About Before and After Pictures, how many really do take?

maureenkhilde

I have wondered about this for awhile now, and have not noticed it being addressed. So here goes; are there others who like me.
At some point in our journey of losing weight yes did start taking pictures of ourselves. But at the beginning of said journey no way?

For me, I did not take a full body shot until I had lost the first 50 lbs. For me minimally I am after 120 lbs. Then will address, how many more makes sense.

I personally have found it interesting both here on MFP and on different websites where people discuss all the things they have done on their journey food choices, becoming more active, lots more exercise, all great things. And every single one of them seem to have lots of before, during and yes they made their weight goal.

I have noticed lots of people in their 20's, 30's and even 40's doing this. Not quite as many in 50's and 60's. Just an observation.

nighthawk584

I'm 55 and have many before and after shots on this site....I don't put my face on anything, so I guess that helps putting them out there. I take at least one new photo a week. comparing these to the starting photo on day 1 has been a huge motivator.

jseams1234

I’m 49 and I take them every few months. I’m not really trying to lose weight - I’m a lifter, but the reason I use progress pics should apply. Gaining or losing weight is a very slow process. We see our reflection several times a day and because we see ourselves so often the gradual changes don’t register. It’s motivating to me to be able to see progress and the easiest way are pictures spread far enough sort that the changes are obvious.

Edit: actually, I do have a few from a bulk I took way too far before and had to lose more than 50 pounds of excess fat. That picture is a reminder to not go that far again. lol

Luke_rabbit

I have never taken any specifically to document weight loss. Of course, photos of me exist. 😁 Even ones on the internet because apparently this is not something people believe that I should have a say in. Personally I disagree with that, but family seems to think that they have the right to plaster photos of me on their social media.

springlering62

I’m in my late fifties. There’s quite a few of us here, maybe we don’t throw the age thing around. I no longer feel like I’m in my fifties. Maybe that’s why?

@bold_rabbit my daughters are very anti social media and gave me the same social media lecture, esp after I posted wedding photos last month. I told them we paid for the damn thing, my feed is private and I took them down after a week as promised. Mom got to have her brag moment with friends.

Anyway, I have very few photos of me at my heaviest, and didn’t take any at all during the process. About five months and fifty pounds in, I started working with a trainer, who takes photos every session and emails them to me.

Photos have been very helpful with the “body dismorphia” thing. Even now, at eighty pounds down, I don’t feel smaller. I feel like “me”, just proportionally less of me. My friend, the Michelin Man stomach ring, is still with me. My legs and thighs look the same in my head. The mind can play cruel, tricky games. It’s not til I go back and look at the sequence of photos from my trainer that I can wrap my head around it all.

If you haven’t been taking photos, DO!!!! Documenting the process has been instructive, has been motivational, and has helped with the mental challenge.

If you’re as selfie-challenged as me, or as appalled by bathroom-mirror selfies as I am, get someone else to take them for you, preferably from all angles, including behind. It’s very instructive to see your *kitten* as others see it, not as you imagine.

Duck_Puddle

I never took before pics. I don’t even have normal/regular/candid photos of myself at my heaviest.

I didn’t even think to take any until I realized it was a “thing” like I was actually sticking to this. By that point I had lost a considerable amount of weight.

There’s a meme out there that says “I’ve taken so many before pics that I just have a slide show of me getting fatter”. And that was my mindset. I didn’t really see it as a “before” but more a “well let’s see how long this lasts?”

I’ve posted before/during/after pics in assorted places in my years here. But my before pics are just random pics that are kind of close to my highest. Or my driver’s license pic. My during pics are usually race photos or something. Even my after pics aren’t really posed or anything-usually I just took a pic Because I liked the way I looked in the outfit/dress/whatever.

I wish I had pics. But I am also really just happy to be at a place where I can lament that I don’t have before pics.

apullum

It never occurred to me to take before and after pictures. I don't think it's an age thing; I'm in my mid-30s. I think it's just that some people are more interested in taking pictures than I am.

I'm with @Duck_Puddle: it might be in part because I didn't think I'd achieve my weight goal until I'd lost quite a bit of weight. I didn't even believe it was possible for me to lose weight at first; I just figured I'd give this method a try since nothing else had worked. (By "nothing else had worked," of course, I mean that I had never carefully tracked my food to ensure I was consistently in a deficit.)

Megan_smartiepants1970

I have stayed away from cameras most of my adult life....This time around on my weight loss journey I took a before pic and will take one monthly (but for my eyes only)

ReenieHJ

I was always the type to hide from any camera floating around the room. And since I don't own a camera that takes pictures, I'm not one to take selfies. I do have a few photos of me at different weights but since I'm so technologically inept, they'll never get posted. Lol I even tried posting a picture of my dogs to share on the dog thread but had no luck.
Seriously, in all my life there are only a few pictures of myself that I truly like, and it's only because of the people standing next to me.

LuckyStella1

I started my "weight loss" journey in 1996, and only have a few "caught on camera" pics to use as before shots. I began my "fitness" journey in 2002, and began taking photos at that time, as I was in a competition. I take full body shots once a year, just for personal satisfaction. I don't share unless I am in an actual body-composition contest.

Pictures allow you to see where you might want to make some changes in your nutrition and routine. They should be used as a tool to educate and inspire; if it creates a different emotion, you may want to rethink their value and use a different method to record progress.

Notes: I'm 53, record body comp measurements monthly, and have kept the weight off since 1997 (original weight loss 53 pounds; then fitness-related loss was another 10 pounds).

WynterDreaming

I have exactly one full body photo, in jeans and a T-shirt, from my absolute heaviest. By the end of this year, I am determined it will be joined with a full body photo of me at my goal weight, in jeans and a T-shirt. It's been just about 60 pounds since then and almost no photos exist of me between then and now, certainly not any full body ones. I've taken them, sure. But they don't have as much meaning to me as that very first one and as such I have promptly deleted them. Everyone documents their journey in their own way and I allow my scale, my clothes, and my overall fitness to tell my story for me.

Once I get closer I might start trying to take them again just to identify problem areas to work on, but for now they serve no purpose but to make me irritated with myself.

ElizabethKalmbach

Honestly, I can't be bothered to pick up enough of my house enough that the background of a full-body selfie wouldn't be mortifying. I sweep the living room 2x per day, and usually within minutes, one of my dogs has exploded a stuffie or yanked to sofa cover off the sofa to make a nest at the end of the couch, while the other one drags a rawhide chew onto the uncovered part of the couch to leave white slime on everything, while my child immediately "reclaims" the newly discovered space to spread out her latest doll makeover project.

Headshots are easier and don't require that I take off my hoodie, but head shots are largely useless for demonstrating weight loss or lifting progress.

hesn92

The first time I lost weight I didn't take any before photos. I just had to go looking for a full body photo taken of me, not for the purpose of being a "before" photo. I didn't have much weight to lose though... only 20 lbs at that time. I take more pictures nowadays just because I like to see changes, it makes me feel like I'm actually doing something. I really appreciate the ability to add photos into MFP in the "progress" section. That way I don't have random selfies of myself in a bathing suit or whatever on my phone. If someone looks at my pictures I feel like that would be awkward lol