Total life / image change?

[mirrormonster]

Is it possible? Has anyone ever lost weight and / or changed their image?

I don't remember ever feeling pretty. At the moment I am fat / spotty / boringly dressed and shy.

I want to feel pretty - to look pretty too.

I am trying to lose weight and get fit and just ordered some bare minerals make up to try and get that me but better look.

I want to learn to speak properly and stand up straight, to flirt and be charming and to make the most of myself and to actually feel like I am special and not just this dull, average lump of a person.

How do you go about changing?

I want to be more like the inner me - the one that I hide away because of no confidence but don't want to be fake.

I wouldn't say I had a total change, but I did decide last year to go back to being 'me' instead of mumsy.

Instead of trying to reinvent everything in one go, I tried to acquire a new 'habit' every couple of weeks. Some of them included:

• spending 5 mins a day on filing nails or exfoliating or cleansing properly or something
• eating healthier
• exercising more
• sleeping enough
• wearing a bit of make up every day, even of not intending to go anywhere
• drinking plenty of water

And, most importantly of all, colour and style analysis with House of Colour. Really, really valuable.

Oh, and i'm sure you're lovely and attractive! I think the most valuable thing you can do for your self esteem is try to be a better version of yourself instead of some mythical person you think you ought to be. For instance, I cannot flirt or charm or anything like that, but I can be direct and interested in people.

When I ha DD1 and then DS in quick succession (about 3 or 4 weeks between birth and pregnant again) I completely ballooned, my skin went to shit as did my hair and nails. I was suddenly fat, looked a wreck and I think I just lost my personality.

If I'm honest I had spent my teens and early twenties as a confident person, I did feel pretty, I had a great body and great hair and always got to be the fashionable one of my friends. I felt really lost when that changed. I had been at the start of a career in fashion. I felt i could no longer do this as I looked so awful and I didn't know who I was.

When DS was about 3 months old I started and I'd say there was a big change within 6 months and a complete change by the time he was a year old.

I'd prioritise being physically healthy and minor changes. I take a cocktail of vitamins each morning, but however you want to do it make sure your getting lots vitamins so your skin, hair and nails look good and you feel better in yourself.

Make a detailed list of what you want to change. Then work out what can be done about each point. Start with the simplest things. For example implement a skincare routine, start with the basics 3 steps then add in extras if you need it. I recommend Liz Earle although its not right for everyone. Make a certain day a week when you give yourself a manicure and pedicure. By starting with small things, the fact that changes won't be instant won't dishearten you. You can schedule things in with apps like homeroutines.

Also be realistic, can you be happy with yourself without losing weight? If you can thats great, start working with it. If the answers no, which it was for me then lose it an lose it any way you can. I did my change back in the late 90s so I didnt have all this Dukan, Atkins business and I did the Scarsdale diet. All in all I lost 5 stone. I found once I'd lost the first stone and found my clothes looser I started to get more confident. If you have a lot to lose start with smaller goals and reward yourself when you succeed. Also remember that if you cheat its not a big deal just carry on as if you hadn't.

While I was loosing weight I used to save a bit of money each week and cut clothes out of magazines which I liked, it really became a hobby and when I was ready to overhaul my wardrobe i had the funds and I'd figured out a list of basic things I felt I had to have and could build a wardrobe around. Nowadays I'd use the amazon wishlist feature for this.

Have a look on youtube, there are some great makeup and hair people you can learn from and in turn work out what suits you. What about when you've reached a certain weight goal have a consultation with a good hairdresser or a personal shopper.

I agree with Hopefully don't try and be something you're not, make the best of who you are.

This post has become a essay, sorry but yeah feel free to pm me with any questions or for motivation.

I completely changed. I had never taken care of myself, and had no interest in clothes, make up, appearance, exercise or healthy eating.

After I had my last child, I was 32, size 18 and 13 stone. I had short hair, and wore jeans and t shirts, never wore make up.

Now I'm 37, a size ten, longer hair, dress up every day and wear make up every day.

It was a fairly gradual process, and I didn't know this is where I would end up when I started.

I was just really unhappy, and knew I needed to lose weight. My original goal was to get down to a size 14. Well, over the course of a year, I got down to a size 10, and felt great. Still dressed and looked like a boy though.

Then, a school reunion spurred me on to grow my hair. Then I gradually started getting interested in clothes and make up. I read a lot of style blogs and watched a lot of make up tutorials.

I think this is the real me now. I feel happy in myself, and confident. The biggest change is in how people react to me. I know it shouldn't be like this, but I am treated in a much more positive way, by both men and women, now, than I was before. I was invisable before, and now people want to talk to me and to know me. Isn't that awful and shallow? It's true though.