Weight-loss- Where do you draw the line?

Credit: LifeHacker

It is no secret in the family that I am trying to lose weight. But lately on Pinterest, I have been seeing weight loss comparison pictures with words underneath them saying everything from, "I so want to be this thin!" to "The easiest/least painful/etc way to lose belly fat". And in the pictures, you have the required higher weight on the left and the thinnest on the right. When I take a look at these websites, they say that you can lose humongous amounts of weight in "x" days/weeks.

It is true that I need to lose a lot of weight. Not only will I feel better, but I will look better and have better health. But when I look at comparison photos with people saying that they strive to be this thin, it makes me scared for them. Every woman's body is different and the way it loses fat is different. I lose weight fast, but I also gain it fast. Do I want to look like the 175-pound woman in the picture? No. Why? Because not only do I know I will never get there, but I also have a large frame. It runs in my family, so most of us are tall and big-boned. Anyways, if I lose too much weight, I will look too thin.

So why do I have such a problem with these weight-loss comparison pictures? Some of the them look very genuine. The person in the before pictures has the same features (eyes, nose, lips) as the person in the after picture. With many of them, though, can be faked and are fake. I know that you can look totally different after losing a lot of weight. I've seen it before my very eyes. I'm not knocking those who actually lose a lot of weight and look terrific.To see an actual overweight person lose weight motivates me to lose this extra baggage.

But if a company is faking pictures just to get sales, or someone is lusting after a size that may not be healthy for them, it makes me wonder if these people really know what they're getting into.

My advice? Work on getting to a weight that is healthy for YOU. Your doctor may be able to tell you what size is right your body type, age, and height. Remind him that some of us have small frames and some of us have big frames.

By the way, I have lost a couple of pounds since announcing I was on the road to losing weight a few weeks ago. Woohoo!

What are some of your weight-loss tips?