Like, before you gained a lot of weight. I've been overweight ever since I was little, but when I look back at pictures of me when I weighed 180 pounds... I can't believe the self-image I had back then. I might've been overweight, but I didn't look unhealthy like I do now:



That was taken when I weighed between 180-200 pounds.
As heartbreaking as it is to look in the mirror and see how I let myself go (100 pounds later...) it's also kind of encouraging to look back at these pictures and know someday, I will be confident again.

Do you ever look back at your old pictures and get encouraged? Do you post them anywhere to keep yourself inspired?

I know looking at other people's before and after pictures is extremely inspiring/motivating, but do you find inspiration when looking at your old pictures of your smaller self?

Ya know, there are hardly any pics of me pre-gain. For a lot of my 20's I weighed between 120 and 130 pounds, but the only pic I have is wearing a big leather jacket and you can't really see my body at all. You can see that my face/neck are much slimmer, but it's a terrible pic. I think it would be motivating if I had some good pics.

That time was the only time I ever really let myself be in pictures. I felt so upset looking at those when I wasn't really being proactive about weight loss. However, now that I am working on it I don't mind looking at them at all, even if I am not as thin as I was before (getting there!)

I think my issue is "getting over" that things might not be the same. I could be the same weight, approx the same size, but maybe my proportions will be slightly different, maybe I won't like rewearing my old thin clothes because styles have changed over time. I tend to be harder on myself than I think I should be.

Interesting topic...My siggy will tell you my weight history. ...anyway it depends on my mood. If I'm feeling positive, a pic of me at a low weight will be motivation...if I'm feeling down it will only make me feel worse, like I still ahve sooo much to go. I stay away from those pics if I'm already feeling bummed out.

I am always surprised because I can't believe how much I must have been eating to be the 250-260lbs I was in my fattest pic. I am embarrassed of it. Motivation not to go back, that is for sure.

I feel the same way! When I was not doing anything about my weight, I would hate looking at those pictures, because it upset me that I was not that thin and healthy anymore, and that I did not have the willpower to snap out of my bad eating habits. But now that I'm working on losing weight and I'm doing great, I enjoy looking at those pictures. I actually set them as my desktop background for motivation. One day, I hope, I am going to look at my "before" pictures (before I started losing weight) and feel thankful that I'm not there anymore. One day...

I feel sad when I look at my 'before' photos because I didn't see it at the time. That's not what I saw when I looked in the mirror. It's strange. And sad.

The before before, well, that's just normal to me, that's me.
When I look at the before picture (after I gained 97 pounds): disgusted
Now: relief

I see pictures of when I was in high school and i'm guessing I weighed 180s range and I don't see a fat girl but I FELT FAT.....I see pictures of me at my highest weight around 270 and again at 240 and I look fat, I FELT FAT...and I see pictures of me now in the 180s range and I look a lot smaller but I STILL FEEL FAT....pictures look different to me but when I see myself in the mirror, I don't feel like any EVER changed....gaining weight, losing weight, I still feel the same about myself and I don't see a big change in the mirror despite what pictures say

and I've NEVER felt horrible about myself...I've never felt disgusted or hated myself....granted sometimes I didn't like what I saw but I've never felt all that bad or ashamed or anything....if fat's the worst thing you can call me, then i'm doing pretty good in life

Ditto!

I feel pretty disappointed looking at the before pictures and that I had let myself get heavy and looking very STOUT. =P Especially fat face. Don't like the fat face!

But it makes me feel happier at where I am now.

When I look at "before" pics, those are really pictures throughout my whole life, (because I've been up and down this weight roller coaster ALOT), mostly I feel frustrated that I couldn't seem to learn any lessons about how to STAY healthy. Years, and years, and years of NOT learning.

I really don't have any, unless you count childhood photos from long before I'd hit puberty. I'm still obese but am currently smaller than I ever have been as an adult, so I'm kind of in a weird place.

Me too. Any pictures of me at a normal weight date back to age 16, so they're not much motivation. my fattest oictures? I like using them beside progress pictures, but I don't dwell on them. That's not who I am anymore.

Oh, wow....This really made me think, actually.

I don't know what weight I was on the last pictures before I started really gaining. Probably somewhere between 175 - 190. Having being overweight for as long as I can remember, I obviously felt bad about myself back then.

Going through those pictures, I feel that I shouldn't have been so hard on myself. Yes, I was heavier than I should have been, but I actually think I looked pretty good considering. I feel sad that I really let myself go like I did, and it makes me want to go back to that time. I could've done anything to just wake up tomorrow and be where I was at, because it wasn't as bad as I thought, and it sure was better than now!