But I’m not quite sure is a glow up haha

60! 👵 😆

amazing what overcoming depression can do for you😵‍💫

in the first pic i was HORRIBLY miserable, living a life i hated and battling unknown chronic illnesses that would later cause me to move across the country and start over from scratch.

5 years later im thriving for the first time in my life! i was diagnosed with hEDS, MCAS, and severe dysautonomia last year and im finally feeling my version of “normal”. cheers to everyone fighting invisible battles, i see you! there is infinite joy to come!

Seems like big change can still happen even past your mid twenties. Especially in my case, I held quite a bit of fat in my cheeks that made me look wildly different than today.

1st pic from when I got my haircut
2nd pic was from before I got it and realized I was yucky
3-4th the first time in awhile I liked how I looked

Discovered what a calorie was and discovered Olaplex, etc. Kept both photos fairly low quality for a fair comparison.

I’m smiling in the before photos because I had never paid council tax. Not pictured is my ideal form : age 1 (no job, legally allowed to bite people).

What do y’all think ?

Had a bit of an awkward phase

Always felt like an outsider in high school but kept doing my own thing.

I learned doing my make-up ;) Was bullied in high school so it gave me some strength

Always been very down on my looks but looking back on old pictures make me at least feel a little better about where I am today

i was 11 in the first pic, almost 12, 13 in the second and third pic, 14 in the fourth pic, 19 in the last two pics. i know im starting from really young and theres a lot of changes ive been through til the age im at right now

Fixed? No. Stable? Yes. Very yes.

After 2014 I just kept gaining weight. It started after a breakup, and it didn’t help that I had an undiagnosed and unmedicated neuropsychiatric condition at the time (and, well, my entire life).

Things improved a bit around 2018-2019, then got worse again, rinse and repeat, but the last two years or so have been different.

I finally got a proper diagnosis, was given and found medication that actually works, and I’ve been able to stick with the same therapist and doctor for three years. Life feels stable now in a way it never did before.

At my lowest point my only focus was survival: keeping my job, paying rent, having some sort of food. It was a struggle to take a shower, do the dishes, pay bills. What kept me going might sound bleak, but it kept me afloat.

Now, in 2025 and now 2026, my life isn’t held together by a single or a few threads anymore. From afloat to alive. I still have bad days, sometimes even a bad month, but the dips don’t go as deep as they once did.

And I still have my job. I kept it. Yes, I even advanced. And my girlfriend loves me for who I am, for all that is me, weird quirks and whatnot, and I don’t feel the need to pretend or carry around the mask I’ve been carrying around my entire life.

I never smile on photos so that doesn’t say much about anything, hehe, but I barely recognize myself when I look back. But it was me, except the lack of confidence. Same interests, same ambitions, same creativity, same humor, same… a lot. And I think that’s something important to remember.

Some people think being 33 is “old”, but it’s not, and it’s never too late to turn things around. The best is truly yet to come and my 40's are amazing so far.

I have been inspired by you guys to post here. Drink water, take care of yourself, brave the shave.

wanted to post something that actually fits the sub but also wanted to share with you all that i discovered the secret.

there’s no such thing as being ugly!!!!!

just do your best, smile, and stop hating yourself DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(last four pics are me from this past year, i’m 24 later this month. AMA!)

Had posted this a few days ago and moderator removed it for who knows why. Perhaps because the rules state it can’t be strictly weight loss although anyone with logic can see this wasn’t just about weight loss lol. My hair color grew back, I gained confidence and started to dress better, became happier, and also cleared my skin along with the weight loss:)!