My primary reason is health--I have Type II diabetes and high cholesterol--and I want those numbers to come down into a controlled range. When my eating was out of control, so was my blood work--even with medication. I know my blood sugar is getting better--I'm looking forward to the next set of labwork.

The second reason is energy--I already can tell a big difference being down 35 lbs. It's easier to do things--stairs, walking, getting up and down from the floor--even getting up to get a bever from the fridge.

The third reason (related to energy) is that we love to travel, and I want traveling to be easier. In Japan last summer, I was the 'slow one'--looking for an escalator instead of stairs, needing to rest. I hated that. (At my height, though, carrying a suitcase up and down stairs is always going to be hard.)

It also turns out (I hadn't thought about it, although it's obvious) that smaller sizes are physically smaller. Since I'm a big fan of packing light (one carry-on size suitcase is big enough for any length trip), having my clothes be smaller means I'll have more space to bring stuff home!

Vanity kicks in about now--I want to look better--but the health and energy is truly more important.

So my kid won't find me passed out in a coma again due to poorly managed health. She was three. It eats me alive that she witnessed something so traumatic at such a tender age, something that still haunts her. It will not happen again.

And...because I am really starting to enjoy my reflection in the mirror. I can be kinda cute sometimes. :lol:

Originally it was all pure vanity. Or I wanted my boyfriend at the time to have a hot girlfriend or I wanted to make him jealous after he was my ex. Or I wanted to attact a new guy. Even though I felt pretty mature at 24 I guess I wasn't if those were my motives. I eventually began to realize none of these reasons were good enough. I needed to do it because -I- wanted to FOR ME not for external reasons. I'd always fail if my reasons were vanity related.

Then I started learning more about nutrition and the benefits of exercise and my reasons started to change from pure vanity to wanting to be healthy and fit. And it's even evolved from there where I want my body AND mind to be healthy so I'm now working on the mental reasons why I eat and why I needed junk food and so much of it (Other than the obvious reason that it tasted good).

Another reason is I want to be a good role model. For my future children. For some of my family that struggles with keeping weight off. For some of my friends who gave up because they "couldn't do it". For my fiance who got a lapband but did not change his lifestyle one bit. He lost the weight and has kept it off for several years but I don't want to prolong my life only to lose him to a heart attack at 50 because he eats bacon/ice cream/chips/etc almost daily.

I still have vanity reasons but they aren't my only reasons. Vanity reason #1: I ordered my wedding dress in a size 16 instead of the 20 the store wanted me to buy. Sooo, that dress needs to fit! I also have fitness vanity reasons like I want to be that girl that you look at and know that she works hard for what she has. AND I want to be able to tell I'm pregnant when my fiance and I finally decide to start a family.

To be healthy- mind and body
To participate in my children's lives, not sit on the sidelines!

I want to be able to encourage others to get healthy
I want to do things I never have before such as rock climbing or jumping out of a plane!
I love rollercoasters and haven't been on one in over 10 years!
I want to look good in clothes (and without :lol:)

Unfortunately, I spent a good portion of my life feeling hopelessly fat and ugly, with the opinion that I was meant to be fat and that dieting simply wouldn't work for me. And all that time I was bitterly daydreaming about having a normal body, of not standing out as the fat chick, of being able to walk into a "regular" store to buy clothes.

I thought my health was fine. I could still get around ok, even if I was easily worn out. And I could still buy clothes, even if they weren't the most comfortable or flattering. What I didn't realize was that I should have been focusing on my health, regardless of my weight. I should have been eating more fruits & veggies, and less sugar & deep-fried crap. And I should have been doing everything I could to stay active.

Unbeknownst to me, I was an undiagnosed diabetic for over a decade! While my blood sugar numbers are normal now, the proof is in my old symptoms and the irreversible damage done to my eyes. One of my turning points was the realization that not even the plus sized fat chicks store had jeans big enough to fit me. I was frustrated, I was embarrassed, and it was really the first wake-up call to indicate how far I had let myself go. That was around the time I realized that it was a struggle to walk from one end of the room to the other!

It's been a long and winding road since, with many moments of triumphs and self-doubt as I spent a few years losing about 100 pounds. And when I started to backslide for the first time since, my health went downhill again and I found myself pregnant (surprise!). I miscarried shortly before the end of the first trimester, and vowed to be the healthiest person I could possibly be in hopes of being able to carry a baby full-term.

I've lost a significant amount since then and am pregnant again for the first time. I'm about 2 weeks short of completing the first trimester and am hoping everything will be ok. I feel a lot better than last time and have done everything I can to be healthy, so I'm hoping the odds will be more in my favor.

So I really did have to switch my priorities from vanity to health to make this work. Although I have to admit a small amount of vanity still plays a role.

Is it shallow to say that I want to enjoy my 20's looking good? I'm 24...I want to know what its like to be a hot young person lol. Of course, I also want to be healthy and in shape, and I know it will be easier to lose weight at my age now then 10 years from now. I want to be healthy and in shape before I start a family. I want to look cute in clothes, and I want a little self confidence!

For me, it started out being all about health. I was having daily hypoglycemic episodes, was in a lot of pain from arthritis, had limited mobility and over all, I just felt like what comes out of the south end of a north bound horse.

Now, I'm really enjoying the other benefits of losing weight. I'll never be a beauty queen but damn if I don't look a whole lot better, even with almost 50 pounds left to lose. I am most definitely enjoying clothes shopping again!

Another benefit that I didn't expect is the improvement in my mental health. I haz issues. I shan't go into a boring litany about that but I'm learning not to eat my feelings.

Aside from using nice clothes I want to be able to run around with my son I want to set a good example for him. I' ve also been having pain in my legs and I know it is due to my weight.

My primary reason was to be healthy, but as time went on, I started to realize it's becoming more about vanity. It's like, the more I lose weight, the more girly I want to be. I never knew I had such a low self-esteem because I'm usually a really happy person in general, but I'm realizing it more now. I wanna be able to wear cute clothes and be comfortable in them. I spend a lot of time looking at clothes online and hope that I may be able to wear those clothes one day and it's probably my biggest motivation right now. Health is still a huge concern for me so I'd say it's probably half health and half vanity at this point. But hey, whatever helps to keep the motivation going, ya know? It may seem like I don't need to lose a lot just based on my stats, but I have a smaller frame so all those pounds are just excess fat!

Fitness. I want to run faster. I'm not at all interested in a 7 hour marathon. I really want to get under 5.5 hours. I also want to do a triathlon. I want to be stronger. And if I look better as a side effect, then yay! I also need to protect my one kidney, and losing weight will help protect Lefty.

I want to wear sexy and short dresses, plain and simple :)

Originally Posted by Garnet2727:
Another benefit that I didn't expect is the improvement in my mental health. I haz issues. I shan't go into a boring litany about that but I'm learning not to eat my feelings.

This too. I can't believe how much my mental health has improved. I didn't realize what a negative, dark place I was in or what for lack of a better word, beotch I was when I was at my heaviest and most unhappiest. I genuinely feel like I'm a better friend, daughter, sister and girlfriend now that I'm in a happier place.

This started out as a total health & fitness thing. My father was doing 300-mile bike races in his 70s. What would I be doing in my 70s if I continued along my current path?

Now that the health / lifestyle concerns are behind me, from this point on it's total vanity. I admit it.

Originally Posted by IanG:
Because I can.

Whereas once, not too long ago, I simply thought I could not.

Pretty much this! There is also that I am too poor to keeping buying plus sized clothes from the specialty stores.

What an awesome thread!
 

Hi there,

I love all of the reasons that everyone listed and I can identify with a lot of them.

I have a lot of reasons to lose weight, to reduce my advanced stage fatty liver (which CAN be reversed by weight loss), way :cool:, to go skiing with my family again, to not sweat so much and to not get so out of breath, and yeah, why of course, the vanity. :) ;)

My real reason now is that in late October is I will be seeing an elderly family member who I love dearly and this may be the last time that I see her. I am NOT losing the weight for her, I tried losing weight for other people many times and it didn't work, I actually gained weight back. I am losing it for MY own peace of mind that when I see her, I will be that I look good and present myself in a good way, so that when she dies, she has a great memory of me, not a memory of me as a chubby, overweight grown up girl. I want to feel that I have done something right for myself and in this case, that my family and I can reap the benefits. :cool: I already walk with a 'calm but confident' tone because I am starting to love and feel better about myself. I am making better food choices, so the key now, is for me to KEEP THIS UP AND OFF and NOT SABOTAGE MYSELF!!!

Thank you all for this. All of you rock, this site is awesome ;)

WE CAN DO THIS!!!

:carrot: