Depressed - Before pics
 

I feel so depressed tonight. I have a full length mirror and decided to take some photos so I can look back on them in the future. I don't often take these types of photos and after seeing my body and how much more work I have to do, I felt depressed. I know I already lost weight in a month (16pounds), but sometimes I don't see it. :(

Has anyone else taken pics and felt the same?

I sure did when I first started. I couldn't believe that I let myself "go" to that point. That being said, I used them as a motivation - as should you. Keep up your good work.

Originally Posted by sarita75:
I sure did when I first started. I couldn't believe that I let myself "go" to that point. That being said, I used them as a motivation - as should you. Keep up your good work.

Thanks so much for the words. I think I'll use it as motivation too..maybe even put it on the fridge. Just seems like I have such a long way to go and knowing that I only get another 2.5 months of food left scares me too. I hate feeling sorry for myself as I don't usually ask for support. I am always the one giving support to friends and family.

What was it that made you say to yourself this is it..I have to lose the weight without looking back.

You should find a picture of yourself before you had lost all this weight and compare that to these. You will feel so much better it will reflect how far you have come.

Pics
 

Originally Posted by Jojo381972:
I feel so depressed tonight. I have a full length mirror and decided to take some photos so I can look back on them in the future. I don't often take these types of photos and after seeing my body and how much more work I have to do, I felt depressed. I know I already lost weight in a month (16pounds), but sometimes I don't see it. :(

Has anyone else taken pics and felt the same?

I was never brave enough to submit myself to photos but I did have some that my family took that made me very depressed and I have them.

What I say to myself when I see them is that I NEVER NEED TO SEE MYSELF THAT WAY EVER AGAIN! Every single day on IP I am improving how I look and how I feel so those pictures are totally irrelevant to my life today.

The old "every day in every way I am getting better and better".

Originally Posted by schenectady:
I was never brave enough to submit myself to photos but I did have some that my family took that made me very depressed and I have them.

What I say to myself when I see them is that I NEVER NEED TO SEE MYSELF THAT WAY EVER AGAIN! Every single day on IP I am improving how I look and how I feel so those pictures are totally irrelevant to my life today.

The old "every day in every way I am getting better and better".

I agree. I did not take pictures for the same reason. Don't ever want to see that again!

I also never took pictures because I couldn't bear to...I was horrified that I had let myself gain so much weight and I ust really wasn't all that aware of just how much it was. It took so long for me to start dropping pant sizes even though pounds were coming off. Funny how that can sometimes happen.

Just keep looking forward...as someone said, time is going to pass anyways, so where do you want to be in 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, 1 year?

You will be a success, don't doubt it! Feel good you are doing something very good for yourself by staying on IP.

Originally Posted by kdspirited:
You should find a picture of yourself before you had lost all this weight and compare that to these. You will feel so much better it will reflect how far you have come.

Good idea, and I do realize how far I've come, I just got suddenly depressed when I had a good look in the mirror of just how much farther I have to go. Even in my head I know that it is one step at a time...sometimes it can seem so frustrating because I had given up so much in the past and it just seems neverending. I know I'm certainly not the only one that feels that way.. :hug:

Thanks for all the kind words and for the boost. I don't want to cheat or give up on this. Depressed as I may feel, I also feel more determined then ever.

Originally Posted by Chloe222:
I also never took pictures because I couldn't bear to...I was horrified that I had let myself gain so much weight and I ust really wasn't all that aware of just how much it was. It took so long for me to start dropping pant sizes even though pounds were coming off. Funny how that can sometimes happen.

Just keep looking forward...as someone said, time is going to pass anyways, so where do you want to be in 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, 1 year?

You will be a success, don't doubt it! Feel good you are doing something very good for yourself by staying on IP.

Thanks for the kind words. I know what you mean. Sometimes it can be hidden with clothes and when you take the clothes off and take pics, it is so much more visible.
We can do this together. Appreciate the boost. :hug:

Originally Posted by schenectady:
I was never brave enough to submit myself to photos but I did have some that my family took that made me very depressed and I have them.

What I say to myself when I see them is that I NEVER NEED TO SEE MYSELF THAT WAY EVER AGAIN! Every single day on IP I am improving how I look and how I feel so those pictures are totally irrelevant to my life today.

The old "every day in every way I am getting better and better".

Yes, I understand about the pics and not wanting to see yourself again, but I think it will be good to look back on in the future someday. Progress over time is motivating.

I took a picture of myself when I started and every month I take a picture with the same clothes to see the differences... I wanted to do this to give myself an incentive to never ever allow myself to get back to my heaviest weight ! If took me until the past couple of weeks for my brain to actually register that I have lost so much... Remember that you did not gain the weight overnight and little by little you will notice that you clothes are not as snugly as they used to be, or that they actually look pretty baggy on you..... Keep up the good work and keep your chin up ! You will succeed ! Good luck to you

You are right
 

Originally Posted by Jojo381972:
Yes, I understand about the pics and not wanting to see yourself again, but I think it will be good to look back on in the future someday. Progress over time is motivating.

I think you are very right about the motivating part of the pictures. I think that when I started I was so very disgusted by myself that I could not deal with actually looking at how badly I had let myself go.

Now that the weight is starting to come off, I may wish that I HAD taken some photos so I could feel uplifted by my progress.

I do have a few that family took about 2 years ago when I was at my highest which I have kept because all 5 siblings were in those. The really sad part of those photos to me is that we took them after we got together after my Mom's death and I know how much it would have pained my Mom to see me look so bad. It would have been so wonderful for her last looks of me to have been happy and healthy.

I hope she is looking down on me now and seeing what I can do!

Just wait in a couple months you won't stop taking pictures of yourself. I didn't take pictures at first either, but after I lost the first 40-50 pounds I started taking pictures about once a week, then when I feel like cheating or feel down i would look back and notice the difference.

Keep up the good work it will be worth it in the long run!!

Originally Posted by Frenchy71:
I took a picture of myself when I started and every month I take a picture with the same clothes to see the differences... I wanted to do this to give myself an incentive to never ever allow myself to get back to my heaviest weight ! If took me until the past couple of weeks for my brain to actually register that I have lost so much... Remember that you did not gain the weight overnight and little by little you will notice that you clothes are not as snugly as they used to be, or that they actually look pretty baggy on you..... Keep up the good work and keep your chin up ! You will succeed ! Good luck to you

Thanks and glad that you also took pics and feel motivated by them. I think your brain does have a hard time catching up. From what I read most people that lose a lot of weight still think they are fat??
Best of luck to you too! :hug:

Originally Posted by schenectady:
I think you are very right about the motivating part of the pictures. I think that when I started I was so very disgusted by myself that I could not deal with actually looking at how badly I had let myself go.

Now that the weight is starting to come off, I may wish that I HAD taken some photos so I could feel uplifted by my progress.

I do have a few that family took about 2 years ago when I was at my highest which I have kept because all 5 siblings were in those. The really sad part of those photos to me is that we took them after we got together after my Mom's death and I know how much it would have pained my Mom to see me look so bad. It would have been so wonderful for her last looks of me to have been happy and healthy.

I hope she is looking down on me now and seeing what I can do!

I bet she is very proud of you! :)
Thanks for your story. :hug: