Ok, so this might be kind of weird since I'm showing 3 year old pictures here, but these pictures are one thing I'm using as motivation to show myself every day that I *can* do something about my weight.

In 2003, I reached my then-highest weight of 230 pounds. I joined a gym, I saw a personal trainer, I changed my eating habits. I was working nights at a tv station, and one of the things I did was to eat my dinner in two halves -- one around 5:30p and one around 8:00p. It seemed to help a lot personally with keeping me from wanting to go through the drive-thru on the way home at 10p. In about 3 months, I managed to lose 30 pounds. That year was also my year of too many weddings, so I had a few posed pictures from a wedding in March and a wedding in September that showed how well I had done. I was still lumpy and in the end about 200 pounds, but I still look at those pictures and I'm amazed at what I did for myself.

I don't have many posed pictures now, at 280 pounds. The full body ones that I could find aren't as nice as the old ones, and I'm not wearing make-up or any of that stuff. One is in a dress I bought off ebay for like $10 that I thought I might wear on my honeymoon if I could fit it and the other is from the day I bought my wedding dress, trying it on. The wedding dress does a GREAT job for how I feel about myself, but the pose is similar to the old 2 and you can see my giant arms. The other one is a little more true to my current shape. I yo-yo'd a lot over the summer, wound up losing about 10 pounds and then another 5 over the wedding/honeymoon week, but it all came back after I got home.

It's been a blessing to see so many progress pictures from other people, and my previous progress pictures help me a lot too. I know we've all struggled with our weight and I'm sure plenty of us have at least one picture from the past that reminds us that we can do something to help ourselves. If you have one of those, share it!

Thanks for sharing the pictures.You are very pretty and just like you did it 3 years ago you can do it again.

You can do it! Pictures (good and bad) are the best motivators!

*blush* Thank you for the pretty comment. I don't feel pretty very often.

Your wedding dress is gorgeous! You did a great job getting down to 200 lbs and you looked happy, you can do this! I always tell myself, you've done it before, you can do it again, and you know what, it works. You can do this, you have proven that, now all you have to do is look inside yourself for that motivation that you had last time. Good luck!

You can do it! You are soooo pretty I also LOVE the white dress in the third picture. It's very "me" lol!

I like that you said you know you can do something about it. For me that was half the battle, just finding out that I could do something about it. My Mom never beat the weight battle and in the back of my mind I always thought that if it was possible she would have figured it out. When she died I decided I didn't have a choice anymore if I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to show my kids that it is possible, too.
I also like what you said about it being something that you did for yourself. I really feel like the weight loss is such a gift to myself. I feel so much better, and I look so much better. I'll probably always struggle with being self-conscious, but at least the weight won't be such a part of it anymore.
You can do this, and everyone here will give you great support. Thanks for sharing your pictures, you are a very pretty girl!

You look great at either way. No one can take away true beauty. And those are great motivators, I feel the same way, I keep my "skinny" pictures on the fridge. If we've done it once we can do it again!

Comments like these are the reason these forums are so great! You're all too sweet, really!

Glutio,

Start your process right by telling yourself EVERY DAY that you are worth the time and energy it will take to accomplish your goal!! Especially as women, we are so busy taking care of everyone else in our lives that we forget to take care of ourselves until it's too late. I am a daughter, sister, friend, and teacher who now recognizes my need to take care of myself first SO THAT I can take care of others! I am no good to anyone if I am not good to myself-- it took me 29 years to learn this, but now that I have, I will never put myself and my health on the back burner again!!

I started at 273 pounds a little more than a year ago, and I weighed in at 212.8 this morning. That's 60 pounds lost-- I would have NEVER imagined that to be possible. I went from a 24/26 to a 16. Incredible! For me, the key is planning (again, taking the time for yourself to plan) and consistency. Make the plan and carry it through. I plan every meal, snack, and beverage for my week on Sundays-- and then I use the plan as a checklist during the week to hold myself accountable. There are definitely times when I go off plan (birthday, etc.), but I am always making conscious choices! For so long I felt like a victim of the fat suit I was wearing-- not the case!

Also, what type of exercise do you enjoy?