The entire premise of this site is that if you can just see & visualise yourself as thinner – then it will become a reality. Now this is not promoting the sort of reflective visualisation where you picture yourself in your mind as you wish to be, rather this vision is created by none other than the modern day miracle & dream weaver of photoshop. Send in your ‘fat’ photo & they will photoshop you thin so that you can see yourself as you truly deserve/wish/crave/need to be.
I am beyond mad at these images as I don’t believe even for a fraction of a second that any of these women need to lose weight. I can of course only judge based on what is presented to me in these photo’s, but I feel pretty confident from a HEALTH perspective that weight loss is required for no-one here. The premise by Thinner View is that they believe these people would look BETTER if thinner & therefore are excellent examples to use in before & after scenario’s.
This reeks to me of nothing more then pressuring, cajoling & shaming people that they are not good enough as they are & that if people who look like the above should use Thinner View – then maybe they need to as well. It’s a scam that is preying on the insecurities & vulnerabilities of people who may not be fully happy with their body image or physical presence.
What I’d like to know is what Thinner View would do if someone sent in a photo of themselves that clearly showed they were already thin or even underweight? Would they still photoshop them thinner? Would they have any potential understanding that they may be directly feeding into someone’s very negative mind set, desperate body image problem, obsession to become thinner or eating disorder? Have they even thought about such things? Doubt it.
I shout from the rooftops so often & so loudly that we must try to create a world that not only tolerates, but celebrates people’s varying & diverse body shapes. Why oh why do such things exist that try to push us into thinking that only if you are thin, are you beautiful or even & acceptable. I believe that sites like this do exactly that.
For anyone that feels they actually need to lose weight for health purposes I don’t think that handing over hard earned cash to sites such as this is going to assist in any way. The site clearly pushes diets as well, which of course we know don’t work, but I genuinely feel that if any person is wanting to attain better health via visualisation or motivational techniques – there are better ways to do it than this. Read some guided imagery. Learn some visualisation techniques. Meditate. These would be my suggestions.
So – have I got it wrong here? Do others think this could actually be a positive or good thing? Should we be encouraging people to use such a service to help them reach a weight loss goal?
I’m shuddering, but as always, interested in others thoughts.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I'm torn on this. On the one hand, I can agree with much of what you said. You've already said it, so I won't rehash. (Although, after poking through their website a little, I don't come away with the impression that they're trying to shame people.)
On the flip side… I do believe in the helpful power of visualization, but because I have never in my adult life been at a healthy weight (and for me it is a health issue), I have an INCREDIBLY difficult time visualizing myself at a healthy weight. I have tried, and tried, and tried, to no avail, which completely flabbergasts me because I write, and so a huge part of my life has to do with my imagination. For whatever reason, I cannot picture myself as not overweight.
So I could see the usefulness of something like this for me, and actually, I've thought before that I sort of wished something like this existed, or that I had a friend who was a wiz at photoshop. This is something I could use to get a starting point for that visualization. I have no urge to look like an airbrushed magazine model, and I doubt, honestly, that a photoshopped version of a lighter me would have exactly the same shape as an actually lighter me, so it's not a thing of fantasy for me. I'd just like to have something I can build a mental image from that's at least somewhat based in me and my body type, rather than on a celebrity or a supermodel.
Hope that all makes sense.
Hi Summer – Can't thank you enough for your thoughtful comment re: this post. All that you say makes total sense and if you, or indeed anyone, felt that this could be something that was positive and helpful – then that's a great thing.
I think the thing that concerns me most is some of the language they use – they make weight loss sound so easy, when in fact for many people it is so hard. That, and the questionable 'model' photo's make me cringe somewhat.
All the very best with creating that mental image for yourself – in whatever way it happens.
I'm with you about the model photos – I much prefer the ones that seem to be real people, at the top part of their gallery. I'm not sure why, but the stock-photo examples make me cringe, while the more candid/real life shots don't.
And I can see your point about making weight loss sound so easy. It's not at all, and a retouched photo isn't going to be the magic pill that makes it easier.
Thanks for your comment back – much appreciated.
I'm a bit late to this post…
I think this is ridiculous.
For starters, I'm with you Julie – all the women in the 'before' shots look beautiful, healthy, confident and happy.
For seconders, this is not going to create an achievable 'goal' for someone to 'visualise'. When I lose weight, I lose it off my upper body first and retain a lot of weight around hips. Others are the opposite. The people in Thinner View, however, seem to be those strange magical people that lose weight evenly off their entire body. Even a client loses weight, they're quite likely to fail at achieving their goal.
Removing wrinkles and and blemishes puts the goal even further out of reach. How can you visualise yourself to a younger face…?!
And finally, never mind the ethics of Thinner View, these are seriously crappy photoshop jobs. They're not worth the money just based on quality.
Julie, I know 3 of the models on that site and emailed them about it and they a)knew nothing, b)wouldn't have given permission, and c)the photographers of the shots wouldn't have been approached for usage permission.
Paying someone money to retouch your photos though? Better make sure it's realistic or what use would it be to have a size 8 shot if you just will never get there??
I like the "before" pictures so much better!
I'm not sure if you'll be notified of this comment, so you may never see it, but I thought I'd leave it anyway!
This website and what it's trying to do sickens me. I understand points of view like Summer's, but I still think the idea is ludicrous and immoral as a way of making money.
I've sent them a fairly lengthy email expressing my opinions.
Thanks, and by the way, I love your blog. Haven't got very far into it yet, but it's so inspiring.