Am I Crazy for Crying Myself to Sleep Over This?

If you are happy with your progression and you are grounding in your beliefs about what you are doing for yourself is the best thing for you...don't fret over one picture. My mom didn't take many pictures, she said she captured the moments in her heart and could recall snapshots of her life that had meaning. Photos only sparked these memories--and that's what they should be, sparks.

I understand that one picture is worth a thousand words, however, it's not what you see in a picture. You are wishing it was a video, or maybe a picture of just before the picture was taken or just after the picture was taken. Sometime a picture does not represent us in the best light, in the best likeness of who we are or who we've become.

Let your friend have the snapshot, and you concentrate on your journey. You will look to that picture in a couple of months and smile about the wonderful time you had with friends. Trust that and continue on! You will be amazed at the accomplishment you will "see".

Have a great weekend!!

Just remind yourself of how far you've come, and what you've achieved. You're noticing the difference in yourself, and people around you are ntoicing. Honestly, anyone can have a bad picture taken, even celebrities who are slim and are considered beautiful by millions of people still have awful pictures taken of them. There are good and bad angles for photos and in the blink of an eye you can have a double chin (even if you don't normally) or you might be pulling a funny face for a second, and the camera catches that. Don't forget also that we are usually our own worst critic. Your husband probably doesn't think it's a big deal because he sees you everyday and can see what you really look like.

Chances are your friend didn't stop to think you'd be upset by it. I've taken bad pictures of other people and just laughed and forgotten about them, not because I don't care about the person, but it's a funny picture and not really representative of how they look. Of course, bad pictures of me tend to stick in my head a little longer! I reently went to an event where I thought I was looking ok, felt much better about myself since losing weight. Some photos were taken by a press photographer. For the first time in ages I felt ok about it and didn't hide. Well - I saw the photo in the paper, and though I looked awful! Felt bad about it, but then relised the other people didn't look too good either. Just a bad picture!

I don't know if your profile picture is current at all, but you look very pretty in that. I'm sure you looked fine at the wedding (as backed up by the friend you saw just before!) and it really was just a one-off bad picture. Don't let it get to you too much, you've still achieved an awful lot and should be really proud of yourself!

I agree with keeping the picture (for yourself) for motivation . But put it away for now. I have a picture of me from last summer when I thought I looked pretty good.....I got it from a family member framed for me at Christmas (family pic) and I look AWFUL!! I cried. Then I started a serious life change. Havent stopped. My sister is constantly taking pics of me and saying how wonderful I look while Im picking apart the picture and feeling the need to go run some more.... I have told everyone NOT to post any pics of me on FB until I have approved them. She was offended at first but I said she may think its a good picture of me...but how about that one I took of HER at Christmas where I love her hair and think its a good picture...and she hates it...should I post THAT all over the world? She saw my point. Now she posts none works for me! I will post what I want.

I know where you are coming from....In the mirror I know I look ok, Ive done well losing 46lbs and strength training has toned me up, and people comment positively on my weight loss....but I see photos of myself and just want to cry, as if all my hard work was for nothing, and I still look HUGE! Maybe its because in a mirror there's only me, whereas on a photo there are usually other people on it that you compare yourself too? I still have 40lbs to go, so although I've come far...I need to tell myself I'm only half way

I'd just ask her if she'd take it down, and you can easily untag yourself......we all take bad photos from time to time, try not to let it get to you xx

i say take your own picture or have your husband take your picture . the way you want it to look (exp clothes you feel great in ) and post your own picture on face book, when i lost all my weight before (66#) in my eyes i looked different in the mirror than i did in a picture , a good picture can help encourage you . cameras can take odd and strange angle pictures of us that are not true to life .Unforntunaly some people like to display that when they can . If she is a real friend she will hear your hurt and take the pic off, Dont let one pic derail all your hard work. you are stronger than that and worth more than that , good luck. And try to let it go.

Some people put up unflattering photos of others to make themselves look better. She should have known better. Your weight loss is awesome so don't get upset over one photo. It is amazing the horrible picture that a camera can capture in a millisecond....even of skinny super models. That's why they take 3000 pics only to use one for a magazine!!!

I totally agree with being upset by the picture, it sucks when someone tags and its not a nice pic. Un tag yourself and kindly ask your friend to remove it. They probably are not looking at it as critically as you are, perhaps were even proud of all you have accomplished. You should be proud as well.

i maybe in the minority here but i have seen pictures of my self now(after losing 45 pounds, and 13 away from where i want to be) and want to cry. but i think it's because i know how hard i have worked, the struggles i have gone through and still see how much further i need to go.......i cry because i just want to be there already....happy with my body! i do recognize the change in myself but it just not good enough yet! stop cryin and throw that frustration into the workout!:flowerforyou:

No you are not crazy. You are sensitive and need encouragement. I am sending some your way. It is amazing how critical we or others can be about pictures. My sister put pictures of me on facebook that I hate. Three comments were made by family of how beautiful I look. All I see is arm fat and fat belly. All they saw was my beauty. Today I will be mindful of the beauty that others see in me until I see it in myself. Stop crying. A picture is worth a thousand words. A thousand calories not eaten. A thousand minutes exercising. A thousand centimeters gone off your body. No need for a thousand tears unless they are tears of joy. Not tears of sadness. Hope this reminds you of how far you have come and what a good job you are doing.

As others have said.....make sure to do a comparison of how far you've come.

One thing that I have found interesting (pathetic?) about myself in the past few weeks is that my self-image is actually worse right now than it has ever been. When I was bouncing around 175 lbs, I felt pretty good about myself even though I knew that I needed to lose weight. I'm down about 20 lbs since I started MFP on February 2nd, but when I look in the mirror, I feel fatter and more out of shape than I did then.

Logically, I know that I've made tremendous progress, but when I look in the mirror, my gut "feels" bigger than it did when it was actually 5 inches larger. I feel like I've got a good grasp on the situation, but I now understand how people get anorexia and struggle with losing too much. BTW, I'm quite far from being anorexic at this point! Personally, my biggest issue is that by working hard and losing weight, I now understand how much more work that I need to put in still and it can be frustrating. I'm still plugging away and every once in a while, I take a look at my progress pictures to remind myself that it has been worth the effort.

Hey Elle, maybe this will make you feel a little better: my dad and stepmother printed a photo BOOK last year with the most horrid picture of me and distributed it to all the relatives. No "untagging" that!
I did ask them NOT to post it to FB. (BTW they did have lots of photos that were much more flattering!)