It's funny, because any time someone posts a "what are your rewards?" type thread, someone always pops up with the "Being healthy is my only reward" answers. But I don't entirely buy that. That may be their strongest reward or their focus or whatever... but honestly... most of us are here because we are tired of how we look. You betcha I want to get off of my meds and not become (full blown) diabetic, but mostly I just don't want to hate myself when I look in the mirror.
What ever your motivation is, best of luck to you!
Well, this has been a very interesting thread and this is why I LOVE this site and have been hanging around for quite a few years. Like others have said I've also gone to other sites and they were never as interesting and informative as this one. I too follow some posters that I find post interesting stuff, Meg, Mel, yes you too Susan, Wyellen (which I can never remember how to write her name ) MrsJim, etc....
If you expect to get along with everyone all the time I think that's unrealistic! Do we get along with everyone in real life? NO!! I try but it doesn't happen all the time, that's for sure....
Have I lost weight for vanity, **** YES, for healthy? Not in the beginning when I was 28, it was strictly for vanity and to look good and to fit into some nice clothes. Now that I'm 49, it's health (can you imagine I was told by my doc yesterday that my cholesterol is borderline!!!! ME?! ) but still vanity because I see some of my HS friends who are not looking healthy and fitting into nice clothes, and I still want to look good at 70!! I want to be one of those old ladies that everyone at the gym points and admires my determination even old and wrinkly!!
Anywhoooo, I do love this site, because of it's deversities...and Tracy don't feel intimidated by others who think they know all ...
i'm going to keep my post short and sweet.....yes, i am definately loving how my energy levels have come up 10 fold since i started excerisizing....yes, i love that my confidence has come up 10 fold since i lost 25 pounds...yes, i love that my body feels younger than it did a year ago...but did i do this for those reasons????.....no. I did it because i was tired of not likeing the reflection in the mirror anymore or the person in the pictures. I want to turn heads when i walk into a room...or at least feel like i am. i want guys to look at me. i want to feel sexy in anything i decide to wear.
only a small portion of me has done this for my kids. Not wanting to be the fat mom. i do want my kids to be proud of me when they introduce me to their friends. not ashamed of me because i am overweight.
but mostly...i'd have to say it is all for my own vanity. I want to look good. And by gosh....I WILL!!!!
I started losing weight purely because my doctor said I had to for health reasons. But, somewhere along the course, it's the new found love of being smaller and buying cuter clothes that has kept me motivated. There's nothing at all wrong with just wanting to look great, that's why a lot of women here keep going.
I dont think what you want is wrong. i can bet that most ppl, even those who dont want to say it, want the same things, to look good and feel good about the way they look. and i mean it is important to be healthy, but its okay to want to look good.
This has turned into a really interesting thread (thanks, Tracy!)
I don't think being hot was why I started this journey -- even though I wasn't having health problems yet, I was fat enough and old enough (almost 40) to see them on the horizon.
But I never thought about being hot. Perhaps because I've never been hot? (I'm not trying to put myself down, and my husband would vehemently disagree --love that man)! Or never perceived myself as hot anyway. Honestly, I never thought "hot" was possible. Yes, I wanted to shop in 'real' stores (still waiting for that to happen!)
But it's interesting, I'm down 81 pounds from my high weight and am starting, just starting, to feel like I look okay... and I'm starting to wonder how I'll look a little further along this journey... maybe I will look hot!
So, maybe I'm coming from the opposite direction -- starting for health and adding "hot" or vanity later!
Oh, and Ilene, don't worry about getting my name right -- it's not a real name anyway! If anyone's interested it's pronounced will-enn.
My real name is Heather (which I think is buried in my profile somewhere). I think I didn't start using it because I didn't want anyone in my real life to find me, but who am I kidding -- I've got my picture plastered all over here, anyone from my real life who finds me is going to know who I am!
*waves to people from real life, and then cringes in embarrassment for when they follow her around*
So, if you can't remember wyllenn, you can call me heather... though I do love my adopted name, and it is unique!!
Edited to add: okay, so now my name is below wyllenn... i'm out!!
This is a great thread! Wyllen, I also am one who watches for your posts because you are such an encourager to others! Great comments on this topic also.
And "Misti" is not my real name either... actually I am "Sue." But I live in Seattle and love the rain so.... in Seattle it is!!
This is a great thread! Wyllen, I also am one who watches for your posts because you are such an encourager to others! Great comments on this topic also.
Misti -- Well, I've been known to follow you, and Susan! (along with many of our maintainers!)
Trust me there are alot of us loosing weight for the same reason you are!
I am also loosing it for vain reasons if it makes me healthier in the proccess that great too.
I never read the thread that you are speaking of but I am sure they didn't mean it the way that it read.
Good luck on your goal to be BEAUTIFUL!!!
Sheer vanity is part of why I'm losing weight, but it probably only makes number three on my list. Number two is health (future) and that's the part that I tell people. I have diabetes on both sides of my family and my mom, from whom I get my body, has bad knee arthritis in her 50s and I don't want that to be me. I'm healthy and active in my 20s but I don't want it catching me in a few years. The real reason, the part that I don't actually tell anyone, is that I want to feel better about who I am. I've somehow connected the fact that I'm overweight to the thought that I'm just not all that good of a person since I can't control my eating. But now I've proved to myself that I can do this, and maybe I can find the confidence that I've been hiding for so long.
Misti -- Well, I've been known to follow you, and Susan! (along with many of our maintainers!)
LOL well maybe someday I will be qualified to associate with the "maintainers" but it will be a while LOL.
And regarding the thread topic... of course I want to look better too; that is high motivation. However, I really got fed up with the poor health and not being able to DO so many things after having been active and even athletic all my life. So my motivation is a great big dose of BOTH LOL.
I like reading Jill's (Jillybean) posts. For one, they stand out anyway because she always uses the purple text. For another, she's great at speaking her mind. She's not afraid to disagree with someone, vehemently at times when necessary, and she tells is like it is. And she thinks like me so much it's scary. For example, I'll be reading a post with possibly a little bit of 'shock value' (you know how it is, you can't believe you're reading what you're reading) and I'll want to blurt out how I really feel about what's been said but I sometimes hesitate. Then I'll scroll down and Jill's already been there, saying exactly the same things I was thinking and I'll think ha! she beat me to it.
Aww, thanks! I mentioned you as well in a post I wrote this morning in another thread (http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76118)...I thought this was in response to my post...perhaps you stuck it in the wrong thread? Or maybe we just post together so often that we're sending each other vibes even from different threads now?
Aww, thanks! I mentioned you as well in a post I wrote this morning in another thread (http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76118)...I thought this was in response to my post...perhaps you stuck it in the wrong thread? Or maybe we just post together so often that we're sending each other vibes even from different threads now?
Nope, I was responding to everyone else's comments in this thread about whose posts they read, lol.
Thanks for the mention
I also like reading Misti's posts, she cracks me up.
) MrsJim, etc.... 
) but still vanity because I see some of my HS friends who are not looking healthy and fitting into nice clothes, and I still want to look good at 70!! I want to be one of those old ladies that everyone at the gym points and admires my determination even old and wrinkly!!
...
i want guys to look at me. i want to feel sexy in anything i decide to wear. 
But I live in Seattle and love the rain so.... 
in Seattle it is!! 
