Old photo's, a good or a bad thing?

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jennifermads1
jennifermads1 Posts: 37
in Health and Weight Loss
I was just going over the old photograph's on my laptop. I have injured my foot so this week the only exercise I can really do is walk :/. I have just found 4 old photos where I am 3 sizes smaller. I am embarrassed that I let bad times get me down and I have piled on the weight and its my fault. It seemed to snowball one minute my life was great the next, my one and only grand parent died, I had university interviews and exams. All my family started arguing then I had to move house. The next thing I know its 3 and a half years later. I have a BA HONS Degree but I am also a size 16. I look a lot healthier in the photos in theory they should give me a boost as I could look like that again but really they have just made me sad.

Has anything like this happened to anyone else.

Replies

  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
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    I try not to look at old photos right now. I concentrate on where I am currently and how I'm going to get back to that point. If I look at old photos I find that it's more discouraging then if I just focus on where I am now. I'm sure in a few months after I've lost some weight I'll feel differently.
  • jennifermads1
    jennifermads1 Posts: 37
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    Same, I am just concentrating on being healthy and it is working. I found the photo's by accident but then again Freud said there are no accidents lol :)
  • SheilAnneSmith
    SheilAnneSmith Posts: 202 Member
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    My situation is kind of the opposite. I've always been overweight and so many of the important photos I have make me cringe,and go why did I let myself be that way and not get healthy sooner. High school senior photos, graduation, college graduation and wedding photos are all of me about 100 pound heavier and is sucks not being able to like any of those photos most people look back on and cherish! I guess either way we are never happy huh? Best of luck on your journey, stay strong and before you know it, you'll be back to where you were then.
  • squirrelythegreat
    squirrelythegreat Posts: 158 Member
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    Old photo's are a good thing for me as I near my goal weight its the only way I can -really- see the change. They are what they are. I find them motivating for now :)

    Though I did recently find a picture where I was maybe 8? I really was a scrawny little kid at one point :D
  • ChristinaR720
    ChristinaR720 Posts: 1,186
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    Old photos remind me where I came from and make me even more determined to never go back. They are a major source of inspiration for me, as are the progress photos I have taken along the way.
  • twistygirl
    twistygirl Posts: 517 Member
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    Yup, but I keep them to remind me I am still that Fabulous person, Your no quitter you could have woke up to the problem like many people do over 300lbs. You are very blessed to have caught the problem at a size 16, I wish, size 22 before I said enough is enough. Now all you can do is get up and fight. Keep the photos and take some new ones love the body your in. Someday soon you will look back and say Hell NO I will never look like that again.
  • jennifermads1
    jennifermads1 Posts: 37
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    Its interesting as I study photography but I specialize in fine art. But part of the first term was the physiological effect of self portraits and everyone's views was very mixed.
  • MummyHungry
    MummyHungry Posts: 82 Member
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    I'm really sorry for the loss of your grandparent.

    Weight gains happen. First thing to do is recognize that a gazillion other people have fallen victim to the same sorts of things, and that you are not alone in having a weight gain after some crappy life events...so forgive yourself. Then print out one of the pics and tape it next to your monitor. If your foot is still hurting, maybe you can find some chair aerobics videos on youtube and get in a good workout without even having to stand up on it. Take a picture now, then take another one when you first hit size 14, and hang them side by side under your goal pic so that you can see your progress.

    Getting sad and discouraged happens too. =( Don't beat yourself up over a normal emotional response. But staying that way will make it harder to get back to how you were in those pictures. Good luck, and I hope things get happier for you soon!
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
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    Old photo's are a good thing for me as I near my goal weight its the only way I can -really- see the change. They are what they are. I find them motivating for now :)

    Though I did recently find a picture where I was maybe 8? I really was a scrawny little kid at one point :D

    I think that's what will happen to me when I get closer to my goal; but for now I'm still too close to my highest weight ever -- so seeing old photos just adds that 'wtf happened the past two years' mentality.
  • jamielynas
    jamielynas Posts: 366 Member
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    my current photo is from before my anorexia, I'm using it as motivation.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    Abaolutely! This has happened to me. But then i decided my health was more important than recreational eating. Now i weigh. 2 pounds less than when. I graduated from high school and am in the smallest size jeans of my adult life ... I look back at pictures of me in. 26 years since i graduated from high school and wonder why it took me till i was 53 years old to make the healthy lifestyle commitment...

    But i am so much happier 46 pounds lighter and enjoy life more than ever! The best way i look at it is my next 50 years will be healthier !
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Photos have been my biggest motivation, whether it's "I looked like this once, I can do it again" with a thinner photo, or progress photos as I lost.
  • wbandel
    wbandel Posts: 530 Member
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    I found them encouraging. As I lost weight I could look at my old photos and think "it took me three years to gain this much, and only four months to get rid of it". Now I'm smaller than any of the pictures I have from my middle school years and up. It's a bit shocking now to look at the heavier me, cause I'm just now starting to realize I got that big (before I never saw myself that way). I get a bit embarrassed that I let myself go, but it's nice seeing how happy I look in my pictures with my family and friends. I still like the old heavy me in pictures, I just don't want to look like her or have the same health problems. I hope that makes sense.

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