At different angles, my face can look totally different—something I learned while I was at my heaviest and attempting to take self-portraits. At very specific angles, my face didn’t look so fat. It was an optical illusion of sorts.
Both of these pictures were taken today within minutes of each other:
It’s all about angles. Someday I hope to reach a point where the angle is irrelevant to me. All of the angles are a representation of me, and deserve to be accepted. At the same time, there is no single angle that holds the truth.
These days, I will not accept being less than I can be in terms of fitness, but I find it easier to achieve this when I feel more relaxed about how others view me. Going to the gym, fumbling around with dumbbells, taking a walk in the neighborhood . . . all of these are so much simpler when I focus on how I am feeling (strong, purposeful, on my way) and less on what angle someone might be viewing me at.
Admittedly I plan to reach a weight and body-fat percentage where none of my angles have multiple chins. But in the meantime I will continue to work on not giving undue importance to what everyone else may or may not be thinking about me as I pursue my goals. Because the angle is more about who is holding the camera than it is about the subject of the photograph.
18. January 2010 at 3:30 PM
Isn’t that amazing the difference? I started hanging out at dailybooth.com, so I too am experimenting with different angles that make my face look thinner. Plus I love the whole angle thing, being a writer and all…can turn a rather ho-hum topic into something pretty interesting! I also love to people watch so I have fun watching people and thinking the absolute best things about them . . . I just feel that so often things (and people) are so much more than what they appear to be. good post.
19. January 2010 at 9:51 AM
Cheryl: I’ve heard of dailybooth.com but never been over there; I’m going to have to check it out! I used to take self-portraits all the time a few years ago but just sort of fell out of the habit. I love what you wrote here about how “so often things (and people) are so much more than what they appear to be”!
18. January 2010 at 3:43 PM
I have experienced the same thing! I did a whole blog post on how I hate myself in pictures and have learned lots of tricks … like standing at an angle and hugging someone’s side. Sigh. And there is just some extra chin for me that doesn’t go away regardless of my weight… age, I guess.
19. January 2010 at 9:53 AM
WaistingTime: There will always be more-flattering and less-flattering pics of us, I guess, no matter what we weigh. I’m really hoping that eventually I just care a little less about these things. Still: there’s nothing like an awesome pic for boosting the spirits ;).
18. January 2010 at 4:45 PM
Yea I’ve gotten pretty good with camera angles too. When my youngest was still a baby I’d also play the “hide behind the baby” trick. Sometimes it worked, but most times it didn’t.
I can completely relate to your post and I too look forward to the day when I don’t think about camera angles, playing hide behind the baby or how I look in the gym mirrors. (I hate those things BTW!)
19. January 2010 at 9:54 AM
AFG: I’m pretty sure I’ve played the “hide behind the boyfriend” trick, now that I think of it ;). As for gym mirrors . . . yeah, they can be a bit unnerving, even though I appreciate the fact that they’re there to help us work on our form. But still, there are just some days when I want to take a can of spraypaint to them.
18. January 2010 at 7:46 PM
You look gorgeous in both pictures, the change in you is remarkable!
19. January 2010 at 9:54 AM
Thanks, lady! I’m finally able to see the progress myself and it’s pretty gratifying :).