Pride Swallowing Time – My Before Pictures – Day 1

Part 1 of my Weight Loss Saga – The dreaded “Before” pictures

This post was not an easy one to write and get ready for, but necessary. These are hard pictures to post, to share with you, but I hope that’ll motivate me even further.

It’s never easy to get a good look at yourself and realize how unhealthy you are, is it? Whether you see yourself in a picture someone took of you, or if you took the picture yourself, it’s hard to look at it and realize that’s how you are seen.

Taking a picture of yourself “before” you begin losing weight and dieting is good for documenting your progress, as it allows you to see the changes once you’ve begun your weight loss journey, much more so than seeing your shrinking reflection in the mirror (even though, that feels pretty good, too). The pictures give you a better view of certain areas you might not be able to see on your own body with your own eyes (I mean, really, can you get down and see every inch of your butt? Your thighs? How you really look from behind?) But is it ever hard to step in front of that camera and snap those shots, isn’t it? Let alone showing them to others.

Below you’re going to find not just my recent “before” pictures (those are at the bottom), but other “before” pictures, too, from times when I was losing weight or made the decision to lose weight. I wasn’t “posing” for some of these “before”pictures, for a weight loss reason or anything, in order to inspect every inch. They were just random pictures I had found. Pictures that depict what I looked like then, or, pictures that, when I saw them, caused me to contemplate weight loss, as they made me say to myself “Do I really look like that!?!”

I’ve lost weight successfully before, after having babies, I know I can do it again. These pictures serve as reminders of that. I have done it before, I can do it again.

Onto the hard part. Pictures. Oy. *deep breath*

These first “before” pictures were “the ones” that drove me to diet after having my now-four-year-old. These were taken while I was tickling his little baby body, snapped by my husband. The first time I saw these, I stared, unable to believe they were me, and I said to myself, “Whoa, Momma!” and the dieting started. Right then. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This was my heaviest non-pregnancy weight ever. Approximate weight here – 180+

Oh, sorry about that. Don’t mind the chest action. Nothin’ to see here, folks.

This next “before” picture was from around the same time, as this was a picture taken at his first birthday. Same weight. And still hard to look at, even though I know I don’t look like that anymore. I never knew I was this big while this was happening.
Considering what I was used to being, and how slowly it really creeps up on you while having babies and such, it was easy to overlook until you get slapped in the face with pictures like these. This was a lot of weight for me, my body, my athleticism. Being on bedrest during one of my pregnancies killed my metabolism, and so, this weight you’ve seen is a result, it’s always been an issue, I can never seem to get my metabolism to stay where it should be, still.

You see, in the next three pictures, this is how I was all my life. I was that person who never tried on jeans, or worried about what I ate. And, in a lot of ways, I keep thinking that this is how I still look, sometimes. I was naturally active, loved running and working out for the sake of running and working out. I loved being active. Period. After 24 years of being this way, it was a hard habit to break, realizing I couldn’t do what I once did, not just because I had children, but because I wasn’t in the same body as before.

After having breastfed so long, I can’t believe I had small boobs haha

This was a picture of me as I began losing weight, of my shrinking belly from the side in the first picture, and of my shrinking waistline in the second picture. This was to document my successes thus far, at that point, to motivate me further, because I was doing it!!! I was succeeding!

Now that you’ve seen the “before” pictures up there, along with a “during” picture, now here’s the “after” – after my 4-year-old, that is (can’t seem to find any other “after” pictures at the moment, this whole, computer switching thing and all). About this next picture *ahem* I know, racy costume (blame hubby *giggle*) but, quite frankly, I was so darn pleased with myself and my weight loss and how hard I worked that I did get it, wanting to be “hot” for him one Halloween. And so I was *ahem* This was me at about 150 or something, I think? Hmm, I don’t know, it wasn’t so much the weight at this point, as it was the fitness level and clothes fitting, feeling healthy feeling I had.

I did not remain the above weight permanently, I was about 160 when I got pregnant with my now two-year-old. After gaining about 23 lbs with her pregnancy, I lost most of it afterwards. So for this next picture, this is me about 7 months after giving birth to her, during our vacation to Orlando. I’d have to say I weight about 165ish or so, (almost what I am now).
And now for today. After gaining 27 or so pounds during my most recent pregnancy, and losing most if not all of it from this pregnancy, I’ve begun to regain weight, because I stopped using Splenda and because I’m no where near as active anymore. Today, this is how I look. And, according to the Wii Fit, wearing this outfit, I weigh 168. Not good.

And while I’d be delusional to think I could get down to this again..

I think I could, if I worked hard, and dieted hard, get down to maybe this again…
*whew*

That was harder than I thought. But worth it. It’s going to be worth it. I am going to do this.

So, now what, you ask?

Well, the first part is accepting your challenge. And for some of you, you’ve already done that. You’ve decided it’s time, and you’re ready to move ahead. Now, you’ve got to outline what the problems are, and what you’re going to change to fix them and get you to the weight you want to be.

For me? I want to lose 20+ pounds. To do it, I’m going to eat better – no late night snacking. I’m going to exercise more, and get help on the Great Sweetener Debate (another post forthcoming) so I don’t gain more weight using sugar for my beautimous, much-needed coffee. I’m going to post what I’m doing and how I’m doing it, along with some tips and tricks along the way that helps benefit us busy moms. I hope you decide to join me. I’m going to show you that working out doesn’t have to be boring, and I’m going to show you interesting ways to involve your kids. More on how I’m going to do it was mentioned here and more will be forthcoming, too.

If you’re joining me in Losing the Baby Weight (whether it’s really baby weight or not) – your task, should you choose to accept it –

Make a plan. Write it out, in a post like me, just what you want to accomplish. You can’t achieve your goal without a goal. And specify how you’re going to do it, and what you’re going to use to get you there.

My suggestion – take some “before” pictures. It’s good to have those to refer to once you’re on your way, working out, and making changes, to document how far you’ve come. You don’t have to post them if you’re not comfortable posting them, but my suggestion is to at least take them for your reference. Give yourself that bird’s eye view to yourself. (My most recent aren’t the best, I’m going to have hubby take better ones soon.)

Once you’ve done what you feel comfortable with above, link up in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

And if you’re not sure if you want to join us yet, that’s okay, too. No rush. You can’t do it if you aren’t able to commit to it. So, take your time, and one day you’ll be ready, too. And when you’re ready, I’ll be here. {hugs}

Never miss a post! Subscribe here for all kinds of crazy parenting fun!