I have been on a diet routine for four weeks now, not terribly long but have noticed some changes with a 5+ pound weight loss already. I have been feeling better about how I look and how I feel, with lots of visualization on how it will be when I reach my goals.

Some photos were taken of me today, and because of digital, I saw them right away. And I feel like I look awful, I wish I had never seen them. I feel so far from my goal now, whereas in my mind I have been plugging along and doing great, feeling great. Now it's hard to get those photos out of my mind. :(

Just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences and if so, how you overcome it.

My first thought is that if you shot yourself with a wide angle it might look terrible!
(Lots of digital cameras have wide angles, and really an 80mm lens is the most flattering for portraiture.)

Second, you might post one or two of the pics here in the pictures forum, because I think we'll all tell you, you don't look as bad as you think. :)

I wish I had never seen them. I feel so far from my goal now, whereas in my mind I have been plugging along and doing great, feeling great. Now it's hard to get those photos out of my mind. :(

Just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences and if so, how you overcome it.Sabrina,

My experience is less experiential and more just from reading about motivational processes (I'm in the sales business).

My advice is to find a photo of yourself, even if it's from some time ago, that better reflects your aspirations for your target weight, and make a couple of copies of it:

1) wallet size

2) small poster size

(in these days of colour xeroxing, it's quick and cheap to do this sort of copying and enlarging)

On both of your photos, lightly stick a bit of paper with your current interim weight goal (not your final goal, as that may be too far down the road to have much impact on you).

Look at one of your photos, whenever you're having trouble getting that other photo out of your mind, and, when you'd like a reminder of where you're heading.

rD

Thanks, oggie! :) I understand about the wide angle thing, but I was also next to other people and they looked okay - I was basing my reaction on proportions to them, too. I did think about that though and perhaps that has a little impact, but it was still shocking.

The photos belonged to someone else, I don't have them, and probably weren't really that great to put here anyway (with furniture and other people in part of the way).

Hi, r-D! Great advice, actually I flipped through some of the old photos I like a few weeks ago and it had a very positive impact. I like the idea of copying one and carrying it around, I will try that. Already did the poster thing with two photos, they've been up for years. :) Guess I need to look at them more, would be nice to get the photos from today out of my head. :laugh:

I just posted an experience similar to that in my journal. My best friend is a size 0, and next to her, I look monstrously huge. Even when I feel like I've been eating well and I'm losing pounds, a bad picture can make me feel fat again. I know exactly what you mean.

Hi Sabrina,

Boy, do I understand. I don't know if you have looked at my profile pic, but the fat pic of me was taken when I had lost 15 lbs and was feeling pretty cocky. We were all out celebrating a birthday and I asked if my hubby would take one of me. My clothes were looser, my shape was different, my jewelry was loose and people noticed. Well, I was crushed when the photo came back. I looked so godawful. I felt like I had not lost a pound or even gained. It had a profound effect on my dieting.

It's hard not to be too unrealistic about how we feel vs. how we look. I have heard it said that our weight changes, but our bodies don't, then later the reverse happens. Just look at it this way...think of how much worse you must have looked before you lost the 5...lol. I carry two pics from my 30's with me at all times. It can work both ways...it can give a focus and be a motivator, or like in my case, it is a source of depression since I have not lost anything for over a year now. I look at that early pic and think what an awful thing I did to such a pretty girl.

I see it two ways...either stay away from the camera til goal or half-goal, or plan to privately have a pic taken every 5 or 10 lbs all the way down to goal so you can one day be proud of what you've accomplished or maybe even open a website with your path of success for all to see and maybe give some poor person the impetus to change their lifestyle.

oh yeah! had that experience before, guess i'm not too photogenic either so that doesnt help. it's kind of like hearing your voice on a recording and thinking that's not me! also, have had similar experience to teacher81 where in photos with my good friend who is 5'10 and 125 it makes me look short and fat, and i'm petite & size 0-2! guess its not a good thing to compare oneself to others in photos. on the bright side people, this can be a good thing. my sister is not photogenic either and when people see her in person after only seeing her in a photo they always say how much better she looks in person :laugh:

Most little cameras have wide angle lenses, this is part of the problem. To make a nice picture of yourself, a nice 50-80mm lens is best. Personally I like the 80mm. It sees like my eyeballs do.

Most little cameras have wide angle lenses, this is part of the problem. To make a nice picture of yourself, a nice 50-80mm lens is best. Personally I like the 80mm. It sees like my eyeballs do.oggie,

For a 35mm camera, rather than the standard 50mm lens when taking portraits, using a modest telephoto lens is strongly recommended (say, around 135mm).

This avoids foreshortening of the facial features (especially by avoiding the nose looking too large), and helpfully avoids exaggerating an arm or hand that is in front of the body, from looking too large.

rD

To further clarify-- 80mm is good for full body shots.

Last time I saw myself on video I nearly fell over. I was huge!!!! X-( I've lost a lot of weight since then. :) But I'm still nowhere near ready to pose for anymore videos or pictures. X-(
sexyacura :spring: :spring:

Hon, look at my before and after pictures...I'm like a whole different person! And I'll look at my first picture and think, JEEZ, how did I let myself get that HUGE, and I'll go to the stores I used to shop at and look at my old size and I can actually get both my legs in one pant leg, and I remembering those sizes looked normal to me, and I didn't think I looked fat in pictures, and some of my in progress pictures I'll think, jeez, I can't believe I thought I looked good in those pictures! Some of those pictures. It will take a while before things look normal to you. My size 8 pants look huge to me, my size 6 pants look "normal" to me.....and I remember being a size 20 thinking the size 14's looked like little girl pants. Your perception of things will change and it will take awhile for things to look right, but they will, and even though sometimes you won't want to, take pictures and really look at your progress.