I also hate having my picture taken, but in retrospect, I ALSO hated having my picture taken when I was 150 LESS than what I am now, and thinking I was soooooooo fat then... gee what I wouldn't give to be "that fat" now I think one good thing about pictures, is that you can gauge where you are at, as far as looks with them... God only knows that I did NOT want to take the 3 "before" pictures on Oct. 10th,if memory serves me right... but I took them for a reason... I had pics taken of me when I was pregnant with KaeLyn, and if I am big now... I was HUGE-GARGANTUAN then...especially right before I had her... I really wish I would have measured my stomach now.... I KNOW it had to have been over 100 inches around.... yeah... that big! and I am only 64" tall! I would cry when I seen pictures of me taken when I was pg, because of how big I was... my hubby was great reassurance for me during this time.The other day I was thinking I don't want there to not be any pics of me with KaeLyn as a baby... so I am going to be in the pics, as well as take them... will I like the way I look? Not really...but they are precious memories, and need to be preserved.... a time period in my life, as well as in my family's. The same goes for a family portrait, I want to have one taken, for a memory... and then when I DO reach my goal... I can look back on it, and see how far I have come~

For me the trick was to be the one taking the pictures. I love photography but it was also a great way to never appear in a picture. Always had a camera in my hand, and was always on the viewfinder side of it.

I am actually quite dissapointed now, because as someone else said, I did exist when I was 117#'s heavier. I would love to have pictures of myself at that weight and be able to show people (and myself).

I actually take pictures (side and front) the last day of each month now. I find it is really helpful to have a record of where you've been to help you get to where you are going.

Mark

I have been overweight for along time.........my children are 17(today), 20 and 22. I have always hated having my picture taken..........why?? The people who take the pictures already know what I looked like, look like~ *s* The only person in for the shock has always been me............if I didn't see the pics, it was not real somehow~

Part of addiction is denial.........denying how much weight I really had put on.

I posted my pics yesterday in my journal.........it was a huge step for me and the only reason I could do it at all was because of this forum...........because there are so many here that know exactly how I feel.............there may be a lot of differences in our lifestyles but we have a great deal in common too~

I feel for the first time that I can face what the truth is and have the positive strength to move forward..........the bottom line is that whatever size we are.......it's the truth.........

I know how hard it is to see what is real sometimes...........for me, it feels like another big step in being able to accept myself.....warts and all~ *s*

I too hate having my photo taken unless I am prepared. Those sneaky shots are the worst thing ever.

I found though that because i didn't want my photo took, but others wanted to take it , some of the results of photos taken on the sly are pretty dismal!

Anyway, a friend of mine won one of those portrait sittings and gave it too me. AAAgh, it was not my idea of fun. However I did learn a lot from it.

One of the tricks is to lean forward, so that you are resting your arms on the back of a chair or something, (with your child sitting on it?), move your feet back, and keep the back straight, so you are at a 45 degree angle (sort of) then lift your head. This is not a comfortable pose, but does manage to stretch the neck, or in my case the chins!, and gives good definition to the face. The body is pretty much out of shot.

Hope you can follow this. It does work well.

Also I would reccomend going to a photographic studio if you can afford it rather than for the cheapest options. Those guys ( and girls) know all the tricks of the trade about getting you at the right angle /pose etc.

I couldn't believe how good the photographer made me look!!!!

Best Wishes

Bezza