Informal Poll: What is/was your goal for your body in losing weight?

[saef]

I've been reflecting a lot on what my goals are as I continue with my maintenance efforts.

It's made me curious regarding what people wanted/want as they set out on this long, often difficult journey of changing their bodies. What is the "look" or "state" each of us is striving for?

So I ask: What was your goal for your body to look like after you'd lost weight? Which of these three little interior monologues best describes your thinking?

A) I'll be happy if my body is average-looking and healthy. Health was my main motivation. I know that to some people, I still don't look thin enough (whatever that would be). I exercise moderately. I'm happy because I'm better off than I was before, even if I will never be a Victoria's Secret Model. It's not about appearance, it's about a better quality of life. Oh, yeah, I do look better than I have in years, but that's just a side benefit.

B) Okay, I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I want to look smoking hot. I want to turn heads. Yes, I would secretly love to look like a Victoria's Secret Model. I know there are health benefits to losing weight, but the truth is, deep down, I really want to wear all those sexy things that I never dared to wear before, or to look better in them than I do now when I try them on. I exercise as much as I need to look good in the clothes I want to wear. For me, it's okay if I still have just a bit of meat on my bones -- guys actually don't like it if you're too thin. They want boobs & a booty.

C) I don't just want to attain a low weight on the scale, I want to be really fit. I want to look like an athlete in training. When I see the personal trainers in my gym, I wish I could look more like them. I want muscle definition. I want competence, perhaps even excellence: I want to be able to handle all the machines & the weights. I don't care if I see a slight gain, because my clothes fit great. It's all muscle underneath there. Thin isn't everything. There are thin people who really aren't that fit. That's not what I am about. Oh, yes, incidentally my doctors are awed by my numbers & I do look hot, but what I'm really about being fast/strong/flexible.

D) Or do you have your own interior monologue talking about the kind of body you'd like to have that sounds nothing like any of these three? Or maybe you're Sybil & you have multiple voices in you & multiple personalities. Or maybe you started out thinking one way & ended up thinking another. I'm sure the variations are infinite ... as I said, I am sooo curious about this.

[Summer2010]

A great post! This is me: B) I want to look smoking hot. I want to turn heads.

Even though I was never the one to really turn heads (actually, once for about a year when I was 159 lbs) I have this image in my head and this is where I want to get...I am more realistic now and think that I will look awesome at 175 (I'm 5'11")...but yeah, I want to look smokin'...especially now since I have a baby! And I want to flaunt it in front of all those that said I was fat when I was pregnant )))))

[stargzr]

Going into losing weight I was more of a B.. but I wasn't embarrassed to admit it. Now that I look at how much muscle I can build so easily I'm between B & C. I want to be thin and look good, but I want to have *some* muscle definition (some really cute little bicep/tricep muscles).
Although I still think that B defines me more, if I couldn't build my little arms up I won't be heartbroken. I just want to be happy with how I look in clothes AND out of clothes.

[CLCSC145]

I'm going to go with D), or a lot of A) with a bit of B) added.

For me it's a blend of looking normal again and maybe pretty for once, and being able to stop worrying about obesity-related health problems. I'm realistic about the fact that I've done permanent damage to my body by carrying so much weight for so long, so I'm never going to look like a sexy model. I'm always going to look like someone who was once fat and has the sag and stretch marks to prove it. But I can look better, and feel better physically, and worry less about things like heart disease and diabetes.

I don't want to be embarrassed to be seen anymore, I want to blend in (hard to do when you are a 6ft tall woman and a very fat one to boot!). I don't want people's first impression of me to be, "wow, she's fat" anymore. So while appearance is important to me, "smoking hot and head turning" is not possible and would be setting myself up for failure. But looking the best I'm capable of looking would be nice. And not worrying about my health would be great too.

[Eliana]

A little of a) and a little of c).

What I most want is to just blend in.

[jigglefree]

My goal is to get to a size 10. I would have to say B is me. I think a 10 would have me smelling my own self. But smokin hot is my goal. I do a lot of toning exercises so that my skin won't jiggle like the fat. But know this one thing, when I get to goal I'm going to need about a good month to stop acting brand new. I have put every one on high alert so I can do me.

My husband is going to be keeping me balanced cause I starting to feel pretty good and the big clothes are getting to big.

[Kritter]

What a great poll!

Personally I have been striving for C!

I know that my body looks great at 140 and I train hard so its not so much about the number on the scale but about how strong and fit I am! I see pictures when I was around 150 and I look skinny so maybe 140 might be asking too much of my body! I will see how I feel and look when I get to 150. I might have to re-asses.

[Meg]

"C" all the way.

For me, mental strength and physical strength go hand-in-hand. Learning to overcome, persevere, push through discomfort, require myself do what I thought was impossible in the gym -- showed me that I could do it in the rest of my life. I was -- and am -- capable of so much more than I ever imagined!

Weight loss and maintenance is about 98% mental, IMO. Becoming physical fit gave me the mental toughness, self-discipline, and fortitude to keep the weight off for all these years. I honestly can't separate physical and mental fitness for myself when it comes to weight loss (and certainly many other areas of my life).

I guess you could say that my goal was to look like personal trainers in the gym since I became one. And at age 47, "smoking hot" wasn't even on the radar.

Great question, Saef!

[Sskar]

I've yo-yo'd so many times and have been "successful" - only to regain it all and more, that I now understand part of my problem was having zero concept of my body. Sure it was great to wear a size 6 (for six months), and have people who never would look at me before stop and stare/ogle. Yet I never even saw what I looked like from the neck down.

You can probably tell that I have some body issues, and yes I've been in therapy. Now I am striving to stay connected to my body as I make healthy eating and physical activity a way of life.

So for me, my goal is to see my entire self in the glorious clothes that I love to shop for - not just see the clothes. Even when I'm unclothed I want to see all of me and be content knowing my mind and body and soul are all connected - and they look really good together!

A long way of answering the original question -- D.

[Summer2010]

Meg, you inspire me

[HealthierLori]

Still at the beginning of my new lifestyle, I can say that I want more than anything to FEEL better.

I felt awful at 181 eating tons of simple carbs/empty calories. I felt tired, lazy (did NOT want to get up off the couch) depressed, grouchy.

I've only started 10 days ago, so I've only made a little progress in my weight loss goals and fitness goals, but already I went from 10 minutes on the elliptical trainer with huge effort to 25 and feeling like I could easily do more.

I feel sooo much better, that I am determined with all my heart NEVER to go back to putting what amounts to poison (for me) into my body again. I'm not saying there won't ever be one dinner when I'll have some french fries, if we are eating out, but I won't ever do that on a regular basis. And the way I feel right now, I feel like maybe I won't ever even eat another french fry. I feel like I can promise myself that.

Yes, I am determined to get down to a normal BMI. I don't care a lot about looks, I'm 48 and my husband actually loves me anyway, but I want to be more comfortable and more healthy.

I want to have good blood pressure and good cholesterol (simple carbs make my cholesterol skyrocket). I want to feel reasonably comfortable in those little tiny airplane seats if I fly somewhere. I want to be able to cross my legs without having to lift and prod one leg on top of the other.

I'm going to look better at a healthy BMI. That will just naturally come along with good health. But it's not my main goal. That said, if my husband compliments me when I'm able to fit into a, say, size 10short jeans, I won't be unhappy, LOL!

[donnalynn]

A lot of B with a little C in the mix!

Great question!

[yossarianlives]

I'm going to admit I am a bit of a B. After I graduate in June (OMG), I'm planning on joining the police, so I want to be curvy and have a great figure under my uniform, rather than resembling a sausage. :P

Admittedly, joining the police is a HUGE motivation for me to lose weight, too.

[Lydia227]

Saef: Your options are very well thought out and written. You really hit the nail on the head with these.

When I began five years ago I was 36 years old and a size 18/20. When I began I just wanted to "blend in" with the other women in my age group. My body looked like that of a much older woman and I dressed it as such. I was just prematurely old in many ways.

I didn't know the difference between lean-muscular or skinny-fat. My goal was to wear a size 10 or maybe if I was lucky...an 8 but I wasn't going to set my sights quite that high. I promised I would be happy and accept whatever developed with my best effort.

Well, my best effort turned out to be quite a journey. I hit the gym most days of the week that year, and dialed into my nutrition using Body for Life. In the evenings I quietly lurked in the Maintenance and Women Who Lift forums. Based upon the threads and stickies I began to research different lifting sites and added strength training to my workouts.

During that time I kept my head down and just worked really hard. By the end of the year some amazing things began to happen. I did lose the weight, but "interesting things" were happening on the inside. Yes, psychological stuff such as increased self confidence but also a heck of lot of neuromuscular changes that really enhanced my enjoyment of the workouts. I was having fun being physically active.

I began to explore running, lifting, swimming, cycling, yoga all that first and second year and having a blast. It was then that my focus altered from "general health benefits" to "Wow, the human body is freakin' amazing!"

I've stretched my 5'3" frame with obesity, given birth to two beautiful children and neglected and abused it for more than fifteen years. And yet, after all of that, it responded in one year to the focus and attention of intentional exercise and clean eating with a fit and strong body that as a side effect looks pretty darn good for all it's been through.

Some days I think about how close I came to living the rest of my life as obese and it saddens me. While I do wish I would have had the means/direction/guidance to have made these changes sooner I won't live in the past. Honestly, each and every day I marvel at how different my life is now as a fit and strong woman and I am GRATEFUL for what I've learned.

I still spend much of my free time researching the science of exercise. I have since sat for and passed my personal training certifications for ACSM and NASM (first time though too I might add ). My passion for fitness has been woven into the essence of who I am. My need is to be able to share what I've learned.

I think that if this had not been an evolutionary process for me (and one that I alone owned) I would not have been successful in maintaining my original weightloss. It was necessary for me to reach beyond the "need" to lose bodyfat. I continue to learn and apply it to my own gym experience. Maintenance is a side effect of this continued effort.

Great question!

[calluna]

I like this thread too. I'm an A/C hybrid, and I don't really know where I'll end up. I have been at C before, and was amazed at myself every day. I LOVED being very physically fit - I did a lot of swimming, hiking, and walking/jogging, spiked with regular strength training several times a week.

In my present day, however, I'm not sure I'll reach that level of fitness again, because it took a lot of time and focus. Right now my days are half work, half family, and I'm shoehorning for all I'm worth to get time for my needs.

It is possible for me to be a C - both of my children love their mountain bikes, and if we had a bit more snow would enjoy the cross-country skiing. They like to shoot and hike too, and while they don't do laps they do like to swim. So they're interested, and it is possible, but right now I'm an A and we'll have to see how things continue to develop.