I got the shock of the week for me today. I found a wedding picture from last month with me in it and had to take a double take on who that person was that was bigger than everyone else in the photo.... of course it was me! 20 People in the picture and im the biggest. Really depressing. I never thought i could have let myself get this way, but we all usually have to hit bottom before we can pick ourselves up and really get committed to changing ourselves.
I also found a photo of my boyfriend and i at the reception standing side by side together and seen that i was also bigger than him. I really have to get with it!!!
Here's my question... How many of you have ever had this happen to you?? And also what was your low point that gave you the initiative to make a change?

snoopy i have to say that one of my low points that gave me the initiative to make a change WAS a horrible picture taken from the WORST angle possible..positively the worst..and i was LOTS bigger than you..so good for you for getting in control NOW *

Yes! My daughter's wedding picture was a catalyst for me. I was the biggest thing in each picture I was in, which weren't many because I didn't like to take pictures in the first place. But that really hit home with me and I was so ashamed of how I looked posing with my daughters, I felt like I ruined every shot for her.
Pictures are a real eye opener, both for the better and the worst!

Donna

I had a similar experience to Donna's, though not at my daughter's wedding--she's barely 1 1/2-- basically, all her "special event " pix, I was the one in a ratty flannel or huge t-shirt scowling at the camera. Though the pictures made me feel really crappy about myself, I didn't "do" anything until I had a bizarre "click" moment when I realized I could make small changes and build on 'em.

another thing that really helped motivate me was when my daughter was getting married..and someone made the comment "pictures are forever"..that phrase really stuck with me..and i wanted to lose weight so i could look as good as i could in the pictures..i DID lose the weight and looked great..BUT i got depressed right after with the empty nest thing and started gaining it back...so here i am again, back on track and trying to get back so i can look like i looked in those pictures lol..i dont want my granddaughter to be saying "who's that?" when she sees my pics in the wedding album lol :o

I know what you mean, Snoopy! I've been avoiding people with cameras for a long time now and wish I didn't always have to be on the "lookout" for them. It's a painful experience.

But you know what? At any gathering, we're probably more conscious of our weight than anyone there. People are usually busy having a good time and aren't really judging us all that much. It's that we feel self-conscious. Once the weight starts to melt away, we won't worry about other people's cameras anymore...ahhh!

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I am so blessed. I am so photogentic.

Here are my tips at taking the best pics at any size.

1) Volunteer to have a picture taken of you. This way people don't sneak up on you while you are eating. No person looks good while eating.

2) Always been in the picture by yourself. This way you have no one to compare yourself to.

3) Never take a picture infornt of a door. That is a bad comparison shot.

4) Take your own cammera and ask people to take pictures of you. This way you can choose the most flatering to give to people .

5) Go to wal-mart and do a cheap photo session of your head shot/ Waist up. They have the tv so you can see the picture as they take it. This way you can make them take a picture to you it right. Then give them to friends and family. If you filter the cute pictures of you in the family. People will be less incline to want to get candid shots.

6) Don't avoid family protraits with your kids because you are fat. Lets face it they may be grown before you get skinny.

7) Dress to impress at all times therefore, at least you will have a cute outfit on in an unflatter candid shot if it does occur.

Pictures seem to bring reality up close. When I was heavier, I usually tried to be the one taking the picture so that I would not have to be in the picture. If I was in the picture I usually stood behind someone so that usually it was mainly my face they captured.

Now that I have lost my weight, I have found the camera can still find an unattractive angle! When I think I look as good as I can, I ask my husband to take my picture. I want to have plenty of pictures at my current weight.( Hopefully the weight I will continue to be!) When I was heavy, no one believed I was ever thin.

Now when people do not believe I was ever heavy I pull a picture out of my purse and show them. Their mouths drop open as their eyes get big and then they usually say, "Wow, you really were heavy!" I do not have a scanner so my friend is going to scan my picture so that I can put it on Diettalk. Until then you can picture me as young, beautiful, and thin! (Please let me be delusional for alittle while longer! LOL!) CJL