Why Photos are my Frenemies

I have a love/hate relationship with selfies.  A photo/video is the ultimate reality check, and sometimes the truth hurts.  For example, as part of my fitness routine, I am learning how to do high kicks.  When I do them, I feel like a badass ninja.  Then my coach video taped it on my phone yesterday and played it back for me.

ninjacouzinz.webs.com
ninjacouzinz.webs.com

I am not a badass ninja. 

Although I am a bad ninja who looks like ass doing high kicks.  I would show you the video but I don’t want to.  The good thing about watching myself is that I now know what to work on, which is helpful.

What’s not helpful is when you add a layer of self doubt into the mix while looking at your self image.  Case in point: I had a friend in college who was  gorgeous, but had no idea.  Every picture you showed her she wanted to destroy, because she thought she was ugly or too heavy (neither was true.)  Whenever I was going through a heavy stage in my life I solved this “please destroy the evidence” issue entirely by not allowing anyone to take any pictures of me whatsoever.   Score 1:  Lisa.  Sometimes avoidance and denial works wonders at battling reality checks.

Lisa - baby blocker
Lisa – baby blocker

But when I absolutely had to be in a pictures, I used my patented baby-blocker technique, which is to say I would hold up my baby strategically to cover my pot belly and double chin, and then (if possible) I would crop my arms in the digital picture to make them slimmer.  (Hey, if movie stars can photoshop, so can I!)

Now my trainer is having me do weekly (that’s every 7 days) progress pictures again to keep me accountable.  And by accountable, I mean provide myself a nice visual reminder of what my tummy looks like when I skip the meal plan and dive into my kids Halloween candy. (I hate progress pics!)

It has been helpful for keeping my diet on track, though.  What’s interesting about progress pictures is that you don’t particularly notice anything happening week-to-week, but a month or two into it, you can really see the difference that hard, consistent effort can make.  (I love progress pics!)

So that explains my love-hate relationship with photos and videos.  How about you?  Do you take progress pics?  Do you find them helpful or discouraging?

Lisa ;)

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9 thoughts on “Why Photos are my Frenemies

  1. I do not take progress pictures because I am a cyclist and usually ride alone (and thus no one can snap a photo of me). However, I used to be an elected public official (I’m in recovery now) and there is a large photo of me hanging in a public building in town that I would pay serious money for some to destroy! The photo was taken one month BEFORE I started paying attention to my health (I look a lot older in that photo than I do now, even though it is 12 years old).

  2. I remember when I was obese as well, I used to be in the back of the pack always. No I can’t wait to be in front 😉 Progress photos I take once every 3 months and what keeps me accountable is my measurements once a month.

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