Feeling Depressed After Seeing Photo of Myself :(

Have you ever seen photos of yourself and thought, "My God... is THAT what I look like!?!?!?!"  Then you express your horror to someone close to you and they say, "That's not a bad photo!  You look fine!".
Thanks.... now I feel 10 times worse because you've just confirmed that, in reality, I actually look worse.  This photo is actually not an unflattering photo?

Yes, that's what I've recently gone through and it has crushed me.  When I look in the mirror I don't see the person that I saw in those photos.
The problem is that I've been working out four times per week and have been trying to eat a healthier diet.  I've felt good about how I feel and how my clothes fit, but those photos have put me into a depression and now my workouts lack motivation and I'm eating "comfort food".  I'm so bummed out that I'm actually back-sliding.

Please tell me that I'm not alone!  Help me get my pep back!

oh most definitely! you are not alone! but there is one particular incident that has had the opposite impact on me - I am now more motivated to make PERMANENT lifestyle changes so that others will come to look back at these pictures with as much distaste as I do today.

you're definitely not alone! I think everyone goes through that. I stopped wanting people to take pics of me during high school because I couldn't stand how I looked (overweight, ill-fitting clothes, frizzy hair, no make-up/problem skin). 

Don't let it get you down though, I'm sure you have great pics as well- everyone has those awful photos. And more than the pics, you should be proud of how you've been doing, eating right and working out. Just keep that up! After high school I started eating better, lost a little weight (still have more to go though), and I know how to do my hair and makeup :) I still don't like pics though lol

I am immortalized as my heaviest weight for my grandmother's 65 bday that was made into a book and she shows it off to everyone. I cried and was so depressed over it so many nights cause I had no idea this book was going to be made. Now at my about thinnest (almost), I am just a little annoyed but I shrug it off. This incredible thing has come up and was lost for so long, my confidence. It is just peaking and really it makes things that I would want to die over, destroy the book or scream at the man who did the book, just slight annoyance and shrug off-able.

I hope that helps :)

hollowness I can't wait for the day where I can stand there proud and healthy (and thinner) than all the pictures going around and waiting for people to comment how awesome I look in the future 'today' versus those pictures! You should consider those pictures a memorial of the old you and a reminder of how proud you are of your new self!

YES! It is the worst feeling. You almost want to scream. I am sure that it really was just a bad camera angle and those that love you don't want to tell you that you looked bad (not realizing they made it worse). Hang in there. I personally always convince myself to stick with it to prove them wrong...though I am sure this is not a healthy attitude either :).

I agree, went camping this weekend and of course pics were taken and UGH how I hate them, none of those of course will  hit my FB. 

Well I am only a year older than you and I need botox and juvederm for my skin to look as smooth as yours. ;)

But I hear what your saying I have stopped taking photos 5 years ago and I am not overweight.  I'm just not in my 20's.  I do not care for photos any longer.

Pretty much every time I see a picture of myself. Now I look back at some of those pictures and wish I was that thin and think that I looked awesome. We always look better than we think we do. We are the harshest on ourselves.

I feel your pain! I feel the exact same way. And it's even more frustrating when you know that you've been trying hard, yet you still look the same in photos. Arg!

My mother always tries to make me feel better by saying that the "camera adds ten pounds", but I really don't see how it works. The only way I could see it is to consider that in a 2D photo, there is no depth perception to convey your body as being a 3D object. What I mean is that you're just flat on paper, and in 2D, the camera cannot show that your arms are really round and more defined as they really are as 3D. So of course you look bigger because you're flat on paper and your body's definition is not expressed in the photo. I hope this all makes sense

That's why some people say that celebrities in real life actually look much smaller than they do in TV and in photos.

I hate seeing myself in photos - I have an image in my head and photos can never live up to the expectations - but mirrors are just as bad to me. I just work out and eat right so that I can hopefully come closer to what I'd like to see in pictures. I also try to be the one taking the pictures.

Too bad you can't turn that frustration into motivation to stay the course and reach your goals.

it seems like every picture i take i have a double chin. that is not me! lol when i know a picture is being taken i always try and stretch my neck out. pictures just suck

This is soo me right now. I used to love having pictures taking but this year I've put on weight and if someone gets out a camera...I hide! Can't wait til I'm back on track and okay with them again...

Oh God, I know EXACTLY what you mean. Just before Christmas someone posted the WORST picture of me on Facebook. It's still there, and still tagged, because I figured if I acted ashamed I'd draw even more attention to myself, but UGH.

UGH.

And it's not just my weight, either.

I used to hang around with a crowd of very attractive girls when I was in my early 20's. I figured they were all prettier than me and didn't really mind until one night when we were walking into a bottle shop attached to a pub. There was a lot of whooping and hollering from some dumb jerks nearby, and as I was the last to walk through, I heard one say to another "You can have the last one, mate. What a dog!"

That was nearly ten years ago. And it will never stop hurting. From that time, I had a rule. The girls were allowed to photograph me (we were a snap-happy crowd) but they were never, ever to show me a photograph of myself, even if they thought I looked great in it. (This was before Facebook.)

herbaltea - You're right... it should be motivation.
Yesterday during my workout I was thinking about the photos and it really did get me inspired to push harder!

Hollowness - Wow... I guess this is definitely worse!  At least the photos were taken with my camera and are only on  MY computer.  Although, I'm pretty sure my grandma probably has some that I wouldn't be happy about, and I'm sure she shows them to everone.  It will be great when I can look back at the photos and say, "Yeah... that's what I used to look like".

Edhla - How awful!  People can be so horrible and hurtful.
I've been in situations where I'm pretty sure I'm being laughed at, but never anything so severe and obvious.  I'm sorry that you went through that.  That's a tough one to make go away :(

I know what you mean about not wanting to see the photos of yourself.  I never want anyone to show me either.
I've given my mom strict instruction not to post photos of me on facebook unless I've pre-approved them! LOL

eortega88 - thank you, you're right - there are good photos and bad photos.  At least when I look in the mirror I see someone in between.  I don't see what I saw in the photos.  Maybe it was the camera.  ;)

releitse88 - thanks... I always try to tell myself that too... but when I look at other people, like my fiance, my mom, my little girl... none of them look fat in the photos.  Just me  :(
It's okay though because I'm doing something about it!  :)

In addition to what you said, I also always try to point out that a photo captures a moment and freezes it.  We could bend over for 3 seconds to pick something up... causing a fat roll to push out in an unflattering way.  Someone snaps a photo and there it is... like it's always there, always pushed out or rolled over the top of our jeans.  In real life that moment when we bend over may not even be noticed by anyone because it's over so fast.  We quickly stand back up and everything is in flatter and more flattering position once again.  :)
Maybe we just need to train the photographers in our lives a little better!  :)