before & after pictures

…not mine, of course… because I'm not "after" yet. Maybe I’ll post some when I reach my goal!

ObesityHelp.com has tons of before & after shots on their website (scroll halfway down, on the right). Very inspiring pictures. If these people can do it, so can we! I find it really interesting to see how bodies adapt to different weights and where weight is gained and lost. A few things have struck me…

• Losing weight takes YEARS off a person’s appearance. I’d say it takes a year off for every 10 lbs lost. For people losing 100+ pounds it’s really dramatic. A reminder about how hard it is for the body to carry all that baggage around! The few exceptions are people who lose all the weight in their faces and end up looking emaciated... I guess it's a risk I'm willing to take.
• People’s basic body shape stays the same. Your lumps can grow and shrink but they don’t move much. The proportion of the head to the rest of the body changes though, the head seems to grow as the body shrinks.
• I find the thinner version of people much more aesthetically pleasing. Fat bias? Perhaps. On a side note, I have noticed that in public I take notice of people thinner than I am, so I can look at them and envy them and plan to be like them. I sort of look past the people my weight or heavier. Same phenomenon?
• People often put disparaging notes along with the "before" photo: "me and my fake smile," "I can't believe I went out in public like that." It's a tribute to the psychological pain of obesity.