How To Lose Weight Quickly Before Getting Photos Taken

Clients sometimes ask me how to lose weight quickly before getting photos taken. Additionally, no matter who you are or what you weigh there are likely parts of your body that you are not happy with. After so many of these questions over so many years I thought I would use a click-bate title to help you learn what you can do even if you can't quickly lose weight before getting your photos.

Confidence Shows

I've always been a large guy and consequently I've always been self-conscious about my own weight. The thing is confidence shows. This is true of people in person as well as in photos. So it makes sense to try to feel confident and project that. I understand that if we're not loving how we look it can be hard to project confidence but this is the number one way to look amazing in your photos.

In a perfect world we would all love our bodies no matter what. That's an ideal I strive for honestly. That said, way too often I have people tell me how they don't like something about themselves and weight is the number one. So while I'm all about the self-love, body positivity, and love of the diversity of our human family I'm not naïve. I understand that, practically speaking, a lot of us are unhappy with photos because of our weight.

How To Safely Lose Weight

I'm going to level with you. This article won't advocate any dangerous weight loss ideas. If you're serious about losing weight I hope you'll do so safely and because you believe it's the right thing for you not because of social pressure.

That being said, if you're serious about losing weight for a big event, such as your wedding, class reunion, or any other event you should do so safely. The first step to safely losing weight is to work with your doctors or other medical professionals.

As someone who once lost 100 lbs. in exactly one year I'm here to tell you that you can, if you're serious, lose weight safely at a steady pace. To do so I strived to never lose more than 2lbs per week. There were weeks when 4 or more pounds came off but there were also weeks where I stayed the same. Regardless, I always did so in a safe healthy way by counting calories and exercising.

How I lost 100lbs in one year

Here is the secret to how I lost 100lbs in one year. The truth is there is no secret. What doctors and nutritionists say is 100 percent correct. The only safe, healthy, and sustainable way to lose weight is through control of your diet and regular exercise.

I used the MyFitnessPal app as a food diary and weight loss tracker. Then I bought a fitness watch to measure my activity. Both of these helped tremendously. You can't manage what you don't measure. Plus apps like MyFitnessPal helped to gamify weight loss for me.

If you don't have the ability or time to lose the weight safely keep reading for my advice on alternatives that will help you look incredible in your photos.

Quick Weight Loss Alternatives

If you're looking for quick weight loss alternatives before your photo session here is my advice. Don't do crash diets, don't starve yourself, don't do "detox cleansing" or anything of the sort. The best alternative to quick weight loss is to understand your body and your wardrobe. Once you've mastered your poses and your clothes are working for and not against you the confidence will come.

Know Your Angles

We're going to talk about posing and wardrobe in a minute but knowing your angles will help a lot too. If possible make sure your photographer understands what parts of your body you're not confident about. A good photographer will help you find your angles and won't deviate from them in a way that makes you lose confidence in the pictures.

Where do people always hold the camera when doing a selfie? They hold it high above their heads. This is because it's slimming and elongating.

Whatever is closest to the camera is going to be the largest part of our body.

If we feel our belly is too big we don't want to take a picture from waist height. What if you're self conscious about having large breasts? You don't want the camera to be right at their level. What if you've got hips or a butt that you want to show off? Then you want to point them towards the camera. Whatever part of our body is closest to the camera will appear larger. It doesn't matter what type of lens is being used - this is always true.

Does this mean I need to only have photos taken from "selfie height" way above my head? No, not at all. We can lean towards the camera, twist at the hip and point our shoulder to the camera, or do a bunch of other tricks that I'll talk about next.

Strike a Pose

You don't have to lose a single ounce to look amazing no matter how self-conscious you are about your weight. When you understanding how to stand, how to hold yourself, what to draw attention to, and what to draw it away from you will see just how incredible you look to the rest of the world.

Remember what I said above, the closest thing to the camera is going to appear larger. Before you ever talk to a photographer you can practice in a full size mirror. It should be one that is straight up and down, not tilted in any way.

Move your body around in front of the mirror and get a feel for what you prefer to have closer to the camera. Use all of your joints, turn to the side, turn back a half turn, turn fully around and look back over your shoulder. Tilt your shoulder to the mirror, kick your hip away, and shift your weight from being even on your legs to being on your back leg. Lift the heel of your foot that's closest to the mirror up so your on your toes and your knee is bent, swivel it around. What makes you feel the most confident? Remember that feeling.

Are you going to be in a wedding and forced to wear a sleeveless gown? Are you worried about your upper arms looking too large? Make sure you're holding them out from your body a little bit. When we hold our arms next to our body they squish out and appear larger. You don't have to look like you're doing the chicken dance, just hold them out a tiny bit so they feel more rounded.

Are you still not feeling great, do you feel silly or are you getting frustrated? It might be a good time to bring in a trusted friend. Have your friend hold your phone straight or even tilted a little towards you (with the top of the phone closer to you). Have them take photos of you trying different poses.

Make Your Wardrobe Work

Your wardrobe can work for or against you. It can help draw attention away or to areas we don't want people looking at. The classic advice that black is slimming is very much true. Try tossing a black or dark colored jacket, cardigan, etc. over a light shirt or dress. The dark jacket can fool our eyes and brains into only seeing what is between the lines of the jacket as your body.

Lose or baggy outfits don't hide anything. The best clothes no matter your size and no matter how self-conscious you are will be mostly form fitting. They shouldn't be really tight but they also shouldn't be too lose.

Placing accessories in the right place is important. You want to use patterns, changes in color, or accessories to draw attention. Don't toss a belt across the widest part of your body, wear it higher if it will work or don't wear it at all.

Photography Confidence

Our level of confidence shows up in photographs. If you don't feel confident, especially about your weight, I hope this information will help improve that. My goal, and the goal of all great photographers is to capture who you are and how you want the world to see you. Before telling us how you need to lose weight before having photos done or asking how you can lose weight before having photos taken consider other options.

I promise that there are a lot of people who love you and see your inner and outer beauty every day. They don't judge us like we judge ourselves. By using posing, angles, and the right wardrobe you can have photos taken that will help you see yourself with the same love, confidence, and positivity that the rest of us see.

If you have any questions or want to discuss anything I've said here feel free to contact me or leave a comment below. If you want more advice to help your photo session to go smooth check out my blog and sign up for my newsletter where I share information like this monthly.