Hi guys

I'm planning to get a nurse to take my picture at various stages while I'm in hospital. I want the photos to be warts and all. The idea is that say 6 months, a year, 2 years after surgery when it's all a distant memory and I reach for that bar of chocolate I'll be able to look back at the photographs and remember what I went through, and hopefully that will stop me from slipping back into bad habits.

Has anyone else done anything similar? Did it work for you?

PS - that's one album that won't be going on my Facebook page!

Ha ha, I originally said I would never put a before on my facebook, but after losing a bunch of weight, I was pretty darn proud of the way I looked, so I did, if for no other reason than to inspire others.

I wish I would have taken pictures at different stages to document my progress. I think it is a great idea.

Whatever pictures you need to help keep you motivated, you should take! I try to take at least one face and one full body shot a month. However, I've noticed in the last month that I am much happier in front of a camera than ever before! I actually posed WITH the bride and friends for a series of pictures at a bachelorette party last weekend! NSV time: I was NOT the biggest girl in the group by a long shot!!!

Not sleeved yet, but I had a lapband for years so here's what I learned and what I will do differently when I have my sleeve. I was not as diligent as I should have been, and even though it's in the past there are still "records" I wish I had.

I had DH take two sets of pictures of me every month. One was nude, the other was in the same outfit. They were full body shots taken head on, and in profile. The nude set so I could see the body changes, and the clothed set so I could see the specific differences in how things were fitting. And scales are rubbish, so this time I'm also going to have him take my measurements. And I'm going to do photos & measurements on the same day, and earmark the photos with that days measurements.

Not only will you see the differences that way, but it will serve as a journal. I thought I'd always & forever remember what I weighed in what picture, and what size I was wearing. I managed a few years, but now for the most part the best I can do are guesstimates. I'd like to still have all that forgotten information, with 20/20 hindsight.

My advice - if you have a tripod, set it to as close of a head-on angle as you can get, and lock the position. Make sure you place it in the same spot everytime, and make sure you stand in the same spot everytime. Even subtle differences in camera height (we all know how unflattering a bottom-up shot can be) or distance can grossly distort your body. If you don't have a tripod, find something in your home to place the camera on, that doesn't move (like a fireplace mantel, or an armoire). Changes will also be easier to notice if you have a solid something behind you, like a stretch of wall, versus something broken up my doors, windows, or wall decor. (I made this mistake last time and won't do it the next time around). If you don't have that, try to at least use the same photographer each time.

When I hit 150 lbs lost, I took the series of pictures and made an animation out of them, so that I could watch my body "shrinking". Day-to-day, it's really hard to see the differences yourself. I tended to just sort of notice, all of a sudden, that a fat roll was gone, or that my bone was sticking out. And looking at pics side-by-side is ok, but there are still differences you won't notice (most people tend to focus on the obvious areas such as stomach, face, and in my case my butt shelf). You don't tend to notice things like your fingers (until one day you're digging apples out of a produce bin and realize your wedding ring has fallen off in there, or go to shake Water off your hands and your ring goes flying across the room), or your ankles (until one day you start walking out of your shoes b/c yes, your feet lose weight too). Collar bones we notice, but not so much the other chest bones (the first time I saw evidence of my sternum it actually freaked me out for a second, because what is that a tumor or something? -- just for a split second.

HTH

I'm thinking of the gruesome ones - swollen belly, vomiting, stitches, looking like hell. I'm having my endoscopy next week so I'm going to ask if someone can take a picture while that's being done. I hope I'll never have to look at them again but I'm sure if anything's going to make me put the treats down it will be that!

diverdiva, scuba or board/platform?

Sorry, that I didn't (and won't) do. For me personally, I don't think it would be motivational. Sorry if I derailed onto the wrong topic, I completely thought you meant progress pics.

I did take incision pictures, to show people where the cuts had been made without having to actually show them my abdomen.

I'm thinking of the gruesome ones - swollen belly, vomiting, stitches, looking like hell. I'm having my endoscopy next week so I'm going to ask if someone can take a picture while that's being done. I hope I'll never have to look at them again but I'm sure if anything's going to make me put the treats down it will be that!

Hi Wheetsin

I'll definitely take the nice progress pictures too! Hopefully they'll be the ones showing that all the suffering was worth it!

Scuba diver...

Wow, I was really wordy up there. I don't mean to do that. I just give "support" in the form of information or anecdotes, usually, and information takes page space.

If it weren't for my progress pics, I would have cognitively distorted my weightloss just as I cognitively distorted my obesity. Only instead of saying things like, "Oh well I blew it today, I'll start my diet tomorrow" I would have been saying, "I'm not smaller, these pants just stretched out a lot."

Have you been overweight for a long time? Have you ever lost a significant amount of it before? If yes, and then kinda regardless of answer, you'll probably have body image challenges too. I was constantly asking DH, "Am I her size? Do I look like her?" because I really just had no concept of what my body looked like other than in the mirror. Pictures really helped with perspective.

(DH is certified open Water, I'm certified advanced with deep, night & nitrox... you will enjoy being a lot less bouyant!)

That is a great plan, I wish I would of thought about that. But, I'm totally happy with my weight loss.