I couldnt think of a name for this so I will call it vanity! Actually, taking care of myself is more like it. Lately, I have been able to afford to treat myself to manicures and getting my hair color lightened by a stylist with highlights, the works. I have been buying better clothes for myself, generally looking much more attractive. Before I was in so much debt and couldnt afford to do these things.

The question I have been asking myself is why dont you try harder to lose weight if you are doing so much to make yourself more attractive?? Losing weight doesnt cost anything. Actually you can save money by buying less food! LOL
I have been at this same weight for some time (almost 40 pounds lost---and 100 more to go!!) What is stopping me from wanting to get on the stick?? I know I need to do this and I want to do this but not enough I guess to stop the pigging out at night which is keeping me from losing more weight.

Anybody else in the same boat or comments/feedback??

lorelei

lorelei - we are the same person!! I think that all time. I get my nails done twice a month, my hair highlighted, always playing with makeup and I love nice clothes and I then I stop and think, you know what would make all the difference in the world!! Lose the weight!!!

What is the one thing that is holding you back from starting, or better yet...what is the one thing that would get you going?

While I was in the middle of gaining weight before I got married in 99..I was going clothes shopping twice a WEEK. I was getting my nails and hair done constantly. I felt pretty. Pretty fat. But still pretty. I wasn't ready and it hadn't clicked. I was dealing with emotions I was hiding with food.

There is no easy answer for anyone.

I still love clothes shopping though I am determined to get this weight off.

You're still going in the right direction. Remember, it's going to take time.

I know exactly what holds me back... it gives me an excuse to fail... I was trying to break into music for the longest time, but scared of the competition, so, I blamed my failure to even really try... "What can I do when there's 16 year old girls out there dancing and singing, who's gonna look at me?" Never thinking of these amazing women like Trish Yearwood, Jill Scott, Angie Stone... I failed because I'm fat, I didn't fail, the publics expectations failed me.... can't find a job? "I bet it's 'cuz I'm fat!" 3 failed long-term relationships? "'cuz I'm fat!" so on and so forth, If I'm not fat, I have nothing to blame MY failures on... so I guess, it's my crutch... I also have loads of makeup, eventhough I only wear the basics, I do my nails often, my mom in law is a nail tech... so she hooks me up with serious nail products... and now that I have money of my own, even a little bit, I can work on my clothes some more

PNG..You brought alot of things to mind with you're post. I think many ppl use their weight as perhaps a "crutch". I've certainly used it as something to "hold me back".

"When I lose weight, life will be wonderful"
"When I lose weight, I will run a marathon, sky dive, water ski, ect, ect."

I've used it to hide behind for years. But no more.

As we go along this journey to getting healthier and fitter, so many things come along in our paths. We face many things, many more mental than physical. It's alot about soul searching and who we are.

I know that for myself I have come to understand that my weight wasn't so much that I wanted to hide behind the weight. It was more that I had to hide behind emotional eating to deal with the emotions of life.

Jacob's Mommy-Maybe we are the same person! LOL I know it's good to take care of yourself no matter what your size. It shows to the world that we care about ourself atleast enough to do this much. I have quite a few very overweight coworkers who never really try at all-no hairstyle, makeup, and they wear the most unflattering clothes they can find it seems. Either they dont care or want you to believe they dont.

I have gotten over my slump emotionally and I am going to go back to WW this Saturday. I may have gained a pound since I went two weeks ago but "oh well", atleast I am going back in.
I have been overweight my whole life to some extent. When I graduated from highschool I was a size 16 when my friends were size 10 or 8, etc... So even though I wasnt obese I felt like it compared to them!! My highest size was a tight 26 jeans so you may as well say a 28!! I am just glad I have lost these 38 pounds and want to keep trying!
I dont know why I eat so much but it seems my whole family is fat. My sister is 240 pounds (5'5). My mom is 5'9 (200-not as big as me and my sis though-but she thinks shes huge). I have an aunt who wears 2x's and another who has had gastric bypass-twice!! Not to mention my cousins who were once normal and now are all putting on the poundage.

All I can do is keep working at it and not deny that I have an overeating problem.

Sorry to turn this into a novel!!
lorelei

Lorelei ...

I can so relate to your high school experience! For the majority of high school (except for the time I Dexitrim'd down to 118lbs!) I was around a size 12. Perfectly normal size.

In fact, right now I'd love to be how fat *I thought* I was in high school!

Most of my friends were size 7 and below and 5'5 and shorter - so next to them (at 5'8 and a size 12) I felt like a mammoth.

My family (except for my rail of a father) are all pretty large - I'm actually the shortest one in my immediate family ... everyone else is 6 feet plus! And not necessarily overweight per se, just large, stocky - they just take up a lot of space.

I'm not really a primping kind of gal - I used to be when I was smaller. But now, I kind of feel why waste the effort? No one will notice how pretty my hair is, or my new makeup or clothes if I'm so large.

But that's all gonna change!! When I hit 200 this gal is getting a makeover - that's my half way point!

And when I see 150lb again ... look out!! All that unused McDonald's Extra Value Meal money (supersized please!) is going to be used to stock up my closet ... no more 2x's for me!!

Hey Sick-n-tired!
you are so funny! (unused extra value meal money!!) good for you!!
I guess I am a primping kind of girl. I love cosmetics, have always polished my nails, etc.. I just enjoy it plus I feel if I am big I should atleast look the best I can even with this size. I am back on the straight and narrow path again and feel good. I lost the weight I had gained since being a "WW drop out" the past few weeks and I have lost an extra 1 & 1/2 pounds!! So now I am at 40 1/2 pounds! I am going for 45 pounds for mothers day. That will be the best mothers day gift ever (that and Logan my 7 yr old!!)

lorelei
313/272.6/268 mothers day goal

Boy....I must be the exception to the rule! I HATE to go clothes shopping! HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT!!!!! I look in those horrible funhouse mirrors under flourescent lights that make me look jaundiced and I am *sure* that the girl in the mirror is NOT me! I am in a size 18/20 (not humongous, but still the biggest I have ever been) and I just can't find *anything* that is both affordable and flattering in my size. (If I can afford it, it's ugly. If it's flattering, it costs 25% of my weekly paycheck.)

Jennelle
242.5/232.5/140