Nebuchadnezzar raised an interesting point.

I too have experienced being treated as not female because of my weight. One example is that my male relatives would gently hug my smaller sisters and female cousins (even my more tomboy girl cousin), and give me a hearty hug or a slap on the back. Not quite like a boy, but dang close. I kind of hated it. That happens much less now, which is nice.

As for why I want to lose weight... Definitely health. My doctor warned me at 180 lbs that I was in danger of developing diseases and such. Never got there, thank goodness - my blood pressure went up a bit (into the "normal" range; mine has always been healthy and lower), and my cholesterol was way too high (going to get that checked again soon).

I also want to look better and fit any clothing I like. But also I didn't feel comfortable, especially physically, at 207 lbs. I had back rolls that touched (VERY uncomfy when I sweated), my belly was starting to fold over itself, my arms were big enough to trap heat in my pits (ew), my thighs rubbed way too much (even got a rash once in salt water), my double chin had begun to touch my chest when I propped my head up in bed, etc.

I HATED how all that felt. And I couldn't just take it off and be free. It was stuck on me, and it felt gross and uncomfortable and I wanted it off. I love not having any of that now.

because I dont like what I see when I look in the mirror I want to wear clothing that looks great

Like one poster said...because I'm fat! lol

But seriously, there are so many things that can happen that are out my control, but my weight is. If I can take this weight off and reduce my risk of heart failure, stroke, diabetes, breast cancer (the list goes on) then I'll be happy. Also God gave me this one body and how dare I treat it this way be being unhealthy?

Oh yea, I want to be sexy! I want to go to Miami and actually get in the ocean and take my cover-up off! I want to wear a mini-skirt and high heels! I feel like my heels would hurt a lot less if I didn't have so much dang weight pushing down on them (am I the only one who feels this way?)

Oh and I want to be able to get intimate with somebody and not have to worry about which way my rolls are moving...it's hard to enjoy myself if I'm always trying to suck it in (lol)

I am *so* over being the fat kid. I want to be healthy! Happy! I want to have ENERGY and be able to USE it without becoming out of breath in the first minute. I want to run around half naked and not have to worry about my weight, and how others must see me.

I want to be able to wear the clothes that I like, and not have to hide in a hoodie and baggy jeans.

And holy crap, I want to find a fit, sexy man, and have him actually be attracted to me, too.

To feel better about myself. To have confidence in my life. To be happy.

me! i love heels and i have a house full of them but i hardly ever wear them cuz one hour in them and my feet are dead!! less if i have to walk anywhere! the worst part is that japanese girls wear heels all the time and you see them trotting around on them all over the place like it's so easy and i'm thinking "when i'm thin, surely it won't hurt this much!"

i guess wanting to wear heels IS another good reason to want to lose weight, haha...

Japanese girls are absolutely superhuman when it comes to wearing heels everywhere. Sure they have late-term foot problems and bone deformation and whatnot as a result, but damn I feel jealous. I'm useless in heels.

I thought of another reason. I want to be one of those people who can go out and eat like a pig (NOT on a regular basis obviously) and have people think "damn how can that little thing eat all that?"

I'm losing weight because I feel like I'm stuck in a rut... a rut that I dug nice and deep all by myself, and will have to pull myself out of all by myself. I'm not particularly happy with my job or my social life, so I'm catapulting myself out of my rut by forcing myself to save as much money as possible so that I can move to Washington DC for a year (or longer). I haven't figured out what I want to do as a second career, and job and career books haven't helped me figure anything out, but I do know that I like museums. I'm planning to "work" full-time by volunteering at a handful of Smithsonian museums and research institutes and playing in a beautiful city when I'm not working :) I'd love to be able to jog/run daily though the National Mall and other gorgeous places around the city. I want to have the energy to walk everywhere, and not show up red faced and out of breath. I'm losing this weight so that I can begin the next portion of my life in a healthier body and better frame of mind. :D

oh yeah...and I want to have men look at me and be interested - I'd be lying if I didn't own up to that one~

I want to be super hot by the time I turn 25...I plan on doing something big and I want everyone to be like "wow"....I want to be able to fit into an amazing tight dress..I want to prove to myself that I can do it and I want to make the one's that think that I can't, feel stupid. I have 5.25 years left till I turn 30 and I want to make the most of them...I want to make sure that the rest of my 20's are some of the best years of my life

I'm losing weight because I have been overweight for my entire teen and adult life. Everyone in my family is overweight, too. I'm sick of it!

Also, I really enjoy shopping, but being relegated to two or three stores makes it so much less fun. I want to be able to shop at normal stores and not have to worry about everything being super frumpy in the plus section.

I'm losing weight for a lot of reasons...

One is that there are a lot of things I want to do in my life - travel to different countries, raise a family, etc, and all of those things will be easier and more fun if I'm at a healthy weight. My dad and grandma both have Type 2 diabetes, and every member of my immediate family is obese except for me. I want to avoid these issues myself, and be a positive role model for my family and my future children that health is a choice you make, not something you're stuck with.

And who am I kidding, I want to look good! I grew up in a family that didn't put a lot of emphasis on physical appearance, which I think was great - I feel like I didn't have to struggle through a lot of the image crises young girls go through because I knew my family loved me for who I was, not how I looked.

But now, I'm realizing that the way you present yourself to the world matters, and that it's okay if I want to hold myself to a higher standard than I was raised with. I'm just now starting to feel comfortable in my own skin, and I want my physical appearance to reflect that. Plus, I want to buy tons of cute clothes and not worry about whether or not the style will be flattering on me :)

Oh yeah, and the bathing suit... I'd like to wear a bathing suit again (or just a pair of shorts!) and feel totally comfortable. :)

So other then everyone wanting to lose weight. Does anyone have any specific goals for November? It would be motivating to hear everyone's goals and reporting to this thread weekly so we can support eachother.

The reason I want to lose weight is to be healthy again.

I'm losing weight for a couple reasons. A big one is vanity. Another big one is curiosity. I've been overweight since childhood and I wanted to find out what it felt like to be one of the normal sized people and see what my body looks like with less extra padding.

Health and vanity. My mom has a ton of health problems, high bp, pre-diabetes, joint problems that I'm fairly certain are all tied to her weight. She always complains about how bad she feels/looks but then eats terrible food. I don't want to be like her.
My dad on the other hand was a skinny ba***rd when he had his heart attack at 45. He ate total junk but could keep the weight off since his job was so physical (has since been put on a (mostly) desk job and has gained weight).

Vanity is a big motivator. I've never been thin. I'm 23 and have always been overweight/obese/morbidly obese. I was the fat kid/sibling. I got tired of just accepting I'd always be like that and that I didn't have the power to change. I do and I will get there. Plus, I want to wear all the cute clothes my sister gets to. ;)

I am losing weight because I want to stop feeling self concious all the time! I hate sucking in my stomach for every picture--and still having to crop each one I'm in because you can see my stomach. I want to put on clothes and feel confident about how I look in them. I just want to feel better about myself in general--because for the type of job I'm going for you have to be confident! And if I'm worried that people are judging me because of how I look all the time, I can't be as confident as I want to be.

So I'm losing weight to feel better about myself :). I agree this is an awesome post!