(There was a time)
I'm not proud of it, but I show off old pictures of myself. It's smug, pretentious, self indulgent, and a shameless ego boost, but I figure if there are people making tons of money doing the same thing (*Cough* Jared, *Cough* Hydroxycut), I can at least impress a few people with a few pictures.
I have my California State Identification Card, in which I am 195 lbs, and I have my Drivers License, in which I am 205 lbs. I have two CA state ID's, and I hold onto both just to show people what I used to look like. I even keep my University ID from my freshmen year, even though it doesn't work any more. For those of you who are curious, I currently weigh 165 lbs, although I have been as light as 155 lbs.
And the reaction is always the same: wide eyed shock, turning into uncomfortable laughter, then into a look of what I hope is respect and admiration. I hope. At the very least, its a great conversation starter.
And then there's Facebook. My tagged photos act as my weight loss time line with each passing picture a little lighter then the last. The true joy in this is that you can flip to your most recent photo, then only click once to see your oldest picture.
If not for these photos, I would forget that I am lighter. To be honest, I look at myself in the mirror and I still see the bulging belly, the jolly man boobs, the flabby arms, and if I didn't have those pictures, I wouldn't know how far I've come. Even my stretch marks are still there. These pictures are the only things I have left to remind me of what I've done and in some way's pictures aren't enough. You can't go back to high school and date that girl who denied you for prom, or you can't go back and show off to everyone who made fun of you, and you can't have people magically come up to you and congratulate your weight loss.
But what you can do is keep a small reminder with you. And it doesn't hurt to show off once in a while.
So how about you? Have you lost a lot of weight? and do you show off? and if you do how?
(There was a time)
Comments (9)
I can relate. I still have some body dysmorphia issues and plenty of stretch marks to annoy me, but I go back to my "before" photos once in a while to remind myself of how far I've come.
I am right with you. I lost sixty pounds, but to me, it didn't really seem to make that big of a difference. I KNOW that I'm not the same person physically. My old pictures have definitely help me see that.
oh wow... how did u do it?? wat was ur routine??? how many times did u work out? im dying to find out wats the best effective way to weight loss... i'm even thinkin about tryin pills but i dont really wanna go there....
wow. thats amazing. good on you.
its a shame we can go back in time and change things.
i did the opposite. i gained a tonne of weight.( 65bls)
haha and everytime people i used to know come up to me and say "wow..you look...................different?" i no its my weight and they dont want to say "your fatterr"
I've never had a weight problem, but I would imagine it'd be pretty damn tough to control if I had one. Therefore I think for someone to lose that amount of weight for the sake of their health, among other reasons is certainly something to be proud of. And why not show off something like that?
I have, 85 lbs to be exact, and to show off....well I don't really show off...other than wearing tight fitting clothes, hitting random body-builder-competition-esque poses. Yah, I'm a douche.
I'm guilty of showing off before & after photos. Not that I lost it all, but I went from 240 to 200. That's not too shabby in my opinion. I like seeing peoples faces when I show them pictures of me at my fattest and then letting them look at me now.
it's great that you've made these changes in lifestyle-- the benefits to your quality of life are better than any congratulations i can offer. which is good because, frankly, i can't bring myself to it--- you lost weight, good. but frankly, no one flashes me a card saying "hey, i was a crackhead and alcoholic before!" expecting me to say, "hey, you look quite clean and sober now!" as a great conversation starter or an unsolicited source of inspiration. so why are you flashing your food addiction in my face? i don't want to see it.
wow i've lost 45lbs(and still more to go..) and i don't really know how to show off. do i bring the 'before' pictures with me all the time? haha. sometimes i don't even recognize myself in the pictures and i've once thought that an old jeans of mine belonged to a heavy uncle of mine - i tried it and ended up swimming in it. it used to hug my waist. i think the day i've reached my desired weight, i would maybe prance around in a bikini all day.. joke.