I'm asking this because I'm wondering what your overall happiness level is now that you are at goal weight. Do you FEEL more content? I can see how you would feel better physically with all the extra weight gone, but does thin = happiness like you thought it would?

Heidi

I really think that weight loss has totally made me a happier as well as much healthier person. I still have stress and worries that is for sure. But, not having to worry about being overweight is so much of a relief. It kind of frees up my worry meter to worry about other stuff. I kind of see it like when Forest Gump became a millionaire, when he said that having the money was "just one less thing to worry about". That is how I feel about my wt. loss.

I can't totally say that thin equals happiness because happiness is so dependent on so many different things in life besides just weight. But, I am happier now with myself as a person. My self-esteem is better. I'm more out-going.

I dont think I ever thought thin = happy, but it does but not in that way. Thin doesnt cause happy. However living the lifestyle that helps you become thin helps you be happy...

1) Exercise makes me happy. Literally. I am a prime example of exercise controlled clinical depression.

2) So much of my food issues were issues of self sabotage and self hatred. So naturally as I conquer these demon beasties one by one (they arent all dead yet) I am taking control over the negatives in my life and that makes me happy

3) Eating food that is good for my body tends to put me in a better mood than eating bad food. I remember clearly when I was on southbeach I had been doing pretty well with depression despite not exercising much. We went on our ski trip and I ate off the plan the whole week and by the end of the week despite exercise I was in the weeeeeirdest funk...and I wasnt even feeling guilty about the food.

4) Eating well & exercise helps my chronic insomnia....NOTHING would make me happier than to be cured of insomnia. If at my heaviest genie of the lamp had said ONE wish....it would have been insomnia, not weight that would have gotten fixed.

So ....yes but not in the way many people think.

I wasn't always overweight, and being obese made me unhappy, so yes, I am happy now. However, I should say that 155 isn't my final goal--I'm just taking a rest. 155 is still overweight for my frame and height.

Losing weight doesn't solve all one's problems, and it doesn't change all the issues in a person's life. I still have good days and bad days like everyone else. But, all the lesser irritations that go with being obese are gone, such as--not being able to squeeze past tight places. The "chair problem." The "clothing problem." The "out of breath problem." The "unable to walk up the stairs problem." The "can't get up off the floor problem." The "snoring problem." And so on. These make so much difference in the quality of my days and my general mood!

Jay

Heidi: I'm still about 9 pounds away from my personal goal but I am in a healthy range at this point. Like Jay I wasn't always overweight. My gain began my senior year in college and snowballed through my thirties. With each gain, measured by the scale or by increased clothing size I lost pieces of myself: my personality, my self-confidence, energy level, and just enthusiasm for interacting with others. After the majority of the loss all of these things that defined me as a younger adult slowly began to return. I remember having lunch with my mother last winter and explaining to her that it's like I've been in a coma for the last fifteen years and just finally woke up.

Like Ennay explains, "Exercise just makes me happy." Oh yeah. Endorphines are real and need to be experienced! I get a healthy shot of those during every workout and I feel so mellow and controlled for hours following my workouts.

I'm so grateful every day that I had the opportunity to just focus upon losing this weight. Now that I have finally emerged as myself once again I am ready for new opportunities and the challenges they present. Previous to this loss I would not have been able to say this. I would have remained in my safe place perfecting all that I was comfortable in doing but never attempting a real risk. A few weeks ago DH and I were talking about this very thing, how my weightloss has affected our relationship. In the end he said to me, I've waited for you for a long time Lydia. I knew you were in there and it was worth every minute. that guy.

So Yes! I am a happier person since my loss and a better person to be around too! okay, I'm still a little cynical but in a fun way.

I DID naively think that thin=happy when I started. But, it is much, much more complicated than that.
Don't get me wrong-- I am thrilled to be a size 4/6 and I can actually take pride in my appearance for once, but I still have fat days. And becoming thin didn't mean that I got better grades in school or oodles of friends or prince charming. Thin doesn't = great life. But for me it does = better life.

It's hasn't made me happy, but as Lilybelle said, it's one less thing to worry about. For instance, when I enter a clothing store, I know that something will always fit, and that at worst, they just won't carry my size any more, rather than not carry it at all. I'm also feeling less self-conscious, which means less feelings to battle before putting on the swimsuit, etc. (I'd have put it before, but it'd still had demanded that I fight myself to do so). So yeah... It hasn't made me happy. It simply helped feeling better, and saving up my 'worry energies' in case I'd need to focus them on something else.