. I won't even put a face pic up here :( It's hard to face your feelings about the way you look but you have already started to make changes! That's 16lbs that are GONE that NEVER have to come back! You are on the road to a fantastic new you that shows on the outside, how great you are on the inside! Don't forget that and don't let it get you down. Hang in there, we all have these moments and we are all here to lean on. :grouphug:

You look gorgeous & seem to have been having a great time. I hope you remember to focus on the terrific progress you are making!

"i know they talk about anorexic people having body dysmorphic disorder and seeing themselves as fat when they are too thin... can we see ourselves as thinner when we are not?!"

I do the exact same thing! I hear so many ladies talk about thinking they are larger than they are, but I'm totally the opposite. I see myself in my head & normally think of myself as being as fit as I was at 17. So it really shocks me to see myself in photos/videos/mirrors. At least I'm not the only one!

-Strong

Just think how many pictures they take to get the "perfect" centerfold. Not to mention Photoshop/airbrush and just about every trick in the book to doctor it up. I'm sorry you find yourself disgusting in your pictures. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You and I are nearly the same size, and I when I see photos of myself I nearly cry from joy at how far I've come (I also think I look HOT! ;))

Wow....this happened to me on Monday! I went out to a club for my nieces birthday and I was thinking I looked pretty good, down 35 pounds, feeling good. Yesterday I saw the pictures and it was a VERY rude awakening! Wow, it shows how much more I have to go before I look *acceptable* in my own eyes. I was talking to my husband about it and he told me not to let this be a set back, that I should use it as motivation to keep going. He's right. We just have to hang in there.

Although, I have to say it's all relative. I would give my pinky finger to be as small as you! :)

Kate,

It's all about perspective. When I was 25ish and suddenly found myself fatter than I had ever been, I thought I looked like a giant moose. I weighed 199 pounds. I seriously thought I was the fattest looking thing there was.

After being 278 pounds, getting down to 214 felt SO SKINNY that it was scary to me. 199 would be downright thin compared to 278.

So I totally understand how you feel, as far as "seeing" this fat person in the picture and feeling horrible, but let me tell you this. I would LOVE, love love to look as good as you do in those pictures!! You are beautiful and do not stand out as "fat" at all IMO.

16lbs is 16lbs!this is a huge starting accomplishment! you should be very proud of yourself!
just think about it, many other girls wi'll be so happy to be where you are at!

Okay, remember you've got to love yourself after all of this so although I understand that you're "mental picture" of you was different that the photo, you also should recognize that you are SMOKIN' hot.

Plus size or not. Extra pounds or no. You really are beautiful - and I am not just talking about your face. You've got great cleavage, an excellent hour glass shape and I'd kill for a bum like yours (I've got a big, flat billboard).

So stop with the negative crap. You're not going to lose any faster by being mean to yourself!

Kate,

It took me a minute to figure out which one was you! I was looking for the tremendously obese person...and I couldn't find her.

Pictures are always a shock. My (thin) sister will look at pictures and wince. If I wasn't looking for you I wouldn't see the picture and even think that there was someone with a weight issue, it looks like a group having fun.