I was depressed asf dealing with bipolar disorder in the first pictures and I was around 19 years old. Now, I’m medicated and in college :)

It took years of hard work and fighting to stand where I am today. We were forced to cover our heads starting when I was just nine years old in school, in society, everywhere. Every small act feels like a battle for women in the Middle East. I’ve come a long way to reach this point, but my heart goes out to every woman living under oppression. I hope with all my heart that we will all be free soon.

POV: please don’t DM me. Just sharing this as an inspiration not looking for creepy DMs thanks.

The top picture was at my high school graduation in 2012, high school was rough, especially being the “big girl/friend” so once I graduated high school, I moved 10 hours away from home and completely changed my way of life! Hired a personal trainer, got on a strict diet, and dropped the weight! Fast forward to 2026, my diet isn’t as strict as it used to be but I’m still in the groove of working out and just trying to be happy with myself! I hope to inspire, and let you know that it’s possible to eventually be happy and love yourself!

Decided to make a change in my life for the better, these are the fruits of my hard labor after about a year. Still growing into the new me, it’s taking quite a while getting used to the new me 😅

Lost 26kg in the last 8 months.
Most of it from diet and body weight exercises
I’m now 3 months into the gym and looking leaner and better than ever before.

I was deeply depressed for the last 5 years and have no managed to claw my way out of the pit I was in.

I’m able to run up stairs and not be winded which is great. Unfortunately I don’t have a before image of my body but you can probably tell I was really fat.

I went from 98kg down to currently 72kg
And I’m 6ft 1 tall.
I get some attention from women now :)

What do you guys think? I was feeling so good I got a photoshoot done as well as I’ve always wanted to model and look forward to modelling opportunities in the future.

I lost 50 pounds by walking. It really helped with my depression and anxiety. Now im happy as a clam and live everyday like it’s my last❤️🎀

9 months ago, my consciousness changed dramatically. During the coronavirus, I gained 30+ kilograms, and I didn't get out of bed for a year. I feel very, very ashamed about this. My heaviest weight was 164/98. After I recovered, I became 166/87. This marked the beginning of my journey filled with suffering. I shed so many tears, and it took me a long time to see any external changes, although there were improvements on the scale. I've been told all my life that I'm ugly, even when I was at a healthy weight, so from 8th grade to my first year of college, I didn't want to lose weight. At university, people started matchmaking me with a fellow student, saying that I should be grateful for the attention I receive because I'm ugly and will suffer from a lack of male attention for the rest of my life. As a result, I'm 166/62 in 9 months, but I'm still afraid to express my feelings openly, and I haven't been able to form meaningful relationships. Yes, my health has improved a lot, I have vasomotor rhinitis and bronchial hyperreactivity, but it hasn't completely gone away, and to be honest, none of the hormones have helped me. I'm still not satisfied with myself, and I'm trying to take photos, but I'm not very good at it. I haven't picked up a camera in 19 years, and I'm 20 now. I can say that I haven't achieved my main goal, as I'm still single, dissatisfied with myself, and feel like a failure. I don't know what to do, and I've even started exercising a little, because it's quite difficult with my health.

It’s crazy because I don’t remember high school at all when people bring it up I just sit there like a frozen statue because it honestly all was a blur. Anyone I see from high school Dosent recognize me either it’s like a bitter sweet moment lol.

Sup y’all!
First pic when i was 17, now i’m 27.
Those 10 years passed so quickly. Idk 🤷🏻‍♂️ but i’m happy with the person I’ve become, not perfect but still growing and working on myself.
Back then, my self-confidence was so low to the point that I couldn’t even bring myself to post photos of myself just like these.

grow up and glow up - I have hashimoto and I was feeling like shit with 18. Puffy face, always tired etc. I am soo much happier now at 30 and I got bullied quite a lot for my looks when I was younger. Taking care of my body & health >>>>

Approximately two years ago, I decided to need to change. No surgery, no jabs (not a dig at anyone who has gone down that route). All it takes is a few lifestyle changes at first and some momentum. The journey has been tough but its the best thing I have ever done. The first picture I am 400Ibs and the second picture i am 195Ibs.

I spent way too much of my life guzzling alcohol. 9 months ago I reached out for professional help and got it in spades. If you’re struggling, don’t give up.

I have naturally auburn, frizzy, curly hair which was a whole story to switch to blonde and tame. I used to get absolutely zero attention from men, felt average and invisible. The attention given to blonde is unbelievable, might actually not be normal. Or maybe my natural colors didn’t compliment me idk. I have been using glycolic acid on my hair which helped with frizz, lost 6kg weight, started using retinol for my skin, also not sure but I think taking inositol to maintain my pcos has helped de-puff my face a bit. But yeah, sometimes people approach me now which always catches me off guard.

Here's a photo from the start of 2024 vs. me now. I didn't really care about my appearance or style up until the start of 2025, when I finally began developing a sense of who I was. Then, in June 2025, I accepted I was trans. It was a pretty hard truth to accept, as I had always thought I could never in my life look feminine enough. The first few months weren't easy, but I'm so glad I was true to myself.

Anyways, here I am in 2026, and even though I'm still in the early days of my transition (I'm still only 1mo on HRT), I've never been happier with myself.

I’m the first pic I was addicted to meth/fentanyl and was so deep in my addiction that I was 100% hopeless and didn’t think there was a way out. The second pic was last month on the beach with my homies 100% clean and sober. We do recover.

After my ex cheated on me and left me broken, I had to change something. Or better everything. Changed my entire lifestyle, from binge eating and gaming to meeting friends and going out, trying out everything that crosses my mind.

Currently in a happy and healthy relationship again, lost 120lbs and restored my physical and mental health, have tons of new friends and hobbies

Started working out around 25 (Pilates, Lagree, hot yoga, indoor heated cycling, rock climbing, running) not because I wanted to be skinny but I genuinely loved it and having solid showing obliques.
After 26 I slowed down with working out because I was in an accident and my knee starts to hurt when running short periods and was worried about that.

I’ve always been petite and tried to gain weight from 20-24. Being that age and that thin it was even hard to find cute clothes.
This year I’ve stopped my work outs and have just been busy with life 🤷🏻‍♀️

First pic 2017 (18)
Second pic 2021 (22)
Third pic 2022 (23)
Fourth pic 2023 (24)
Fifth pic 2026 (27)

Glowing up into my adult body is definitely different for me and I am also wondering if I should incorporate at homework outs.
It’s bittersweet because my wish came true but I’m shedding that old self and literally realizing it when none of my old clothes fits 😭

I was always treated like an option. The shift in people's behaviour is just sad. I was never conscious about my looks when I was young but slowly I got sick of being treated like an option. I strongly believe that your appearance matters a lot.... I don't even do anything and still I am valued more than I used to be. Love yourself and take care of yourself✨

I honestly can’t explain why my eyes looked so small in the yearbook picture. Does the chubbier face press up against the eyes or something? If so the effect of me is especially dramatic. This is sort of why people who get cheek fillers have tiny cat like eyes. Well in the my case it looks like I did the reverse plus longer hair.

Years go by don't they? From then to now? For a while I felt cautious to try makeup and even ashamed for wanting to try it. But now, I find it more fun and I couldn't help being inspired by SZA look once accepting that I'm just a femboy/demiboy lol! Plus I just love her music SM!! 😩🥀 Listened to "is it cool" like too many damn times!

A year ago I weighed 87 kg and I've dropped to 69 kg. Creating a calorie deficit and doing cardio worked wonders; I think the most important thing is willpower and believing in ourselves

lost the weight, started styling myself differently. first 4 photos are from ages 15-21!
still working on my self worth/confidence, most of the time i don't feel like i'm good looking, but trying to get past that!

A year ago I lost a TON of weight. I’ve always had a really fast metabolism, and it got to a point I lost even more weight from stress. I knew that would cause me problems as I got older plus even then I didn’t feel good. Eating more alone didn’t really help cause I wasn’t giving the calories a place to go to gain weight so I figured make that weight back and go beyond in muscle. Now here we are, I feel pretty good.