Take Nude Photos!!!

At the prompting of a close friend or two on OH, my wife took some "before" pictures of me including a couple of nude photographs.  While I HATED doing it at the time, it was therapeutic for a couple of reasons.  One, I HATED myself for being so fat.  I hid from the label "morbidly obese."  And, the nude pictures made me face my real obesity, not masked in nice clothes.  I had to face those feelings of humiliation and embarrassment when I forced myself to share them with a close friend.  It was NOT PRETTY!  But I did that because I wanted to face my obese reality and make sure I was honest with myself.  The process was very cathartic and I was able to process my humiliation and guilt.

Second, I am now a little over six months post-op, down 112 pounds and for the first time since surgery, I viewed those disgusting pics of myself.  Guess what, I was a whole lot fatter than I thought!  Just the difference of six months and 100+ pounds has dramatically changed my perspective.  For the first time I began to share in the amazement expressed by my family and friends with regard to my transformation.

And, before I receive any comments regarding my characterization of my previous pics as "DISGUSTING", that is how I felt when viewing them.  I am NOT calling obese people disgusting!  I will ALWAYS have a kind, understanding soul when it comes to those suffering from obesity.  My battle has just begone.  And, I know it will be lifelong.  Taking those pictures helped me frame my perceptions in reality and permitted me to see myself as others did.  I truly believe we cannot fully appreciate the gravity of the problem unless we take an honest look at it.  I know from my own experiences that I tried to AVOID looking at myself through avoidance (avoid swim parties, athlectic functions, formal functions, etc.). 

I wish you all nothing but the best on your journeys...

Chris

Hi Chris -
I am glad that taken the pictures has helped you.  When I went to weight loss camp they would take pictures of us in our bathing suits - not much hiding behind clothes you can do with that. 
No matter where we are with our weight loss journey (just starting out, half way there, at goal, etc), this is going to be an uphill battle for us for the rest of our lives.  You are doing a terrific job - keep strong and do whatever it takes  to go the distance.  Best of luck to you.

I am still pre-op and I have fully avoided life for about 4 years now and am so ready to live again... I keep catching myself in stores by myself after all this time of having to have someone with me that I could hide behind. The person I see in the mirror still looks pretty but then I see a picture and don't even recognize myself and can't believe that it is what I really look like cause it isn't what I was just looking at in the mirror. Changing room mirrors aren't the same as at home they are the worst so I avoid them now.

Thank you so much for writing this.

 It was an unflattering  snapshot someone took of me sailing that made me realize just how fat I was and set me  on the road to surgery .

yep denial runs DEEP -I mean i thought i looked GREAT a hundred pounds heavier too LOL-until I saw that picture .  

That said sometimes unvarnished reality is a little more than we can handle - right now I am desperately pining for plastic surgery ,can't afford it and am suffering as a result .  

Well said...  And i wish you all the best on your journey to/through plastics. 
Hugs,
Chris

I know exactly where you are coming from.  Where I did not take nude pics - my daughter makes me a scrapbook and calender every Christmas of our family with some of the previous years events in them with my granddaughter.  I love those pics, but I always hated the months that featured me - it is still very hard for me to look at those pics.
This years calender is VERY different, as I'm no longer the person that I used to be.  But truth be told, I am so glad that I do have those pics, as painful as it is for me to look at them, I never want to forget where I've come from and where I never want to go again.

Hi Chris,
While I was going through the approval process for Kaiser GA, which takes about 9 months altogether, I was thinking well I still might be able to lose this weight on my own.  And I worked real hard to lose 20# over 4 months.

Then I was down in the basement sorting through things and found an old picture of myself from about 9 years ago when I was 60# lighter and guess what?  I was FAT (my word for me and no one else).  The camera really doesn't lie whereas I think when using the mirror I got used to focusing on my face rather than the whole picture.  So I scheduled my surgery, had it and have no regrets.  Altogether since my highest weight of last September, I have lost 60# and I feel great; only 51 more to lose until goal so I'm over half way there. 

It's very exciting and affirming to be able to see the changes.  I hope your wife is taking lots more pics of you so that you will feel encouraged and motivated to maintain your loss.  Take care!

It's shocking seeing pictures of ourselves when we were heavier isn't it?  Keep up the awesome job!
Chris

I had my husband take a picture of me around the time of surgery for my "before" shot. That was the first time in 8 + years he's ever heard me ask to have my picture taken. I always avoided the camera like it was the plague! If I had pictures taken, I would try and put one of my kids in front of me to "disquise" how fat I was. It never seemed to work. I always hated, HATED having my picture taken, because then I'd have to see what I really looked like. As long as I didn't have to see the pictures, I thought I didn't look so bad. Then a month or so before my surgery (around the 4th of July) I saw a picture of me with my parents and my two little girls. I couldn't believe how awful I looked! I was horrified.

Now, I can look back at the pictures and see where I was, and know that I don't want to go back there. I am close to goal now, but will always have to watch what I eat, and exercise to keep off the weight. I also ask my hubby to take a picture of me once a month so i can "see" what I look like. I thank you for sharing your story and while I didn't take any nude pics of myself (I would have KILLED my hubby for that one, I'm sure. lol) I do think it is very theraputic to look back and see how far i've come since my surgery!

Congrats on your weight loss!

Ah...thank you!  And, I am so proud of you for your success!  I am glad you also found the photos as helpful as I have.  It was PAINFUL taking them and I'm a guy.  society tends to judge us less than women--it's not fair.

I see we view the pictures the same way:
- First, look how far we've come, and...
- i NEVER want to let myself go back to that weight AGAIN!

Hugs,

Chris