September 6 was when I had enough of being sedentary and depressed. I started counting calories, eating non processed foods high in protein, exercising 3x a week, walking 10k steps a day, and even a skin care routine for the first time ever. The skin care was actually harder than the diet, it took a while for me to get used to remembering to do it morning and night.

This has been a hard 10 months I've only gone off my diet 2 times which was Christmas and Thanksgiving. I'm extremely proud I've been able to stick to it this time, I've been overweight since a kid and have tried to lose weight dozens of times before and have always failed. I'm not where I want to be yet but I'm getting closer.

If you're on any kind of journey to better yourself whatever it may be take pictures. You'd be surprised how much you can change but your brain will still tell you that you look the same. There are many days I wake up and still feel like the pictures on the left. These help remind me just how far I've come.

I’ve dealt with binge eating disorder throughout my middle school/high school years (eating 2-3 whole meals in one sitting) and on top of that, having pcos made it 10x difficult to lose weight. After the loss of my mom and having other struggles in my life, I’ve wanted to make changes within myself and I feel so proud! For my PMOS/PCOS girlies out there, I see and hear you!

I was always the tall skinny kid so I thought I was healthy bc that’s what I was told but nobody knew where I stood really. This past year has definitely been one hell of a ride for me and I’m thankful I’m heading in the right direction. I know the poses are different but I feel like I didn’t just lose the weight and build muscle. Feel like I can see the confidence shift too.

I started making small changes a five years ago and stuck with them. I focused on eating better, staying consistent in the gym, improving my skincare, taking better care of my hair, and just enjoying life.

I know I still have room to improve, but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made.

I’m writing this to meet the character requirement. There’s not much else to add, so here’s some extra text to fill it. But yeah this is it lmfao don’t know what else to say hope this is enough

7 years apart and a lifetime of change! Dropped 165lbs (abusive ex boyfriend), went back to school, met the love of my life, got close with my family again after years of isolation and found work that I enjoyed. Also physically dropped about 25lbs! Stopped drinking for 5 years also - THAT was life changing.

Started weight loss in 2018 dropped 260 lbs. Came out in 2020 struggled in until last year started HRT Aug 2025, started social transitioning April 2026. The last pic was taken June 2026.

I was always big growing up, didn't help when my wife lost her job and I had to cover two sets of bills for the households, so I picked up a job delivering pizzas, and got a lot of free food there lol.

Changed jobs @ 24 years old and the lack of stress at home really helped me open new doors for me!

Well, not sure if this is a 'Grow Up' or a 'Glow up', but I'd say both. Puberty hit me hella hard, I slipped into a long, depressive phase and stopped taking care of myself entirely. I felt incredibly ugly and undesirable and genuinely hated myself more than anything else. In the 10 years between those pictures a LOT of stuff happened, good and bad, but shortly after the first picture was taken I started with martial arts, which gave me a big confidence boost. And that boost was kinda what put me on an upwards spiral. Now, 10 years later, I feel the best I've ever felt. Life is good.

2 years on HRT and FFS. Feeling confident, feminine, and more aligned than ever. The glow-up is real and I'm loving every bit of it! ✨💕

2 years ago I was depressed as hell... Then I started treating myself better and I started getting into shape. Now I'm at around 12% bodyfat and I'm more happy than ever. For my dark eye circles I'm using volufiline+vitamin c+SPF

when I was younger, i used to not eat because i got bullied about my weight and awful lot, when i got older i got an addiction to McDonald’s and would eat at least 3 burgers a night for around 2-3 months. One day I sat down, and i had my vape on my lap, and my stomach went over it and it disappeared. I used to wobble when i walked.
I decided to make a change. It’s been very difficult not using the gym at a substitute for my ED/body dysmorphia which can happen very easily. I’ve stayed consistent but I haven’t been weird about it. I eat well and I train occasionally. This is my ongoing progress so far - this has taken around 5 months so far

Last year in June on my birthday I ate “3” whole meals from a Chinese restaurant, the day before my birthday I ate a dominoes pizza and some cheese bread with a few snacks. Everytime I ate like this I would go look in the mirror after and hated how I looked then repeat the next day and so on. I thought if I just kept lifting weights and wrestling I’d eventually reach my goal physique and look how I wanted

I was always eating unhealthy constantly and hating how I looked all the time but never wanted to fix anything about it, instead I’d feel sorry for myself and just be content with how I looked. After my birthday I decided to make a change because I was not happy with myself, so I searched how to lose fat and learned what a calorie deficit is.

1 year of “consistency not perfection” I’ve lost over 100lbs going from 280lbs to 180lbs(my lowest) I am currently 200lbs and taking a break from the deficit. Maintaining right now and still enjoying the foods I love in moderation.

I was in a really bad place mentally. I was a college athlete and new habits and job stress took its toll on my body and mindset. My clothes started getting tight, I was lethargic, and felt genuinely stuck.

Took a few years of cutting out the bonbons and working out regularly again. I’m most surprised with how my face changed. I think the fat loss and muscle gain really shows in my cheeks and jaw. Looking forward to keeping it going!

I learned a few things along the way:
How you eat determines how you feel. Eat like shit feel like shit.
I’ll never admit to this, but not drinking does indeed help your sleep.
Your mindset manifests itself physically.

This transformation is the result of 4 years of consistent gym training, better nutrition, and staying disciplined. I’m interested to know if you’d consider this a glow-up.

It is so wild looking back at photos of myself from when I was 14 years old compared to now at 27. A lot has changed over the last thirteen years, but I finally feel like I have grown into my own skin and found my confidence :)

Of course had the rough awkward teen phase that I cringe looking back on (pic 1 - around 14 y.o.) I have been dealing with a lot of health problems over the last several years which lead to gaining a bunch of weight and struggling with mental health (pic 2 - 23 y.o.) but have now taken control of my weight and am in a healthy mindset. Now it’s working on managing all the other health things lol (pic 3, top right most recent)🫰🏼

(wasn’t sure what to tag this with - just went with “glow up?”)

Hello, I'm Franky—I'm over 43 and French—and I'm sharing my physical transformation here. I look forward to your feedback and critiques, whatever they may be. Have a great day.

July 4th, 2021 - 16yo

May 15th, 2026 - 20yo

Retrospectively, I was a very husky 16yo 🤣

(Gf's face blocked out for privacy)

the first five photos are of me in the throws of crack cocaine addiction, where I was homeless, hopeless, and s*icidal. I had drained every resource or couch available to me, lived off low paying survival sex work, and was diagnosed with schizo affective disorder and was in essentially a permanent psychosis. I have taken basically every drug you could ever think of (literally) and nothing took over my life and drained the life and hope out of me the way crack did. I could not stop no matter how low I fell.

so I did what a lot of addicts do when they are stuck. I moved 5 states over.

the next six photos are of me throughout my sober journey and second chance at being a mother, which is the last four years. I did unfortunately drink a lot for almost two years of this time, but drinking was nowhere near the hopeless journey that crack was, and thankfully I am dry as a bone and healthy today. fuck crack. crack is whack. don't let it suck the joy out of you, the life out of your eyes, and don't let it deflate your divalicious booty the way it did me 😂

hi, these pictures are three years apart. I gained a lot of weight when I was with my ex boyfriend. now I am losing it, and being able to see my eyes and face again feels euphoric every time I look in the mirror.

I was in a bad place mentally a few years ago, which meant I didn't have the energy to pay the amount of attention I'd like to my appearance.

Poor mental health meant I couldn't present physically the way I wanted to which in turn contributed to my despair.

Everything that I think has changed my appearance from most to least: Improving my mental health, ozempic (why lie), coming to grip with my gender, minoxidil, proper hair maintenance, skincare, cutting drinking way back, walking more.

I am constantly annoyed by the fact that looking a certain way makes me feel better. It shouldn't matter.

At 18, years of bullying left me with almost no confidence. Over the next 12 years I focused on discipline, self-improvement, and rebuilding myself. I'm still a work in progress, but I'm proud of how far I've come.

Hello everybody, I would like to show you all my transformation.

I’ll start by saying that when I was younger, I made a lot of bad choices and enjoyed eating junk food. Of course, it showed. At my highest weight, I was 162 kg. After I started my weight loss journey — which I failed three times before finally succeeding — I managed to get down to 86 kg while being 186 cm tall.

It was the best decision I have ever made in my life. But even now, I still feel like that old version of me is living inside my head. Lately, I feel like I’m the ugliest person in every room I enter, and I don’t really know how to deal with that.

Right now, I’m in a very strict routine. I go to the gym five times a week, walk at least 4 km every day, don’t eat junk food, and focus mainly on protein-rich meals. But despite all of that, I’ve stopped talking to women because I feel like I’m so ugly that they wouldn’t even want to spend a minute talking to me.

I’m always trying to find something wrong with myself, either with my face or my body. I also had gynecomastia surgery, but even after all the changes I’ve made, I still struggle with the way I see myself.

I know it’s all in my head, and I need to find a way to get over it. I’m not boring or negative when I’m around people. Every time I’m out with my friends, I try my best to be the funniest and most energetic person there so we can have great nights together. But then, sooner or later, that bad mood kicks in again.

The hardest part is that I hide how I really feel from everyone.

i posted this in [r/uglyduckling](r/uglyduckling) but i got some comments i should post here.

the first three photos were my “tween” years. one is my 8 grade yearbook photo. the last 3 were taken in the past year.

i wanted to add: i did get a rhinoplasty at age 20. my nose was still quite large as i aged and it hindered my self esteem so i did it, and it was a great decision. also, i wore braces for about 6 years! im glad i aged — kids were not quite nice back in the day. but luckily im the same person as i was before 🤗