...to get rid of the "fat" pictures. I hesitate 1. Because they are a reminder of how far I've come and where I never want to be again. They are a constant reality check and 2. They are of some very memorable times in my life (i.e. My wedding, my sons infancy).
But lately they are making me angry and ashamed and I just want to forget that person ever existed. I don't know what to do. I want to leave them for the reasons listed above, but the other part of me just wants them gone. What do you all plan on doing or did you do with your old pics?
The other issue is that I'm running out of room for new pictures, and we've gotten some good ones lately. Would it be a mistake to ditch them, are they a necessary reminder to keep me on track?
I wouldn't get rid of them entirely, for many of the same reasons I still have the photos from my first wedding. That was a bad marriage, but it was worth it because of my son. So... I shoved all those photos in a drawer, which is what I would do in your position. Put them away, but don't throw them away.
Maybe you could put your old pictures away for a while? That way you wouldn't have to look at them all the time, but you would have them in case you want them in the future. I agree with your two reasons for wanting to keep them around, and I think you might regret it at some point if you tossed them. It also seems as though you've started maintaining recently; maybe the pictures will make you feel less angry and ashamed a few years down the road, when your weight loss is further in the past. I'm kind of a packrat, and I sometimes find old pictures that I absolutely hated when they were taken (or shortly thereafter) that now just make me smile or reminisce. I don't know that they're necessary for keeping you on track, but it would be a shame not to have those visual reminders of your wedding and your son's infancy!
I NEED those fat pics to keep me going. I have previously lost 105 pounds and gained it all back plus some. Both the fat pics and the skinny pics are necessary for me - I need to see what I am shooting for and why I don't want to go back!
Put them away if you must - but don't "get rid" of them. You may have hated what that person was like, but that person was YOU.
Have you ever heard, "those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it"? Applies in these situations. Long-term maintainers never pretend that person didn't exist - we are well aware of it at all times.
I have lots of "fat pics" of me all around the house, in albums, boxes, on facebook, etc. When I was heavier I hated seeing pics of myself. Now I've sort of embraced my fatter self. She was doing the best she could in soothing herself with food, although misguidedly! They don't really bother me anymore. That's who I was, there is no denying it.
Please remember that your son will want those pictures of you. He won't care what size you were. He will wonder why there are no pictures of him with his mom when he was little. Plus you may feel differently about them one day and you can never undo this decision.
This is one of those things where you shouldn't act on impulse. You need to reflect a little.
I couldn't do that, personally. I mean, it would be like throwing away my life, my history, and like denying that I have a past & have come from something, and have gone through certain things.
And I wasn't just sitting around being fat all those years, I was living a life, too, worthy of being documented with at least a few pictures -- I don't think that it all amounted to nothing until the moment when my weight reached a certain point. So I don't think all former images of me should be obliterated. Anyway, they can't be. Because some of them are carried around in peoples' memories.
Hate the pictures, hide them, but keep them.
I have just two photographs of my great-grandmother, and they're precious to me. And she was a hearty, big-hipped blonde, swathed in brown taffeta, with a moonface. I don't care that she wasn't a swanlike Gibson Girl. I have just one photograph of my great-great-grandmother, who probably had only a single tintype photograph taken of her, in all her life. Her hair looks rather oily in it. I'm not sure how good her teeth were. I'm still glad it exists.
Wow, my sub conscious must have taken over! I would never through away these photos! I think I just want to take down the ones around the house and at the office that are staring me in the face everyday and replace them with new ones. But like a pp said ...those who forget the past...I think I'll keep them up for a little bit, except maybe the ones at the office, and try to incorporate more new ones around them. I just don't like too much clutter. We're moving soon, maybe that would be a good time to cleanse.
Feeling like it might be time...
