[Palestrina]

The most depressing part is that I remember a couple of years ago looking at pictures of myself and thinking "oh I'm so fat" and now I look at those same pictures and think "oh I was so skinny, I wish I wouldn't have thought I was so fat back then." I guess it's all a matter of perception.

[Dybbuk]

I must confess my recent motivation to shed this weight had to do with a wedding I was in a few weeks ago. The bride asked me to be her maid of honor and that was all fine and well except when it came to picking the dress. I tried a sample dress at the store, and it wasn't too high cut on the legs so I thought "Ok I'll be fine with this"... but when the actual dress came OMG it was waaaaaaaaay too high cut. It made me super self conscious and when we got the wedding photos back from the professional photographer all I could stare at were my lumpy fat legs!! *SHUDDER* I saw those pictures and it hit me how big I've let myself get. Definitely a wake up call for me!

[Radiojane]

While not my main motivation, they certainly help. I've hated every photo taken of me for the last decade. I never thought I was that big.

[Amy8888]

Yes, pictures and videos. Unfortunately, I now hate having my picture taken and I didn't have a videographer at my wedding (when I was, of course, the smallest I've been as an adult! I just didn't want to see myself on video and then be unable to "unsee" how awkward I always think I look on video). I'm trying to work on the picture thing, it would be nice to have good pictures with my family but it's practically a phobia for me.

In the past, I have looked at pictures of myself when I felt I was huge, but I weighed more at the time I was looking at pictures. I remember thinking how I wish I was that small again!

And like someone else said, clothes were a wake up call for me once. Usually it's easy to deceive yourself about the size of your clothes, by thinking the store is inconsistent with sizing, or that you just dried your jeans on the hot cycle or whatever. But this one morning I couldn't find anything to wear, and my fattest pair of fat pants were tight. (I should note that I was premenstrual at the time before continuing)...I just started bawling! I went shopping that day for a few pairs of pants that would fit better until I lost weight so I didn't feel so crappy about myself in the meantime. While shopping, I picked up a good diet book and started immediately. That particular diet didn't work out in the long run but it did get me started on the right path again.

[irish51]

Oh yes! My first grandchild was born March of 2012. My son took pictures of me at the hospital holding the baby.

Two months later for my birthday, he had those pictures done on canvas and it hangs in my family room. I was appalled at how large my arms looked (not to mention the rest of me ).

This past Sunday we celebrated my grandson's 1st birthday. I was sitting on the floor holding him, while he opened gifts. Again, my son took pictures. I can honestly, say, when looking at the new pictures, I was not embarrassed. My arms are lookin good!( and the rest of me is not too shabby)

I still have about 20lbs to go, but as my grandson grows, I will be able to have pictures taken with him and not have to hide.

Oh and when he is old enough to ask about the picture at the time of his birth... I plan to say that it was a nice lady holding him !!

[kellzy]

The local news did a spotlight on my school last year on the last day of school. There was a long shot of me putting books out on a table for the kids to come and pick one. I watched that news story like four times, utterly shocked at how fat I really was.
It was a wake-up call.

[dehtripper]

Originally Posted by Wannabeskinny

The most depressing part is that I remember a couple of years ago looking at pictures of myself and thinking "oh I'm so fat" and now I look at those same pictures and think "oh I was so skinny, I wish I wouldn't have thought I was so fat back then." I guess it's all a matter of perception.

This for sure!

But yes, pictures were definitely a big part of the equation. Its not so much that I need to compare myself to other to feel better but I see friends on a day to day basis and my brain knows how big/small they are so its an unavoidable scale when we take pictures together. As someone who loves to live in denial (i.e. I hadn't weighed myself in 3 years and thus could pretend I didn't pack on 40+lbs), its a stark wakeup call. When I actually stepped on the scale to put a number on my problem, it scared me poo-less.