Weight Loss before & after pictures.

[FluffyPaws01]

I'm willing to accept IABU but I am not a fan of them in the slightest, if anything I think they are damaging & unessassary. I can't quite work out the need or thought process which leads people to post them.

Help me out do I just need to pipe down hahah!

For context I am a healthy weight size 10 before anyone tries to say I'm envious.

I personally love seeing before and after photos, gives me motivation to say no to the work biscuit tin!

YABU.

My self image is so fucking screwed that I genuinely can't tell the difference when I'm 12 st vs when I'm 8. In the mirror I am exactly the same shape.

i really struggle to keep on track as I don't see any progress.

I was those weights pre digital camera so I don't have any record. I wish I had as it would be a tangible view of my body changes.

I'm somewhere in the middle now, and need to get off my arse and start exercising for health rather than weight loss. I am going to do before and after pics so once I reach my goal I can hopefully see there is a big difference and not slip back as there's no point as I don't look any different.

Why don’t you get down off your high horse and have a

I have lost 3.5st in the last year and if I want to post a before and after picture, I will do. Because the weight loss has been gradual and sometimes I can’t see any difference when I look in the mirror. The before and after pics help remind me of how far I’ve come.

So yeah, YABU!

"The before photo stigmatized as bad and the after good for dropping weight? This isn't sending the wrong message to people?"

Nope. The before picture is someone who was, unhappy, in pain from just walking, comfort eating, pre diabetic, stopped taking part in life/enjoying clothes. The after picture is someone who has achieved a very difficult goal, in some cases, have beaten one of the hardest addictions.

I've been miserable for three years because of my weight. I'm now using VLC products. I have to log into FB daily, sometimes hourly to keep going.

Seeing before and after pictures has helped immensely. Taking them has helped. A lot of us stop looking in mirrors. We throw on leggings and tunics etc.

What has been a big help is seeing the pictures and journeys of Women, like myself, with health issues who are 50+.

Many obese people go into denial that's there's a way out. Pictures are real evidence that there is.

I've lost two stone and I'm looking ok, got my face back etc, but this is the time i usually slip back. The pictures are there to stop that. We're having a weekly Christmas count down. 2lb a week weight loss is two stone by Christmas. Many of us vow every year to not be the size we are next Christmas/New Year, but we are, but we don't have to be.

I like them (though I've never posted any of my own).
Why shouldn't people post pictures of themselves? The majority of people have to work hard to change their bodies and it's useful to see that progress in photos.
If you don't like them then just ignore those threads. People can post whatever they like as long as it's in the forum/platform rules.

Weight loss ‘journey’

Do you mean you’ve lost some weight?

How much weight did you lose OP?

Are you a little bit miffed you didn't do your own before pictures?

I am at the beginning of my weightloss journey (have a whopping 4st to lose) and I've taken a few before pics. They will never see the light of day though. They are for me and me alone.

I’ve got 6 stone to shift, I’ve taken my before pictures, I can’t wait till I can post my after pictures! I like looking at other people’s before and afters, especially ones with the same age and body shape as me.

They help me massively on days where I feel like my hard work is paying off or I get upset that I still look like a whale. I look at my before and afters and realise what I have done is amazing and I can do more.

I love looking at other people's before and afters too, to see what people are capable of putting their bodies through inspires me and makes me want to do it too.

Yabu and a GF. People are proud of having lost weight and want to show how far they've come. Good for them, there's nothing wrong with celebrating your achievements.

YABU. I am following WW and there are loads of before and after pics on their community. I find them hugely inspirational and motivating.

Some people have lost huge amounts of weight and their achievement should be celebrated because what they have done is bloody hard! I “only” have 4 stones to lose but keep falling off the wagon and struggle to maintain a diet. Looking at their achievements spurs me along on days when I want to fall head first into the biscuit tin.

Yeah, it's terrible to see people's progress and the evidence of their hard work and how they've bettered themselves, innit.

If you find it so 'damaging', you're probably just another crab in a bucket.

YABU.

Before-and-after photographs are so inspiring. I love the fat-to-fit (rather than fat-to-skinny) photos, where the person has entirely changed their lifestyle to improve themselves physically and mentally.

You sound bitter to be annoyed at such inspiration, I wonder why though? Are you happy with yourself? It's positive to promote health, fitness and wellness, especially when it's taken so much hard work. :)

Tess Holiday is obese and I’m afraid I don’t think that should be celebrated

I agree, which is the point I was making.
Other than Tess Holidays followers/fans most people including the obese realise they need to lose weight and the before and after pictures are motivational to many as to what can be achieved.

I think you're getting a bit of a rough ride here OP. I am weirdly drawn to looking at Before and After photos but I can see the point that they can reinforce the "look how gross I was before / look how acceptable I am now" narrative. My main problem with them is that whilst I can understand taking them for one's own motivation and to track progress, maybe to show a friend or two, but I'd sooner eat my own hair than post them online.

This is just another first time poster, wind them up and watch them go thread.
It's so pathetic.

MsHopey I too thought you were citing Tess Holiday's views as supportive of the OP's, I'm glad you weren't. I wish we could achieve some middle ground between the Cult of Skinny and the "it's feminist / inspirational to be morbidly obese" movement.

You need to pipe down.

look how gross I was before / look how acceptable I am now

Or it could be "look how unhealthy I was before/look how I changed it so I don't die too early and can actually manage to do stiff like walking up the stairs without being left breathless"...

I think it depends - someone celebrating getting healthier can be a bad thing surely. Like when I see friends who have gone from not being able to work out to running marathons and share their medal, I just think good for you.

But I hate the before and after pics shared by the likes of Herbalife and Slimming teas etc because I think they are disingenuous and irresponsible.

Especially the ones where the before is a daily mail sad face with posture designed to look bigger and the after being them smiling and standing straight.

@FluffyPaws01

I'm willing to accept IABU

Your responses don't reflect this!

*But I hate the before and after pics shared by the likes of Herbalife and Slimming teas etc because I think they are disingenuous and irresponsible.

Especially the ones where the before is a daily mail sad face with posture designed to look bigger and the after being them smiling and standing straight.*

I agree. These are shit.

When you're slimmer, your life isn't magically better. When you're overweight, you're entitled to live, not just wait to be slim.

I agree with this. I am in two minds about this issue - I don't the idea that you are less of a person before you lost weight, but I think that being able to measure progress isn't a bad thing. I prefer fitness gain, or muscle gain to weight loss though. I think there is motivation in the pictures, because when you are overweight, it can be easy to think that you are just always going to be that way, and that 'slim' people have always been slim. Seeing that someone with a level of fitness that you want to achieve, was once where you are now, is motivating. However, I don't like the idea that people with more body fat are less acceptable.

But my opinion is invalid it seems... Cool.
@FluffyPaws01 And EVERYONE ELSE has the right to challenge and counter-argue that opinion. Everyone else's opinion is JUST as valid as yours. Because people are not agreeing with your opinion, don't fucking cry about it. Have a reasonable, debate without getting arsey that you're in a minority or don't post your opinion on a public forum LOOKING FOR OTHER OPINIONS if you're not willing to accept that they are different from yours for fucks sake!!

Well, I find them absolutely brilliant and inspiring.

Maybe just don't look at them?