I was wondering if any of you maintainers could tell me if you made any significant career changes after losing weight. If you have, could you tell me about what it took as far as time, cost, additional education, etc.? The closer I get to my weight goal and other goals the more restless I become about my work life. I think that's a good thing, but it's also a scary thing so I'd like to hear about other people's experiences. It doesn't have to be any sort of profound experience either. Even if you made some small changes that made you a lot happier in what you were doing I'd love to hear about that too.

Thanks in advance!

I have not changed jobs yet but I did get a degree. One thing I do know for sure is that in the past I never went on more than two interviews without getting a job offer. Now I seem to go on endless job interviews without hearing a word. I could relate this to the fact that we are living in a bad economy or the fact that I am now seeking a different kind of job...

Here is my insecurity coming out...In the back of my mind I do wonder if my weight has anything to do with the reason that the offers are not flowing in. I would hate to think that people are that swallow but maybe in people's mind's fat=lazy??????

Congrats on getting the degree! What kind of degree did you get, and was this a career change? If so, what motivated you to do it?

I've been actually thinking about changing careers but we'll see what happens. What I'd want to do would require a few years of school (including taking undegrad prep courses), money and time.

Part of me feels selfish. I have a job that I do like most of the time. Most any job I would take, even after going to school would start below my current salary level and would be that way for quite a few years. I'd have to spend quite a bit of money to actually go to school. One of the programs I'm looking at is a fulltime program which uhh would mean I'd have to either cut back my hours or quit my job. Do I take a financial backstep just to try something 'different'? What if I don't like the different job? Also, there is the time/money investment before even getting into the program I want to get into.

I did in a way.

I worked for 14 years in the business office of a hospital and it was very stressful.

My husband owns his own business and his partner and his wife wanted to retire. I asked if I could take the wife's job (of course, he said yes!).

I quit my job and took 6 months off thinking I'd start working with DH in January 2006. I also thought I'd lose some weight during those months off. I didn't (on both counts). The partner's wife didn't want me to start until April and I hadn't lost an ounce.

I saw it as the perfect opportunity to go on a full out diet and exercise plan. I started losing and was walking 4-5 miles daily. I found 3FC at about that time. I lost about 20 pounds before I started the job in April and continued to lose until November of that year when I met my goal (but promptly gained 4 pounds). I maintained most of the loss for a year or so and slowly it's been sneaking back on. I now have 15 pounds to lose to get back to goal and it's slow going.

But, I love my new job. The stress level has diminished greatly (although it has been replaced with a different kind of stress--but one that is more manageable).

Nelie - I'm kind of in the same boat as you are as far as deciding to take a financial step backwards and the what-ifs. If only there were a clear answer to these questions. I'm really envious of people who've known their whole lives what they wanted to do and are doing it now.

alinnell - that's great that an opportunity presented itself to you like that. I'm not even sure I'd recognize a sign like that. And it's really cool that you found 3FC during that time too. I think it's inspiring that you had a gain and are still here posting. Good luck with that 15 lbs!

After I lost about 60 pounds and discovered that I loved the gym and weight training, I certified as a Personal Trainer and Sports Nutrition Coach. I loved it. It's obviously not a job or option that would have been open to me when I was obese. People expect trainers to "walk the walk" and my boss would probably have fired me if I'd regained more than 5-10 pounds.

I trained full time for about 4 years, then changed jobs again. I now train very part time, and work in wealth management for a very large bank. I don't think my weight is a big issue there, we do have some heavy men and women in senior positions. However, my direct boss is a very thin, very fashion conscious woman and I think she would have less respect for me if I regained and wore frumpy clothes. Maybe shallow, but I do go to a lot of client meetings and need to look professional. Also, given my age, I think being normal weight and very fit makes me look younger than I actually am. When dealing with wealthy clients, I don't want to look too young, but young enough that they don't worry about their team retiring or keeling over before they do!

Mel

Sort of, since I decided to go back to school, get my license degree and take the exam to become a teacher. But I'm not sure if it has anything to do with losing weight. (Perhaps it has more to do with the fact that losing the bulk of my weight came after I went out of something that looked suspiciously like depression, and therefore I was in an overall better state of mind, which was solid ground for a change of career.)

Definitely - I became a personal trainer! I NEVER would have thought about doing that while overweight, nor do I think anyone would have hired me

I do have a day job, though, and it's one that pays much better than the one I had while fat. In this economy, I am afraid to let the day job go as steady jobs are becoming more and more difficult to obtain. I have SO much more confidence in myself now that I am at a size that many consider thin and I have SO many more clothing options to make myself look presentable, fashionable, and sexy. Before ever getting fat, I often relied on my looks to get jobs and it frequently worked. When I was fat, I knew I could no longer do that and had to prove that I had personality, intelligence, experience, and skills. After I lost weight, I realized that I could present both.

Losing weight also made me more motivated to succeed in other aspects of life because I thought, "If I am determined enough to lose 50 pounds without giving up and have enough willpower to keep it off, I can do anything if I want it bad enough!"