I have lost 53 pounds from 5 months ago. I have lost 63 pounds from 18 months ago and when I go back a few years, I have lost 73 pounds. That is a lot of weight.

My before photos from around Halloween and Thanksgiving are awful. The 'weight loss" photos have looked so much better. I can see the improvements, but then today I saw photos my husband took of me a couple weeks ago while I was cutting our sons' hair. And I look awful. I swear, I look just as bad and as heavy as I did 53 pounds ago. I still have a double chin. I still have saggy, fat arms, I still have a gut.

Why was I thinking I was looking so much better? I still look so FAT! I look the same SAME in a size 20 as I do in the 14s I wear now and it made me feel so bad.

When will I LOOK how I feel? I feel great! I feel like I've gone back at least a decade in my youth - but those pictures! Eek!!!

Photos can be so evil, I swear.

You might think, while looking at yourself, that you look the same in the photos regardless of how much weight you lost, but that is not true. Anyone from the outside can see the difference.

Not to mention, some photos ain't that flattering to ANYONE. Keep in mind the tabloids. They can take any person in the world and make them look absolutely "horrible" due to an angle or weird lighting or while they're in the middle of eating so they're making a weird face...

Cameras aren't magical. They don't always capture what everyone actually sees.

And they sure as heck can't capture or take away how you FEEL.

I have this issue all the time. Still. It is in my head, I swear. One thing that blew my mind was watching video of myself. Gave me a lot more accurate picture, and I could see where the weight had gone. I don't know if you have home movies or not, but you should have somebody film you and then "go back in time".

I was there yesterday. I have not lost near the amount of weight as you but my arms really had me down yesterday and the thought of how far I have yet to go gets a little depressing.
A total of 73 lbs is amazing! You do look much smaller, some pictures just do not capture it. Keep going and don't be so hard on yourslef.

berry, what image are you comparing yourself to? i think that is the problem. when you compare the pics side by side--you can see your wonderful progress. When you compare to an image in your head of what you want to look like--that is an obscure goal. don't do that to yourself. you have come so far! be proud of that!

Oh man do I know how you feel! I honestly pray that I don't look anything like my photos because if that's true, then I'm in big trouble! I'll bet you look how you feel! Cameras are horrible! I know because I'll take a photo of my kids and they look so much better in reality so if it can happen to them, why not to me? Sure I have amazing photos of them that capture the real deal, but it takes quite a few shots and some sifting through the bad ones. Just continue to exude that confidence that you have because that is a huge part of beauty!

You're so right!

Didn't you ever hate pictures of yourself when you were young? Have you ever looked at any of them recently? A different mental picture changes everything. I would LOVE to look like any picture of my young self, but since I didn't consider myself perfect then, I hated what I saw.

I was just thinking about this today. I have been feeling pretty good lately and then today I started the 30 day shred DVD and so decided to take some full body shots of myself clothes and in just underwear and bra. Yeah wasn't pretty but I can still see some change (I think )

Anyway hope your not feeling to down.

Oh how we can be so hard on ourselves. I too started the 30 day shred and took some self pics. No I'm not happy about what I saw either. But those are our negative voices trying to beat us down. Don't let the bad guy win. Weight loss is such a mental game. And you have done amazing with a 73 pound weight loss! Take pride in that and just chalk the pictures up as your hubby being a terrible photographer lol

You have done amazing. Stay positive.

Thank you so much. It doesn't help that I'm not very photogenic, but EEK! That really put me in a spot. But it is true. Cameras aren't necessarily doing me any favors.

Video? I don't think I could handle to watch thick or thin, but I bet it would help see a better picture instead of just a snap shot, but I am sooooo uncomfortable in front of the camera and the video camera? No way! LOL

I can't really 'feel' that I've lost 73 pounds because the first twenty were separate. The first ten was about 7 years ago. The next ten was only 18 months ago, so I remember it well enough, but those pictures reminded me of how much farther I need to go too!

Thanks Jen... I even did side by side (as they were on iphoto) and I just saw a lot of blubber - and almost all the photos of me are unflattering - candid shots and me are NO GOOD. Posed ones help a bit, but catching me in the moment - eek!

Thanks - I know! It's the candid photos that look so horrid, so it has me thinking, "is that how I look 'in action'? And if so OMG!!!" I sure hope that I do look better than what the photos say. My husband has said since we started dating that I don't take photos well and I'll just have to believe him because those pictures today put me in a sad spot.

Oh so true! I remember when I was in 9th grade on the swim team. I felt so HUGE because so many of those girls were so tiny. I look at the team and individual photo now and I realize I was 'heavier' in pounds, but because I was built bigger, I didn't 'look' any bigger/heavier than any of them. Why did I feel so big and fat? In hindsight, I looked fantastic! If only we could turn back the clock!