I'm losing weight because I am working like heck to lose it.
Seriously though, my reason is simple. I just finally got so sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I wanted to be able to sit down and see my lap without having to move my stomach to the side. I wanted to get up out of the chair without making that grunting noise. AND a thousand other little things. I finally got so sick of the weight.....getting in the way of life.
I want to lose weight because I'm not happy with how I look and how I feel. It definitely doesn't help when the "nice grandma" finally decides to tell me I need to lose weight.
It's mainly because I'm unhappy with myself though. The comments from my family just help me to stay motivated.
I'm losing weight because I've never been happy with being overweight. I was content for so long to put up with it, but not happy. I just thought maybe I was destined to be that way since my immediate family (and a lot of the rest of my family) are overweight. Then my Dad got late onset type 1 Diabetes and lost a whole lot of weight because he was sick and because they put him on the wrong medication. But now he's keeping it off as a result of simply eating healthier. So I realised it was possible. Maybe not just possible, but even necessary if I want to avoid health problems later in life. I also really want to be fitter. I hate huffing and puffing after walking up a hill (that is definitely improving!). I hate that I can't do some of the things my boyfriend likes to do because I'm nowhere near his fitness level - he loves to do things outdoors and I'd love to be able to do them too.
It's also vanity reasons. I don't think I'm unattractive, but I think I'd be a whole lot more attractive in a smaller body. I'd also have a lot more confidence. I want more choice in the clothes I can wear, and I want to feel less self-conscious with anything I may choose to wear.
So I guess...it's health reasons, proving to myself I can do it, and becoming fitter and healthier for myself. I just want to feel more comfortable in my own body.
Last edited by rainbowstripe; 10-26-2010 at 12:03 AM.
I'm losing weight because I don't want to be fodder for jokes any more, or feel self-conscious when I step outside of my house. I also want to be comparably attractive next to my husband, and I want to be able to walk around in my underwear in front of him, and not in oversized PJ pants.
I'm losing weight because people were starting to make comments to my face that I needed to lose weight, and it was devastating to me. Friends and close family members would tease me, and I would cry when nobody was around. That's when I knew something had to change...and now I'm doing it to prove to myself [and I guess to them, kind of] that I can do this and I WILL.
I'm also going to Australia for a semester abroad in February, and I want to look amazing in my photos! I also want to have the energy to do all the exciting things I have planned, and not be self conscious when I do them. I want to look good in a bikini while taking surfing lessons, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, or just laying out getting a tan!!
I'm losing because I'm not happy with the way I look. I've been overweight for years, but I've gained nearly 100 lbs just since starting college 5 years ago. It's really do or die time. I'm only 22, if I do it now, it will be easy, if I wait until I'm 30 or 40 it will be 10x harder.
I want to be able to be active, walk a flight of stairs without feeling winded, be able to play a sport, etc.
And lastly, I want to stick it to everyone who ever made an insensitve comment about my weight.
I'm doing it because a) I can feel how unhealthy I am and b) I'm incredibly uncomfortable in my own skin. Part a is obvious and should be the driving force, but b is the bigger motivator for me. I want to be able to leave the house without feeling self conscious. I don't even go a lot of places that I used to because I just feel too uncomfortable.
First of all I got to say Krampus, awesome post I love hearing peoples stories as well, it really helps me stay motivated.
I've always been over-weight and ridiculed for it. Every since I was 4 I have had big dreams of a music career but was always pushed to the side because of my weight... the reason was always "She needs to lose a couple pounds" or "I just dont think she is really serious about this". Of course I still get the serious thing because people always say "She's lost weight before, how do I know she isn't just going to gain it all back?". It really just sucked... to be completely honest.. I started to convince myself that music wasn't for me and I should go to school and be a nurse or a beautician like so many girls from my highschool have done.. but that's just not me... I mean, it's not a bad thing, not me.
The funny thing is though the thing that pushed me over the edge was a visit to my home state last January.. I was there for a little over a month and a half and in that period of time I managed to gain 20 pounds. I was so shocked and devastated when I stepped on the scale... I never really "felt" fat... I always looked at other people and said "they are bigger than me" or "I don't look that bad"... as terrible as that is... Something just sort of clicked in me though, I finally admitted I was unhappy and to put things simply, got my butt in gear.
I am sorry for the novel... lol... but I can't really help but toot my own horn sometimes... I never thought I would see 170 again.. It's an amazing feeling and I wish everyone all the luck on their journeys
The breaking point was when a new doctor (who I never went back to) was extremely rude to me and kept making comments about my weight. I'm a nice person with a lot to offer, and I've always thought I was pretty, even at my highest weight, and I just really wanted people to finally be able to see that. So I guess it's a lot about the vanity haha. I want to look as good on the outside as I feel I am on the inside.
I also really wanted to stop having that one thing to blame everything on-- I spent years blaming everything on my weight. I'm unhappy because I'm fat. That person doesn't like me because I'm fat. If I weren't fat I'd do this, if I weren't fat I'd do that. And it just got so old after awhile. Now that I've lost some weight I really feel so much better, physically, and I've also been able to realise some of the reasons I'm unhappy outside of my weight and deal with them properly, instead of just saying, "Oh well, if I were thin, I'd be happy."
I want to lose weight because being overweight is putting my health at risk.
For me, that is the primary reason for wanting to lose weight. When I was at my heaviest, at around 20, 21 years old, I went to the doctor's for a routine visit - a repeat prescription for the combined contraceptive pill. As usual, they weigh you and take your blood pressure. My blood pressure was high and they couldn't give me the pill. I was absolutely mortified. Twenty years old with hypertension. It just shouldn't happen. When you are young, you should be in your peak with regards to fitness and health. It was just so crushing to realise that when I was in that state, the risk to health from my weight wasn't just an abstract thing to be worried about in the future, it was something that was putting me at risk there and then. It was horrible to think that I was experiencing a medical problem that I had always associated with older, really unhealthy people... and then to come to the realisation that I was probably experiencing that problem because I was really unhealthy.
Before that point, I hated being fat for all of the "usual" reasons. I had low self-esteem, felt ugly, felt embarrassed, was never looked at by boys when I was younger, and so on. I know being thin in itself doesn't make people happy, but my weight provided a real mental barrier to a lot of enjoyment that I could have had as a teenager, and I spent a lot of time feeling ashamed and down about it. But when I realised that what I saw in the mirror was seriously threatening my health, that's when I had to do something serious about it. By all means, other than health, wanting to look better is a big part of why I want to lose weight. I don't think that's being excessively vain, but deep down, I think I'm quite an attractive young woman, and being obese was really spoling that, if that makes any sense. I just don't want to age and then look back and think, wow, I could have spent my youth enjoying my appearance and feeling young, healthy and pretty, if I had just taken care of my weight problem.
I'm 25 now and even though I'm not at my goal, I feel so much better already. I already feel healthier, happier, more confident, and like I can actually enjoy my appearance and getting dressed up. It's brilliant! And knowing that I'm keeping up a healthy lifestyle, by eating well and exercising regularly, I no longer fear going to the doctor, because I know I'm making good choices for myself.
What pushed me over the edge is I stopped being able to physically do things that I wanted to. When my friends were walking, I could barely keep up. We went to the beach and I could barely walk to where we were hanging out.
I want to be healthy. Not all fat people are unhealthy and not all thin people are healthy, but I, personally, am working on health issues.
I want to wear size 12/14 again. I'm sick of finding attractive clothes being such a big effort.
I think the weight is holding me back in the work place.
I think spending time thinking about the specific benefits of losing weight instead of thinking about it in the abstract can be helpful, so thanks for starting this thread.
Why are you losing weight?
I love hearing peoples stories as well, it really helps me stay motivated.
