Do you ever regret not taking a before picture?

osche731

Hi there,

I am just starting my weight loss journey and I'm about 15 lbs down. But I haven't noticed a difference. I'm thinking of taking a before picture so I have something to go off of. Do any of you regret not taking a before picture?
On a side note, how many pounds lost did it take for you to really become motivated?

branbuds

Take the photos! So many people talk about how motivating it is when they compare their before pics to their current pics.

tahxirez

I do! I was pretty ashamed of my body so I didn't take any pictures period at my largest. Now I have nothing to compare my healthy weight pictures to. It wasn't pounds lost for me, it was one day where the whole thing just clicked. Weigh all food, log accurately, exercise to get more food, don't skip logging days...it really was that simple but it took that one moment where it all fell in line to really get me going. After that it really only took a couple of months to lose the weight.

GottaBurnEmAll

I do! I don't have a proper before picture because I never let them be taken. The picture that I use as my before picture around these parts is actually around 20 pounds below my highest weight.

Gisel2015

Nope! I never took before pictures and I don't regret it. Probably because I only needed a little over 10lbs to lose but I always let the scale and my clothes guide my progress, and I still do. I don't take measurements too often either because I suck at it.

Hearts_2015

osche731 wrote: »

Hi there,

I am just starting my weight loss journey and I'm about 15 lbs down. But I haven't noticed a difference. I'm thinking of taking a before picture so I have something to go off of. Do any of you regret not taking a before picture?
On a side note, how many pounds lost did it take for you to really become motivated?

Don't forget the tape measure too as that's pretty empowering when you can't see a change in photos! I need to update mine on MFP now they've added more than 3 you can track.

I don't even know if I had to lose a pound to become motivated. When my eating became more normalized and I cut the quantity down I began feeling a whole lot better. Or course once I began moving more I did as well. Pounds off the scale are an indicator but for me I found so many other things motivating as well. Loose clothing, moving around more easily, flexibility, sleeping better etc. Because sometimes it's inches before pounds drop off. I suppose if I had to give a number it would probably be a couple lbs. because any amount makes me feel a chance in my body. I had a lot to lose and still have a chunk to drop but now when I drop some it makes me realize as long as I'm going in the right direction all is good! lol

Oh and regarding photos along the way... I do wish I had taken photos more frequently along the way so I could do more comparisons. Nothing stopping me I suppose and I doubt I'll regret it if I start now. So I think I will start so I don't regret that I didn't later. It seems harder for ppl (from posts I've read) that don't have before photos or only a couple of them to really see the difference in their body changes. Mental changes as well... I don't want to get to a healthier place and still feel like I'm in the same body... that would be a total mind nightmare!

Your thread made me stop and think... thanks!

cwolfman13

My first "before" picture was when I was about 15 Lbs down...at that point you couldn't really tell I'd lost weight anyways because most of it came from my extremities...and I'm pretty sure nobody really could notice that my fingers were skinnier.

Thehardmakesitworthit

YES! Take a posed photo. I REGRET not doing it....but the mind is a powerful thing and I could not bear to see what I had done to this bod. So yes! It is said you should not look back but in this case, you will want to!

Bentforkx

Not enough to go back to that shape to get one!!

DezYaoified

I regret not taking one. I took my 'before' pic after i lost 5 pounds. And i didnt notice any difference until 10 pounds after that! Its slow but when you notice that difference it is so amazing!

shadow2soul

I wish I would have. My highest weight is 260 lbs and the only pictures of me are in a hospital bed or wheelchair (right after emergency csection).
I didn't start taking pictures until I was 210 lbs!! Can you imagine the difference I would see in before/after comparisons if I had actually taken before shots? I regret not taking pictures sooner.

VeggieBarbells

I take pictures regularly, it really helps focus the mind. The camera never lies yet so many are afraid of what the camera tells. I couldn't give a hoot and believe it keeps me on the straight and narrow instead of pretending to myself.

Sidenote: I became motivated when the NSV came thick and fast. I wanted more comments so I tried even more and the rest is history. I hope you keep losing steadily and never ever give up.

Chadxx

Eh, maybe a little but while I don't have "before pictures", there are plenty of pictures from before. It amazes me to look at them and see how much I have changed in only 5 months.

SiegfriedXXL

I regret not taking a formal, posed picture. The "before" picture I use is actually about 25 pounds lighter than my highest. I still look about the same, because as @cwolfman13 already mentioned, it was all from the fingers and legs at first, but it still gives me an idea. I would do it. Even seeing my "almost before" picture gives me a lot of motivation.

rachelr1116

I wish I had a better picture to use as my before picture. The one I usually use is from Facebook and the quality isn't the best. Most of my other pictures of me at my starting weight are of me in some type of costume (I do historical reenactments) so it's hard to get a sense of what I really look like. I do have better pictures from a few weeks after I started using MFP so they're probably pretty accurate, I just know I'd already lost some weight by then even if it was mostly water weight.

cwolfman13

osche731 wrote: »

Hi there,

I am just starting my weight loss journey and I'm about 15 lbs down. But I haven't noticed a difference. I'm thinking of taking a before picture so I have something to go off of. Do any of you regret not taking a before picture?
On a side note, how many pounds lost did it take for you to really become motivated?

I personally think the idea of before, during, and after pictures is good...

But keep in mind that initial weight loss isn't always particularly noticeable...particularly if you have a lot to lose. People tend to have this image in their head of losing weight all over, all at once and that's not how it usually happens.

Our "problem" areas tend to be the most noticeable...and they tend to be where we are really looking for change...but unfortunately our "problem" areas also tend to be primary fat stores which means they are first on, last off.

I lost 40 Lbs all said and done...from 220 - 200 you couldn't really tell unless you were very keen on looking at my fingers or happened to notice that my neck shrunk a bit, etc. from 200 - 190 people (and myself) finally noticed some actual changes as my face became slimmer, I lost the extra chin, and my belly started to shrink. 190 - 180 was a pretty substantial difference in my belly which was the most noticeable of anything...but yeah, that was 40 Lbs later.

Verity1111

Already kind of do and Im down 20-25lbs although Im not saying I want that time at my high weight documented Lol

peaceout_aly

osche731 wrote: »

Hi there,

I am just starting my weight loss journey and I'm about 15 lbs down. But I haven't noticed a difference. I'm thinking of taking a before picture so I have something to go off of. Do any of you regret not taking a before picture?
On a side note, how many pounds lost did it take for you to really become motivated?

My first set "before" picture was after about 4-5 months of lifting. I wish I had a true before picture. That is what keeps you motivated, seeing how far you've come. For me, when I started getting stronger I felt more motivated and it's continued ever since.

peaceout_aly

If I had just gone by my weight as a read of progress, I would have been screwed. I started off around 100 lbs. and am now 115-118 lbs. but significantly more toned and definitely stronger.

Francl27

I have a family picture with me at my highest weight and it's enough for me. Ugh.

lorrpb

Take the pics amd save the outfit!
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10488151/before-and-after-same-outfit/p1

KyleGrace8

I didn't take a formal before picture but honestly I could burn (figuratively since they're all digital) all my before pictures. I hate looking at them But for the sake of the side by side difference it's kind of cool to see the difference.

RAxB

I took progress photos through the MFP app starting in February and when I updated the app in July it deleted ALL of them. I started taking them again and saving them off the app (glad I did as my last update also deleted all the ones I had saved since July), but missing those months is hard because I do like looking where I came from and how I carry my weight at different increments. For 10 pounds I can look not that different and then at like 12 I look so much thinner and then maybe the next 5 look the same and at 6 it's another huge visual difference. It's great to go back to photos you took to motivate future you! I WISH I still had the ones from February through June!

alepro92

Get used to take a picture every 2 weeks, at least at the beginning.
My motivation really kicked off after 5 months. It's not really a big deal but when I compared the pic to the old ones I realized the difference.
That being said, while "motivation" ain't something you can find on the floor, it doesn't come from results alone either. It's psychological: visualize yourself at the end of this journey and do whatever it takes to get there.

JulieSHelms

I have lots of before pictures because it was my daughter's wedding that got me going. When I saw all the pictures of me I couldn't stand what I was seeing. BUT I wish that I had taken an underwear shot and I do recommend that (no one ever has to see it but you).

nutmegoreo

I did take one, and monthly take a new photo for side by side comparisons. It really helps, because my eyeballs don't see what the scale is saying.

kgirlhart

I wish I had taken a before picture. I just had to scrounge around for a picture that I was in, but it would have been nice to have an official "before". I also wish I had taken measurements. I didn't take any measurements until I had lost about 18 pounds.

PandoraGreen721

Take it! I didn't have an "official" before photo...just a blurry phone pic..but that is enough to truly to see how far I've come. To answer the side note question..it only took the first couple pounds for me to remain on track and that was two years ago and I've been committed ever since.

bbell1985

My before picture it just a picture of a bikini I was sending to my mom to see if it was okay. I was sucking in. I wish I had a truthful one from all angles.

canadianlbs

osche731 wrote: »

Do any of you regret not taking a before picture?

yup. i got curious though after regaining most of the initial weight i had lost because i got more interested in eating to support my strength training than i was in just keeping a certain scale weight. so i recently took a 360 webcam clip of myself at my 'new' version of 140 pounds.

i don't have any record of myself at the non-lifter version of the same weight, but i know that i didn't like it nearly as much as i like how this looks. so there's that because i'm sort of casually determined to re-lose five or ten pounds, and this time i would like to have a record of the difference.

dutchandkiwi

No I don;t I have enough pictures of before starting - Plus for me starting MFP was a point in my journey that had started 2 years earlier.