My one regret before starting my journey

I know the feeling. I finally did find a photo, but am not brave enough to put up the comparison. I was at least 330, maybe more.

I took before pictures and now 4 years into maintenance I still look at them once in a while. It's a good reminder to myself of where I started-keeps me focused and gives me a kick in the bum when I feel like getting lazy with this whole thing.

I can relate in that, while I do have start photos, I don't have any pictures I didn't delete of my top weight in the 250's. I erased myself from 2 years of my kids' lives and thats sad to me on a lot of levels (including my lack of reference points)

lorrpb wrote: »

Save one set of before clothes for future comparison. They will tell the story.

100% behind this. I have one skirt I am hanging onto even though it's basically a rag with a zipper, because I was wearing it the two times I realized my size was getting out of control. The first time I was with with my then-boyfriend and I complained the waistband was too tight and that the other skirts from that company were fine. He said, "maybe it's you and not the skirt". (I honestly wasn't offended when he said that because he was the sweetest guy on Earth, just a little socially clueless.)

The second time I was close to my highest weight and working for a stage company. As a result, we had a lot of full-length mirrors around which I've never had at home. So I'm twirling and totally actress-ing out in the office bathroom and I catch a glimpse of the back of my knees peeking out from The Skirt. I stop twirling. The only thing I see are...butts. Little butts hanging off the backs of my knees. Knee butts. Saggy, gross, deformed looking Knee Butts.

So, the ragged skirt stays in the closet and I'm wearing that kitten the day I hit goal. 20lbs to go and that *kitten* can become a dustrag for all I care.

(I will add, a photograph won't even tell the whole story depending on lighting and other circumstances. If you charted my photographs from 2015-2016, I look schlubby and lumpy and then over a couple of months magically look elegant and poised. This had nothing to do with weight– if anything I was gaining at the time– but has everything to do with the fact that I became a professional tour guide, realized I'd show up in a lot of random family photographs from my guests, and learned how to pose.)

So I have the opposite issue. I have lots of unflattering "beginning" photos - in bathing suits that I wouldn't be caught dead in out in public, in my workout clothes, in undies. My problem is that a decade ago when I lost a bunch of weight and got into great shape, I never took a pic. I know I was small, and fairly fit, but I have no photo evidence. I distinctly remember rocking a crochet string bikini. I would kill for a photo of that so that I can remember that I looked like that once and I can get there again. Lesson for me: my present to myself when I hit my goal is some professional fitness inspired photos. Shallow I know, but I think it will help me stay motivated.

Mine was not taking measurements at the beginning. I took them yesterday - about a month in but I wish I took them at the start too. I have tons of pictures of me fat - and some from when I was young and skinny. I actually printed them out and look at them all the time. I look at the fat pictures to remind myself of who I don't want to be anymore and the skinny ones as motivation to get back to where I once was!

76Crane76 wrote: »

My journey is not that way. I didn't photograph myself and I do not regret it! I am focusing on my health and the way I feel! I WILL photograph myself when I hit my goal because I know that girl from a longtime ago and I want to recognize her, not the person she became. We are all individual and this journey is custom made for you!

Thing is-the further along into maintenance you go, the easier it is to do the whole mind games thing. I honestly do not have any memory of how I looked and felt back before my weight loss phase-none. I don't remember feeling run down. I don't remember always being out of breath from walking. I don't remember having a hard time getting into my jeans. I don't remember having a double chin. The further away from that time, the more faded it becomes. And when that happens it's very easy to convince myself that I don't have to stay focused anymore. That it's ok to let things slide. That I don't have to keep tracking my calorie intake in some form. As time has gone on I've forgotten where I used to be-and that's very dangerous.

Maintenance is for the rest of your life and it's where most people fail. I'm not to the 5 year mark yet-most people don't even make it to 2 years.

My before pictures are one of the tools in my weight management plan, and they're just one more thing that I can use, to help me get through this process.

Having before pictures is a good way to keep focused-even more so in maintenance. There have been numerous times over the past 4+ years where I've hit walls and have felt like I don't want to do this anymore-because I don't remember the 'before'. That's when I pull up my before pictures-to have physical proof of where I used to be, so I remember.

eta: this is also why I have blood work done twice a year. It's another tool I use, to keep me focused on why I'm doing this whole thing.