Picture Motivation

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Wrappedinbacon
Wrappedinbacon Posts: 49 Member
in Motivation and Support
My mom said she is going to put up an old picture of herself to motivate her weight loss. My husband said its negative reinforcement. What do you think MFP??

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  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    I think it depends on how you react to the photo. There's a difference between feeling encouraged and feeling you need to be punished.

    I had an old swimsuit photo of me on my desk, and thinking, "That will be me again" kept me motivated.

    If it was on the fridge and every time I went to get some food, it felt like my old self was saying, "Get away, you piggie!" that would have been negative reinforcement.
  • amycal
    amycal Posts: 646 Member
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    I think it depends on the person. I can look at old photos of myself and be motivated!
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,821 Member
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    I have mine up. I can' imagine anyone being motivated by a "fat" picture. My really old photos I was skinny.
  • themetra
    themetra Posts: 174 Member
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    I have a picture of me in a teeny, tiny bikini at eye level on my fridge. Huge motivation for me. I totally think it works!.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
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    I have old pictures of me, so I can see what I'm aiming for. I refuse to put up 'fat' pictures, they make no-one happy.

    I do have my before pics up when I'm really craving crap food. But they're my last resort.
  • thor1god1of1awesome
    thor1god1of1awesome Posts: 481 Member
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    I have a pic with me with my shirt off, I see it as postive. Everytime I see it it pushes me to lose the weight so I dont look like that ever again
  • thor1god1of1awesome
    thor1god1of1awesome Posts: 481 Member
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    I have a pic with me with my shirt off, I see it as postive. Everytime I see it it pushes me to lose the weight so I dont look like that ever again
  • bmmadden
    bmmadden Posts: 499 Member
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    I have an old pic of me on the fridge of my skinnier days and while I know I may not get that thin it still motivates me, so I say do anything that helps some people use old fat pics, I think to get on board with this to the full extent you do have to do little things like that and find fat pics too as well as old thin pics, take a before shot, find your biggest pair of pants to keep to have to step into as well as a goal outfit,do measurements and that way you have something to compare to once a month and it becomes your own personal project which just happens to be oneself, but in doing these things it keeps people motivated throughout the journey especially if they have alot of weight to lose
  • youcandoitjess
    youcandoitjess Posts: 58
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    I guess it really depends on the person. I don't have any real key things that trigger me to stay motivated. I can talk myself out of going to the gym and into eating a large steak & cheese sub in a matter of 3 seconds and not a single picture is going to do me any good! I have some pictures of me from 2004 when I was at my lowest weight and I have some from 2007 when I was at my highest weight. None of them really "motivate" me in a sense that's noticeable to me but I created a side-by-side photo (my main picture) so that I can see actual progress in my weight-loss. I think that's what is most inspiring to me is when I'm seeing that what I'm doing is actually paying off.
  • Paula_Addem
    Paula_Addem Posts: 80 Member
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    Mine are a friendly reminder. I don't like what I see and I remind myself that I don't want to ever be there again. Photos help motivate me for sure!
  • deabora
    deabora Posts: 20 Member
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    After reading all these I am changing my picture. I have a fat picture on my phone and all l do is slam it shut when I see it and I get a twinge of disgust. Thats not motivating me. I like the idea of looking forward to what I want to be better then looking back at what I a have been.
  • caitlinsmom07
    caitlinsmom07 Posts: 37 Member
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    No it doesn't work for me
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
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    I keep an old picture on my phone and bust it out from time to time for me it works. It's a picture I took the night I started to really try to lose weight.
  • santini1975
    santini1975 Posts: 175 Member
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    DO IT!!! That's how I got such a great jump start! My mother takes the absolute worst pics of me and sends them to me. I had pics where I had 3 chins, huge stomach rolls, back fat, yada yada yada. I used to throw them away, but last January I cut myself out of them and taped them on the monitor of my treadmill. When I would get tired and want to stop my workout early, I had to look at those awful pics to get to the "stop" button. I never quit early.
    Want extra help? Tape a couple up on the fridge door! That will make you think twice about what you grab to snack on!
  • blueyeb
    blueyeb Posts: 85
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    Hmmmm, I wouldn't think so. Negative Reinforcement strengthens a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior. Using a picture of yourself at a healthy weight you were happy at is positive reinforcement. If it's a picture of yourself at a very heavy weight which invoked negative feelings then it would be negative reinforcement. Either way, it usually works both ways for most people... positive or negative.

    She should definitely use the picture, it happens to be "positive" reinforcement and if it's working then leave it be.
  • 40Rennie
    40Rennie Posts: 28
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    I agree with people that say it depends on the person. What works for one may not work for all. I personally use two pictures, one at my heaviest and one at my smallest. I look at both and ask myself where exactly are you trying to get back to. Believe it or not when I really take the time and study the pictures I can even remember the feelings I get when I was at both sizes. When I'm larger I don't want to be seen and when I'm smaller I can't wait to shop for an event where I will be seen. Now that I say that I will be getting those pictures out again.

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