So, today I was tagged in three pictures from a musical in highschool. They were candids and I was probably close to my high weight. Immediately I saw them and thought "oh my god. no one can see this." so I untagged them asap. Its not that they were there it was more that they were upfront and I did not want to be associated with that, even though that's how everyone in highschool knew/knows me. This got me thinking. I don't really let any of my new friends into my past weight. I don't really have any pics tagged of my fat self and don't want them to see me like that. Idk, I'm still embarrassed I guess. Anyone else feel this way?
Oh, yeah...My high school 10 year reunion is coming up and for a while there were tons of "vintage" photos being posted on Facebook as people reminisced. I was extremely heavy in high school and I was living in fear that someone was going to post one of me at my worst (I also made things much worse back then by being a fashion victim and wearing baggy flannel shirts all the time!).
It's definitely one thing to know rationally that the people you're friends with now would probably not judge you all that harshly for what you looked like in high school (I think a lot of people are embarrassed by high school pics for one reason or another!) and another thing entirely to come to peace with your past self enough to really be okay with sharing the pictures...
Heck yes! Lol. I gained a lot of weight in college and peaked at about 192. There are several pictures of me on facebook from this time. I took a year off after graduation and worked before going back to grad school. I also started seriously dieting and managed to lose 30 lbs before I got to grad school. So they highest they've seen me is like 165 or so. When I started adding people from grad school as friends I changed my privacy settings so only people who I went to undergrad with and family could see pics I'm tagged in. Everyone else can only see pictures I post (which I only post flattering pics of me) and if they know the person who posted the pics.
I feel the same way as you-I would rather not be associated with that image of me. I've changed a lot and become a lot more confident in myself and my abilities. So why put out the image of the old me? But at the same time, my undergrad friends and family have already seen me like that. No point in untagging when they have the memories already, right? Lol. So yeah, I totally get it and don't see anything wrong with it!
When i was at my highest i would never allow people to take pictures of me. Which is a real shame because i'm very proud of my weightloss and I do tell people often how much weight i've lost, and wish i had the pics to back it up.
So i guess no, i'm pretty out there with my past.
I'm torn with this. Yes part of me wants to hide all of the fat photos of me but then other parts of me think I don't want to hide my entire life. I did so many cool things even when I was heavy. I was heavy when I graduated from high school, the entire time at college, when I study abroad at Cambridge, when I went bungy jumping in New Zealand, kayaked in the ocean, climbed a mountain, studied in Mexico, my brothers wedding, my nephews birth, graduated from college. I can't pretend all of those things didn't happen. And frankly when most people see my old fat photos it just sparks them to tell me how good I look now and how they wish they could have done it.
Remember I totally agree... some of my photos arent that flattering but those pictures are memories that I dont want to erase... I also find it motivating to see older pictures...I also agree that a lot of people can know where you have come from... however not everyone needs to know you were once the fat girl and I understand red wanting to "hide" that
I want to meet someone when I'm at goal weight who never knew the fat me and wont know the struggle I had...however its been such a huge part of me that its hard not to tell every stranger I've met hey I've lost 70 pounds
I have many years of skinny pictures until recently. Now I refuse to take pictures of myself because I look horried and I really don't want people seeing my fat self that haven't seen me in ages. Especially on facebook so I completely understand what you're going through. I dont like anyone seeing pictures of me recently and on camera I look worse then I do in person :S
A friend of mine tagged a picture from my sophomore year. All it did was remind me how bad I felt about myself. I do not even remotely feel like that anymore so why do I need the reminder? I untagged it.
I've untagged every bad or "fat" photo on FB, and I would question the motives of any friend that uploaded really bad pictures of me. It's one thing to have photos like that at home in an album, but to publish them on the internet is not always ok. I've had someone untag themself from my photo because of a bad hair day (and the hair was fine!) but then leave really awful passed out drunk photos tagged.
Oh goodness yes. I am scared to let anyone I date see those old pictures...I have this fear that they'll see them and be repulsed and that will affect their attraction NOW. It's silly, but no one wants to flaunt pictures of themselves looking their worst.
I have been fat my whole life. Up until last year I gained weight on a regular basis, so all my old pictures are fat pictures. Fat is how people know me. For now i have no desire to untag any photos of me, however in the future after people start recognizing me as thin instead of fat i may change my opinion.
ThicknPretty, I totally feel you. I've been a somewhat normal size now for most of college and a few boyfriends when they find out I was fat, are almost like "hold up..." I feel it may affect their attraction to me now. Like in a sensetheymay be thinking "okay, she's alright now. A little thick but is she going to blow up again?". Hopefully not.lol. Idk. Its weird.
I generally de-tag pictures on facebook if I think I look terrible - this holds true for fat and skinny pictures.
I'm on the fence about it. I don't want to hide stuff because its sort of like lying, and its a good reminder to ME, but I don't want it all out there for people to judge and say "oh, don't eat that cookie, look where you were..."
I lived under a rock in high school, so I won't become a victim of The Unsparing Facebook, though I do de-tag more recent unflattering photos of myself. It's not just a weight thing: I also take my name off photos of me in pajamas, photos where my eyes are half-closed, or photos where I have super-shiny skin....
I don't think there's anything wrong with it, unless you're deliberately misrepresenting yourself. I hate it when I see a profile picture that was obviously taken 5 years ago. So you don't have the bikini body of an 18-year-old anymore; who does? Suck it up and upload a real photo already!
Hiding the past stuff
