Before and After

[User Name Here]

Alright, I have done a search for similar threads and the only other thing I've found is the one titled "Did anyone used to be fat?" However, this is not exactly what I'm going for.

Basically I wanna hear from some people about their physical changes. This doesn't mean it has to pertain to weight loss. I especially wanna see photos from before and after. If you used to be overweight, how'd you lose weight, and do you have photos? If you were on drugs really badly and looked just plain awful, how did you begin to sober up and do you have photos from when you were on drugs and when you cleaned up? I'm just interested in the "before and after" of everything. I love seeing photos and hearing stories from people who have bettered themselves in any way (whether this means getting in shape [which doesn't always involve losing weight], getting clean, etc.).

So, does anyone have any stories and/or photos they would like to share? Mods, please feel free to do away with this if it has already been done but like I said before, I searched around to see if there was anything similar started up recently. I find it really encouraging to see people make changes, especially when you can tell physically.

I'll go first:

This is from when I was on drugs and you can really tell how awful I was just by looking in my eyes. I see this a lot in addicts and it's really sad. I hate looking at this photo but it reminds me of how far I've come... This was obviously long before I got sober (which I did by moving to a new place, abandoning the old friends, a relationship, etc.):

Then I sobered up and gained nearly 40lbs much to my dismay (hi, tummy!):

Aaand I worked most of it off over the past two years but I only recently got serious about it. This would be me, 100% sober and about 25 of the 40lbs lost (it's from skydiving in case you're wondering what the harness is for):

Anyway, I can't count the number of people who e-mail me to this day saying, "Wow, you look so much better than you used to..." Recently a friend of mine came home for a visit and we went tubing together. We spent four or so lazy hours on the river catching up and she told me that she could tell I am sober now and it was the first time in years that she had seen me this way. It literally made me cry (in a good way)!

So yeah, let's see AND hear about your before and afters, even if you've slipped back to the before (you can use this as motivation!). We all struggle so it's nice to see some hard proof that all of our efforts actually yield something in the end... Sometimes it's easy to forget this.

 

[Lost Ego]

befores:
i had just lost like 50 pounds by starving myself for a few months, i was smoking daily and popping pills occasionally, thizzing weekly/monthly. was doin various other drugs too... o.o

month or 2 later

after:
this is my sober for 3 months. right after i sobered up, i started going to the gym daily and eating regularly...

this is me 4 months sober (right now), im not really looking great cause im in my pjs and i couldnt smile caus i just got punched in the mouth

you could say that i feel better but i still loathe myself and since i quit i've become very anti-social which i think is a result of me breaking all my ties with everyone i knew cause they did drugs and things just weren't the same. overall i guess i'm happier but now im very lonely and i dont seem to fit in with anybody who is now sober. also during my drug addiction i think i lost who i was and i still cant get myself back... thus my name o.o'... um hopefully if i get a year or so sober, then maybe i'll feel like myself again. i think i'm doing alot better than i was. last semester that i went to high school i got 6 F's. Now i've decided to drop out and im going to community college this semester and am gonna get my GED in october (soonest possible), i've taken on kung fu to do something with my time and thats goin great, im still bored most of the time and at home doing nothing. im seriously considering taking on some hard drugs cause i just can't stand this life anymore. it's so boring and monotonous and it's so depressing being like this, i feel pathetic, i look in the mirror with disgust, i havent gone to the gym in a month and i dont see myself making it through this sobriety, all i do all day is play video games online and feel sorry for myself. i dont think i'll turn back to drugs any time soon though cause i dont wanna be like my mom. although i still am open to some psychedelics cause i dont really count those as drugs and they are like a 1/2 time a year thing. sorry about spilling my guts and shit, this is like the first sobriety thread that i've been in thus far and i feel like i need someone to notice me...

op, you are unremarkably beautiful and you look great compared to your first photo although i dont think you look all that bad in it.

 

[User Name Here]

You appear to be so much better than you did before; you look amazing! You're a handsome guy when you're sober and it's definitely a better look for you

I know how you feel about being lonely after dropping old "friends" in an effort to remain sober and I can promise you that while it takes time, you will start to feel better. It took me probably a year before I started feeling genuinely happy and I often wondered what the point of being sober was if I wasn't 100% back to the way I was pre-addiction days.

Also, don't lose track of how amazing you are for being able to sober up in the first place. It's no easy task at all and anyone who manages it should be reminded of what an accomplishment it is. Don't forget this! Keep on truckin' because things *will* get better, I promise (and I don't throw promises around like they're nothing). Spill your guts here any time you feel like it; that's what BL is for. It helps to see that you're not alone while you read other peoples' stories as well. This is the main reason I started this thread: it helps keep goals in sight when they're so easy to lose track of as you can't see yourself transform day by day when in reality you've made a huge difference in yourself).

If you need anyone to talk to, feel free to message me!

 

[Lost Ego]

I appreciate that a lot, u just put me in a good mood , thank you.

How did you go about making it through you're first year? Did you have a boyfriend or anyone to help you get through it?

 

[User Name Here]

I appreciate that a lot, u just put me in a good mood , thank you.

How did you go about making it through you're first year? Did you have a boyfriend or anyone to help you get through it?

Actually I was in a horrible relationship that made me want to do drugs more than ever. Thankfully we both up and moved to a new place where we couldn't find drugs because we didn't know anyone. Shortly after we moved, we broke up and things started looking up after that.

Basically, I didn't have anyone to lean on at all. They always say that happiness should come from within but I've always found lots of happiness with other people around (whether they be friends or lovers). One of the most liberating things I experienced was figuring out that I could be happy without drugs and without a partner. This alone made sobriety all the more appealing (when it wasn't at all to begin with). The fact that I could be self-sufficient and independent was enthralling because I had been using various crutches for so many years!

Like I said before, if you ever need to vent you are more than welcome to PM me. I know how hard it can be and sometimes it helps to talk to someone. This is one of the reasons BL is so great as there are so many people who have been in your shoes. It's hard to find people who have been there and done that in the "real world" but they seem to be everywhere here and many are more than willing to help out in any way =)

 

[footscrazy]

User Name Here - I've read your story on BL and you really are an inspiration due to how you've turned your life around!

Before:

Passed out in the middle of the footpath. 'Nuff said.

This was taken after I'd been clean for 7 or 8 months:

Unfortunately I've been looking more like the 'before' picture these days. But I'm getting there - 2 weeks clean again

 

[wtblife]

I have some photos of before, during, and after meth, but they really don't show much. Some of the photos after quitting actually look a lot worse than during :-\

The main thing is while I was an addict I always wore two layers (usually with a long sleeve) because I sweat a fuck load and didn't want to be worried bout BO or sweat stains while around people in school. I also carried my inhaler around with me to store drugs in and I actually abused the inhaler because it got rid of the heaviness of tweaking too much and it allowed me to feel alive again. The inhaler seriously did more for me than the amphetamines did at that point...

Also my face changed slightly due to all the stim usage and fat burning, but the main change I notice is that my cleft chin is slightly more pronounced than it used to be. I think my face looks a little less masculine as well which I'm actually happy about cause I don't have to worry bout my body matching it as much.

Oh here is a lovely picture of my hand during my tweaker days:

If I was the littlest bit chilly my hands wouldn't be able to keep themselves warm cause of bad circulation and would turn out like that. That was part of the reason I usually wore a long sleeve shirt.