I had so much fun with my new digital camera until yesterday, when I figured out how to get the d@#* pictures on the computer screen. I am not as attractive in a 19" pic as I am on a 1" lcd screen! Rob stood and took pictures of me opening presents, and I truly looked like the MM himself. I thought I was in a 'good' pose and also in what I thought was a complimenting outfit! Oh my, was I wrong!

Ok, how can I make that picture help me? I know there has to be a way, and I encourage people to do that kind of thing all the time, but when it is me looking horrified at myself, I am at a loss of ideas! This picture is so bad, it will definitely be posted as an 'along the way' pic when I lose more weight. No way anybody is getting that baby right now, not unless I get hacked!

Maybe I am being too sensitive. I am really critical of myself in pics. Rob took a pic of me Friday with a big bow on my head and I was laughing and he looked on the screen on the back of the camera and said 'Uh-oh, we better take that again!' That was so funny, because he knew exactly what I would think, and we wound up taking about 5 pics of that one pose of me and the bow, and each one was worst than the first because we were both laughing so hard! However, the Michelin Man pic was not one of that series. These were 'candid' pics, and boy did they suck.

So, what did you do when you saw a terrible pic of yourself!?

I really hate most pix of myself. In my not so humble opinion, I look my best when I'm lying on my back looking UP into a mirror. Any side views of me make me look so OLD and saggy, as in jowly. And, when did my mouth start to look so small in my face and my forehead so creased? I won't even go into body shots. I try to avoid them at all costs. A friend has been after me for months to take "before" photos of each other in swim suits. She's got to be joking. Not in this lifetime!

There's an "easy" answer to this one Jennifer, - the down side to the answer tho is that it gets me into LOTS of trouble with the family-- I DON"T HAVE MY PICTURE TAKEN!!! (at my gs' birthday, they wanted to take a pic of the 4 generations - I refused and made them use dh in the shot! too bad it was supposed to be all the females - mil, me, dd, and gd!!) When there is a camera in sight, I usually leave the room! Seriously and truly! That picture from the NYC chick meet was a fluke! (meaning that Jif wouldn't let me out of it!!) There really are NO "fat" pictures of me (at least none where I don't at least have a grandkid trying to hide this body of mine!!)-- I get too aggravated when I see them.....

I hate having my picture taken too! I am amazed at how old I am! Have never felt like the Michelin Man except when wearing a huge white shirt!

This is actually a very sensitive topic for me--once upon a time I was a model and made cash in front of the camera. Ever since the birth of dd and my screwed up metabolism, what remains of the old me is my albeit chubbier face. On my fridge is a pic of me in my slim days--the person I want to be again!

For years I was the one who took all the photos. There are hardly any of me with my first daughter! Then, my husband expressed an interest in photography and I bought him a nice camera for our anniversary in February ... When he pulls it out at home, I try to keep out of the way and let him take all the pictures he wants of the two girls. But that doesn't always work! He got a few shots of me at the baby's first birthday in June, and I cringed!!! Trying to hide behind that tiny body -- ugh! I will say, though, it was certainly an incentive, and I think I should blow that shot up really big and post it in the kitchen to help keep me on track!

For her NEXT birthday, I intend to WANT to have my picture taken!

Pen

OH YES !!!! JUST LIKE THIS

Thats why I post it after all my messages

Love, Leenie ---->

I thought I was the Michelan Woman!

Pictures? OH MY! My worst nightmare. What a struggle. Some times I get up, shower, get dressed, do the hair and face thing and think that all is ok. Then the truth hits when I see a picture and boy do I NOT like that. Makes me very sad at times.

BUT! There are the rare times when I see a picture and I can say, " this one is better than the one three years ago." It is still not good, but it doesn't make me crumble.

Dh did take a picture that came out pretty swell. It is of my big kid and I standing on the deck. He is right smack dab in front of me so that all you can see of me (from a distance) is my shoulders and face.

Pictures? sheer agony but I am glad to know that I share this with my chick friends.

peach

Oh Jennifer!
I am the Michelin Man!! I carry my weight in my face, tummy basically the upper body. I hate having pictures taken and this is my goal this holiday season. I have never had a professional portrait of me and my son together and he is 7 years old!! I am realizing that time is passing me by!! I have lost 65 pounds so far and want to lose way more but no matter what I weigh come November those pictures are getting taken!! I had a full body portrait done at a work function in Jan 2001 and that is what started me losing weight to begin with. When I took a cruise in June they take TONS of pictures of everyone and I have to admit I didnt HATE them, so it's getting better. I actually bought some of them and showed them when I got back home.
great topic!!
laura

PS-Jennifer, your picture is beautiful I think. You dont even look like you NEED to lose weight in that picture!! Do you need to lose that much-it doesnt seem like it really.
take care and I love this website!!

I've got this distorted body image. When I look in the mirror or look down at myself, I see someone different than the woman in the picture. I hate my quadruple chin and my gut. I guess I always get the right angle when I look in the mirror, or else I am in total denial about the way I look. Hmmmm, what a great topic!

Laura, thanks, but that was luckily a really good picture! I'm fluffier in real life.

My friend, her name is Jennifer also, said that she goes ahead and takes pics of herself and her kids all the time, even though she hates it. She doesn't have many pics of her and her mom when she was little, and she doesn't want her children to grow up not having pictures of her and them together when they are both still young. I keep the pictures for Cody's sake, because when he is older he will remember me this way anyway, not skinny! I hope he has skinny pictures of me too!

Jennifer=Fluffier in real life!! thats cute! I always have a full face even when I was at an ideal weight ( a million years ago!) I had a full face then too. So I cant fool anyone with a face shot!! I just wanted to say we have snapshots of us together but I could never make myself do a family portrait like at Sears or something. It really is kind of an incentive for me. I tell myself when I want to slip that the more you lose the better you will look in this picture!!

take care!
laura

I try to avoid pics all together, but they do occur at family gatherings and I don't care for what I see in them, but it is me ALL OF ME! It reminds me of where I've come from and where I don't want to be again. I am actually going in for family portrait in December, I have wasted too many years not dealing with my weight and avoided pictures too many times. I want my kids to have pictures of our family, you never know what is around the corner in life. I know those who love me, love me for who I am, not what size I am in. I try to stand tall in any picture I get caught in. Everyday now I promise myself, that I will be the best person I can be for just this one day! Beauty is far more than looks! Gotta find that post re: Audrey Hepburn......will add it when I find it.
Ladies have a wonderful day!

SW/228/CW/186/GW/140ish

Audrey Hepburn's Beauty Tips

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!