I was a pudgy child when I was younger. I had wanted to lose weight, but could never find the motivation to eat healthily or go to the gym or take care of myself in general.
When I was in 9th grade, I decided to go vegetarian, a lifestyle change that caused my to lose weight without even trying. It was partly from cutting out meat, but also partly from me eating better as a way to show my mom I could get adequate nutrition without meat.
When I began to noticeable lose weight, I decided to start working out. I lost 40 lbs, gained a lot of muscle tone, but also developed an eating disorder.
Now 6 years later, I've gained all the weight back and more.
I want to do this the right way now. No obsessive calorie counting or starving myself, and hopefully it won't lead to binging. I want to be lighter so I can bike up hills or climb up the dance pole more easily. I want to fit in old clothing. I want my thighs to not jiggle and rub together. I also feel like being a lighter person makes you more energetic, and I like that. I want to give myself the body I deserve
My general reasons for losing are that I've had my life on hold, my whole life, because of my weight. I put off doing so many things because of my size, and the limits I've placed on myself because of my weight are ridiculous. I know there are plenty of big people out there with awesome social/dating lives - I'm just not one of them. I'm not the funny fat friend! I've also come out of an unhealthy relationship where I stayed longer than I should because I worried I wouldn't meet someone new and awesome if I left!
My reason for losing now is that my Dad just died last month, not entirely unexpectedly but remarkably suddenly in the end. He had had cancer twice since 2008, and the second cancer was an aggressive kind that somehow he beat. I kinda got into this mindset that cancer was all he had to worry about, in so much that if he was cancer free then he was a-ok. It was something entirely different that he passed from, but it forced me to look at how I perceive things.
And where I've always said to myself "Oh I'll be fit and healthy next year" or "I'll start dating when I get to x lbs" it's really hit home to me that none of us are promised tomorrow. He was worried about my weight and my health and I feel that his legacy to me is that I take control of my health, well the aspects that I can, and grab life, the kind of life I want and we all deserve.
I was just so very unhappy at my higher weights. I think some of the reasons became compounded...
Clothes. I struggled with clothing so much that it prevented me from participating in social affairs. That's really sad. No one should have to live like that.
I also grew up in very much a "fat is bad/ugly/repulsive" family. I felt deeply ashamed of my body, to the point that for 10-15 years of my life I believed that me being fat was more important than any other aspect of who I was, and I believed other people also thought of me in those terms. This really took over my life, and (sincerely) I think in many ways kept me from evolving as an individual. I was always so obsessed with my body and size. I felt like I never belonged because I was so big, and in turn that fostered a growing social awkwardness that continues to follow me around in detrimental ways. So it was something I deeply struggled with, and losing weight has allowed me to release myself from that struggle in some ways and work towards a different kind of life.
No guy ever looked at me when I was fat. And I'm really shy, so I don't get a chance to meet people a lot as it is. It's not right to feel I have to be thin to be attractive, but in my case I had a lot more stacked against the odds. This area of my life really suffered, and in some ways it affected the rest of my social life which was shaky as it was.
I was fortunate to be healthy but I realized a time could come when I wouldn't be.
I wanted to be a strong and active individual. I wanted to explore interests like hiking, adventurous travel, certain kinds of work outs and physical activities that were hindered or impossible with a 100+ lbs gain.
I also just didn't like the way my body looked. I gained weight in extremely disproportional ways. Some people carry their weight well; I don't think I did.
I wanted to cross my legs, comfortably sit in chairs, take up one bus seat, not create a crater in my mattress, and so much more.
Last edited by belovedspirit; 03-31-2015 at 05:33 PM.
Hmm. Deep thoughts. My mother has been obese forever. On her fathers side of the family, morbid obesity is rampant! On her mothers side, not as bad, but still there!
I remember a family reunion/holiday, from when I was about 10 or so, and one of the adult cousins from my mothers family, very obese, was trying to get a handle on her diabetes. She chewed me out, for eating her "special" cherry cobbler! It was 1968!? I was a kid! I didn't even know what diabetes was!
Why did she put it on the buffet table?
As I grew up, and watched all the health struggles, of the family, high blood pressure, bad joints, diabetes, gall bladder attacks, heart stints, strokes, diabetic amputations.
Not a path, I want to follow.
I am far from perfect in the world of healthy eating, and activity, but I'm way better, than those that came before me.
I made a choice, to embrace and take on the challenge, of a better lifestyle, instead, of dreading it!
It's not always easy, and some days I do stumble, but I get up, brush off the dust, and climb right back on that horse!
I had a stress thing, last Friday, while spending the afternoon, with my grandmother, the other side of the family, as at 96, she passed peacefully away. Supper was not a stellar meal. Life now and then, throws that stuff at us. It was one meal. On the drive home, I had some time to put it all in perspective. Not what I ate for lunch, but that, Life gave me the opportunity, to have a few more moments, with someone, who was a very special part of my life!
Saturday morning was *deep sigh*, yukky, but, knowing Gramma! (my Fathers Mom), Stubborn, old woman! Born in 1918! I crawled right back on track!
Gramma Jake would come back and whack me, if I did not stick to my guns! She is like that!
I'm gonna miss that old woman! But, I can carry her lessons of being an independent woman, with me in life! Thanks Gramma!
I just turned 40. I've got 3 kids. I was down about 20 pounds at one point after having my 3rd, but I'm back to where I started after she was born (which still isn't as high as my highest non-pregnant weight, so there's that). This all happened while going to Weight Watchers.
So my reasons are sort of vanity-related but I think it goes deeper than that for me. My self-esteem is just taking a beating. It always has, but I got to a point where my weight didn't bother me as much as it had. But now I'm seeing how it holds me back from a lot of what I want to do. I want to be fun and spontaneous and stop being so self-conscious about everything!
I do have health as a consideration. Family history with lots of heart disease, and now that I'm 40 I know it's not some vague threat to consider down the road.
I'm sick of being uncomfortable. My clothes don't fit right. I'm short and fat, not an easy combination to dress. I'm also trying to pay down debt and it sure would be easier if I could wear all the clothes I own instead of having to shop for more and more!
I lost a lot of weight once, and kept it off for a long time. I think I'm just starting to realize how much harder it is now that I'm older and have a family. I need all the extra motivation I can get!
I need to get off all these diabetic meds and blood pressure meds and cholesterol meds and various other medications that I need because I'm obese. I'd like to spend that money on computer games or clothes or something fun instead.
And of course vanity. I'd like to be hot while I'm still under 40 or 45 or whatever I have to be under to be hot when I get there. I want to wear a bikini. If Helen Mirren can do it I can too. I'm going to go to England and walk around and not be out of breath, walk to the castle that's in my husband's hometown, see the sheep, have fun, and not be tired at all. And I'll look fabulous doing it
To look good, but the amazing health and vitality are great side effects!
As a side note, after reading some more comments: Despite saying above that my losing weight only to look better, I don't think it's about vanity.
It's more because - like it or not - people have certain preconceived notions about others based on their size. I don't want my life to be emcumbered by those notions. I would rather have my life be made less difficult than it already is by the perks that come with being thin.
If I was alone in the world, I would probably weigh one hundred pounds more, because then I wouldn't care what I looked like, I love love love food, and I'm not a huge exercise fan.
Last edited by HungerWerks; 04-09-2015 at 09:02 PM.
I want to get off my high blood pressure meds and I want to feel better. Those are my mains goals. I also want to get rid of the 'always tired' feelings and the acid re-flux. I would like to be able to put my shoes on without it being a strain or to just have better flexibility all around. I don't think I look too bad. Maybe that's because I am seeing the thin me of my younger years and I don't really see the fat me. I'm not sure how others view my looks, but then I tell myself that it's none of my business what someone else thinks of me.
I started off deciding to lose weight because of health and wanting to grow old along with my family. It was also a large amount of vanity, but that part only pushed me to lose weight, whereas the family part pushed me to eat healthy.
Currently I give myself vain motivators such as, "I want to look great for that trip to Europe in 1 year" or "I want to graduate while being able to wear something beautiful underneath my gown."
Weight Loss may be a journey but its the journey afterward I truly look forward to.
My husband had just gotten a gastric sleeve and he looked amazing, so I wanted to look amazing as well, you know, to make a cute couple together. It would be easier to go on a diet if my husband couldn't eat unhealthy foods, because he'd support me. Actually, we'd be supporting each other in a new lifestyle. As I went on to lose weight I realized that I was actually enjoying the process and loving the changes, and I loved looking at myself in the mirror and that, for the first time in 33 years I LOVED ME FOR ME.
Then I got pregnant and I love my little chunky monkey to pieces but I regained most of those 40 lbs and having a hard time loving myself again at the same level I did last year. I feel saggy (especially because I had a C-Section so now I have that nasty flap that comes with it), I feel physically ugly (saving my face... thank goodness for my face; it's my redeeming grace and the only reason why I never quite loathed the body I got).
So now I'm doing this because I want to live life to the fullest, not being concerned with something as silly as looks. I want to go out and be on pictures and love myself in them, not hide, not have to scrutinize them one by one and leave out most of the candid ones because they show what I really look like. I want to love myself again, for the beautiful person I know I am. I have lived my whole life measuring myself by someone else's standards and I'm too dang old for that anymore.
I was a kid! I didn't even know what diabetes was!
