Smile, You're on Candid Camera

Candid photos...eeeeeek!  A nightmare for anyone with body issues.  Even at my heaviest, I was able to take a posed picture that didn't make me want to cry.  All I needed was a mere twenty minutes to dress, camouflage, suck & arrange.  A candid photo affords no such luxuries...it's the unvarnished, un-sucked-in truth & the truth often hurts.  

As I was going through the some 300 pics that we snapped on Christmas day, I had a realization:

1)  The digital age makes for an unreasonable & unmanageable amount of family photos...it almost made me long for the time of my youth when any event could be documented in 24 pictures (36 if it was a really special occasion).

2)  I don't want to vomit looking at the candid pictures of me opening gifts with my children.  Somewhere along the line my body truly has changed shape in places that I can't see on a regular basis & my relaxed posture has improved dramatically.  Don't get me wrong, all candid pictures of me still prominently feature my big mouth hanging wide open (I've merely shed pounds, not changed the core of who I am!), but they don't all make me wish that I had a graphic design degree & a proficiency with Photo Shop. 

So, in the name of being completely honest, a collection of candid photos that may not be flattering, but they no longer cause me to cry.  Feel free to not look at them as they are about as exciting to others as vacation photos or reunion pics.



Prominently featured: the hip & thigh & a box of cookies that Sara didn't eat by herself.



Up close & personal with no double chin (partial credit goes out to my good friend, Turtleneck).



Thigh spread: not as spready as you once were.




Ok, not a candid shot, but my hips are not dwarfing the Snuggie box!



Yes, that is the Perfect Brownie pan, completing Sara's "As Seen on TV" Christmas.



Mom, my level of embarrassment at you posting such unfiltered pics is just shocking.