"fat" picture - motivating or de-motivating?

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AlisonMulhare
AlisonMulhare Posts: 28 Member
in Getting Started
Here's a question for you all - do you find it more motivating or de-motivating to have a "fat" picture of yourself on display? I'm debating adding some to my profile......
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  • evivahealth
    evivahealth Posts: 571 Member
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    Totally motivating! I find it a fantastic way to measure success when I see photos where I've clearly lost weight. Who doesn't love a good before and after pic?
  • 50extra
    50extra Posts: 751 Member
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    100% motivating for me. At the start it did nothing, but after a couple months when I put my fat picture next to my current picture, it finally allowed me to see what the scale was telling me. I look in the mirror every single day so any changes are hard to notice. Now I see what can happen with a couple months of hard work and motivation, and it makes me want to put in the effort again so that I can see what happens in a couple months from now.

    For me the number on the scale and the way clothes fit isn't enough, I need physically see proof as to what is happening to validate the work that I put in.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    edited May 2016
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    AlisonMulhare wrote: »
    Here's a question for you all - do you find it more motivating or de-motivating to have a "fat" picture of yourself on display? I'm debating adding some to my profile......

    I took several 'before' pictures on my old phone and then only saved one. Now several years later I'm so mad at myself for not having saved the rest, because even 3 years into maintenance I still look at that one before picture regularly to remind myself of where I've been.

    I actually think it's been more of a help in maintenance, than it was in the weight loss phase. Maintenance is where it gets really easy to lose focus and start justifying poor choices, so when that starts happening I look at that picture to remind me that I do need to stay focused for the next 40-50 years. Also, the further along in maintenance I go, the more I forget what I actually looked like back then, which also feeds into the losing focus aspect.

    And yes, I have that one picture loaded into my MFP profile picture area :)
  • seanafvet
    seanafvet Posts: 57 Member
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    motivating so you can see the progress you are making along the journey.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
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    Very, very motivating. It lets me vividly remember how miserable I was and how badly I wanted to be where I am today. I won't ever let myself forget that.
  • AlisonMulhare
    AlisonMulhare Posts: 28 Member
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    WOW @evelynwhitelaw and @ReaderGirl3 - you're before and after pics are amazing!! Well done!!! I've added some pics to my profile - I hope mine will show such great success one day!


    @50extra - I've read your story and I really like your plan around losing. You're doing great so far - keep up the good work. I started on the 8th Jan 2016 and I'm at 15lbs - it's slowed down but I'm in it for the long haul - not a quick win so I'm still keeping going.
  • 50extra
    50extra Posts: 751 Member
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    15 pounds since the start of the year is a real nice loss and at an extremely sustainable rate. Good job.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    I don't find it motivating. I do have before/during pictures that helped me when I thought I wan't getting on as I should.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    I think it CAN be motivating for people depending on how they view it.

    I think for most people it's motivating if it's a "look how far I've come" but I think it can potentially be demotivating if it's something that stems from self hate/shame.
  • Quasita
    Quasita Posts: 1,530 Member
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    Personally, I don't post up pictures as say, my profile picture, and call them my "fat" picture because I feel like it's insulting to myself. Not in the sense that calling myself what I am, as in fat, is insulting, but the mentality behind the whole "Remember this? You don't want to be this again, do you?" that is behind the visual reminder. However, I do keep pictures of me at my biggest and at various stages, so that I can make things like this when I feel down about my progress...

    4536ofngv2ec.jpg
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
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    ReaderGirl3 wrote: »
    AlisonMulhare wrote: »
    Here's a question for you all - do you find it more motivating or de-motivating to have a "fat" picture of yourself on display? I'm debating adding some to my profile......

    I took several 'before' pictures on my old phone and then only saved one. Now several years later I'm so mad at myself for not having saved the rest, because even 3 years into maintenance I still look at that one before picture regularly to remind myself of where I've been.

    I actually think it's been more of a help in maintenance, than it was in the weight loss phase. Maintenance is where it gets really easy to lose focus and start justifying poor choices, so when that starts happening I look at that picture to remind me that I do need to stay focused for the next 40-50 years. Also, the further along in maintenance I go, the more I forget what I actually looked like back then, which also feeds into the losing focus aspect.

    And yes, I have that one picture loaded into my MFP profile picture area :)

    ^^So much this. It was cool to compare to my old overweight photos when I was losing but I find it much more important now that i'm maintaining since you don't see other changes like the number on the scale happening anymore. Keeping a before and after photo here and looking at it often is a constant reminder of how much I don't want to ever lead that type of lifestyle again.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
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    Nope, don't want to see it. No before pictures at all.
    The thought of how I was, and never wanting to go back, is all the motivation I need to keep tracking.
    I do have one pair of size 24W jeans that I kept though and every once in a while I pull them out and try them on.
    Size 8 now, and I like it much better.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
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    Neither.

    I don't feel hate/shame about my fat pics, but I can't really relate them to where I am now either.

    For me it is clothes. That is why I have a pair of fat pants.

    There are actually some pics of me from the past summer nearby and I can't really look at them and see that I look so different, but I know I still use those same shirts, only now some of them are looking more like dresses.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    edited May 2016
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    AlisonMulhare wrote: »
    Here's a question for you all - do you find it more motivating or de-motivating to have a "fat" picture of yourself on display? I'm debating adding some to my profile......

    Depends on the person I guess. But for me, I find it better to have pictures of myself at my thinnest weight that I want to reach. I have a couple of pics of myself on my bedroom mirror from seven years ago when I was at my goal weight :) Helps to keep me motivated to see where I want to be at and not where I was.
  • imoblivion
    imoblivion Posts: 9 Member
    edited May 2016
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    I don't have a "fat" picture per se, but there a few pics when I wasn't in shape..I gauge my size by a pair of pants that I had before I had to stop working out due to injury. I jokingly call them my judgment jeans and I can see how and what is not working or what needs to be toned up by the way they fit.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,023 Member
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    I find them motivating, but I would not want to have one displayed where others could see it.
  • katie22mfp
    katie22mfp Posts: 386 Member
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    Motivating
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    AlisonMulhare wrote: »
    Here's a question for you all - do you find it more motivating or de-motivating to have a "fat" picture of yourself on display? I'm debating adding some to my profile......

    To me it's totally motivating. You sometimes wonder if you can do it and then you look at what someone started with and where they are now, yeah I can do this. My biggest regret is I didn't take pictures along the journey but I do have a pair of pants that remind me of where I was and I swear I'm never going back. As long as you feel comfortable do it.
  • Noelani1503
    Noelani1503 Posts: 378 Member
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    Whatever works for you. It'd be demoralizing for me. I'd rather focus on where I want to go.
  • Etsar73
    Etsar73 Posts: 260 Member
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    It's a before picture from 1999 that motivates me. It's been on my fridge :smile: zq0dw5n0sbca.jpg

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