Great reasons, everyone! I'll get to mine in a second, but I have to say I LOVE this from Jacqui:
I want to look thin and attractive again! Not teenager thin with a young attractiveness, mind you, but a more mature, more rounded thin with an older attractiveness, but still, thin and attractive all the same!
I'm certainly going for the "older attractiveness" thing, too!
My real reason, as with all of us, was to get healthier. That was tough for me because even at 250+ I had no health problems that are usually attributed to weight. So I like to call the superficial (even snarky) reasons my "motivation" to lose weight, not my "reason." Does that make sense?
1) I committed to this with 4 friends and was determined that I would not be "the one" who failed at it. (Four succeeded, one is still struggling.)
2) To prove 2 friends 100% wrong who told me I was crazy to give away my clothes as they became too big ("No one ever keeps weight off - you'll be sorry you gave that stuff away.")
3) At the point where I was down about 30 pounds I got a notice in the mail that my high school class was having a "60th birthday party" in 6 months. I was determined to be close to goal by the time of the party. (I was within 2 pounds!)
4) When I had been maintaining for about 8 months I was visiting my newly engaged daughter in NC (I'm in PA) and we decided to just look at dresses for me. I found one that I absolutely loved at a fantastic sale price that fit perfectly. I bought it. It still had to fit 14 months later. That helped me keep the weight off.
Do whatever it takes, even if it's the not so noble idea of proving someone else wrong or letting them see what they missed out on.
Good luck, everyone!
Lin