Oh man, that made me laugh so hard!

As for everybody talking about love life and jobs and advancement...any job or man worth having wouldn't discriminate against big girls. In fact, few would. I don't know of any who would.

It's your attitude. While I understand and relate...I have to face it. When the weight's gone I won't have anything left to blame but myself.

People don't look at you and see fat. They look at you and see a frowning, uncomfortable woman who lacks confidence in herself. I agree that losing weight always makes me more self confident, and THAT's what attracts people. Not my new size.

First and foremost my health. I am still not quite sure how I let myself balloon up to 287 lbs. I am simply not that same person I was just over 7 months ago. I will never, ever again allow myself to be put at such added risks for so many deadly and debilitating diseases. I am simply ashamed at myself for risking the life of my 3 daughters mother, that would be me. How could I have possibly allowed that to happen?

And then of course there's the usual stuff - fabulous clothes, greater energy, higher activity level. Feeling "normal" and "regular". More confidence and outgoing. Less worries. The opportunity to be the best that I can be. More joy and happiness.

For the first 25 years of my life I was relatively slim, certainly not fat. I was always active and busy and involved with life on all levels. My weight gain began when I married and had my children. These last twenty-five or so years have become VERY DIFFERENT from my first 25, and I am happy to be getting the "old" me back!

Probably my biggest reason for losing the weight is to recapture the positiveness that comes with feeling good in my own skin. I was never an athlete, but I certainly enjoyed swimming, riding bikes, playing tennis, skating, gardening, bowling, and volleyball. As I settled into marriage and my first job, the stresses and responsibilities started to define me. I became old in my mind as well as in my body. As the responsibilities grew, more weight went on. I became a very different person from the person I had been earlier in my life. It happened gradually, and soon I felt trapped in my own body and also in my mind's eye.

I have been fortunate to have no health issues. There are quite a few people in my family who have lived to 100 or over, so I am thankful for a healthy set of genes. I never really thought about health issues associated with weight because I could pretty much do anything I USED to do even when I was 275 pounds. Maybe that's because I took on my weight gradually and just got used to any extra effort that it took to do things.

A couple years ago when I began this newest phase of my now seven-year weight loss plan, I got to thinking..."I've got a good chance that with good care, this body of mine will probably make it to 100 or older. (My mom is 95.) I can live these next 45-50 years with good health and happiness, OR I can abuse my body with added weight and maybe live long but be sick, unable to move well, and/or be unable to live the life I WANT to live." That's just STUPID, so I am working hard to get back to the "old" me.

Looking forward a bit, I'm hoping to be a FABULOUS GRAMMA to my future grandkids. With our own I was always pitching them balls, taking them swimming at the pool or at the lake, riding bikes with them and skating for HOURS. I want to be able to do those things with our grandkids, too!

Losing these eighty pounds has been great because I can move like I used to when I was thirty. I'm actually more coordinated now than I was back then thanks to the yoga and Turbo Jam and the dancing that I am doing regularly. I feel like I have a second chance to GET IT RIGHT. I DO NOT want to blow this!!!

Cheryl

Cheryl, what a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it!

Jay

I will probably echo a lot of sentiments here


1) Health. First and Foremost. I'm approaching 40 and I do not want to have diabetes IF I can prevent it.

2) I want to have a baby. Being almost 40 I'm already in a high-risk group. I don't want to add weight to the risks.

3) I have tons of clothes that I love. GOOD clothes. Clothes that don't go out of style. Of course I want to go shopping again too, but really, my clothes kicked butt and I want to wear them dangit!

4) I want to feel generally better about myself. I want to be comfortable in my body. I want to romp around with my boyfriend like we used to when I wasn't so self-concious (see reason number 2. Hard to have a baby if you aren't even romping around...)

5) I want my energy levels back. I do have to say though - since I've been more active since end of Feb I feel REALLY good in general, even though I haven't lost weight.

6) I want to not be ruled by the scale or my weight. I want to develop good habits that stay with me for a lifetime


I lost weight before and kept it off for almost 3 years. The memory of that is still VERY fresh in my mind. Not to make excuses but I had a really bad patch (depression, lost my job, got divorced, almost went into financial ruin) and I pretty much threw all of my hard work away because I couldn't cope otherwise. I'm in therapy now and was on anti-depressants for a while. I am so much better now that I'm currently weaning off the meds (which will help with the weight loss!), though I will continue to stay in therapy.

Simply for health, so I can live longer.

It has only been SINCE I lost the weight that I have seen all of the other benefits. I truly did not think of them along the way. I just wanted to be around longer to spend MANY more years with my husband.

Zelma

Oh, so many reasons...

-I want to be fit. Not just slim but fit.
-I'm only 26 and I want to look as good as possible. I feel like I have wasted my 20s being the chubby girl.
-I want to look good in clothes.
-I WILL wear a bikini to the pool this summer (and look good in it).
-I want to be attractive to my husband (even though he says he loves me at any weight- that alone makes me want to work even harder).
-I feel bad for my horse who in a few weeks will have to carry my butt around in a 50 miles race. The least I can do is make his load a little lighter.

My first thought was that I would be dead before I reached 40 at the rate I was going. I bent down to tie my shoes at 37 and like to never got my breath back. I'm a former heart surgery patient. So at 37 and over 250 pounds, I was TRYING to get myself buried. And it would've taken an incredibly large coffin that would've bankrupted hubby.

That's been most of my thought through this, getting healthy and living a longer, more enjoyable life.

Other reasons that came along were the ability to fit into smaller places, the joy that I now get out of life that I didn't before. I don't plop down at the TV or computer now, I get out and experience more. I play with my son...a son I never realized I'd be having at 40 since I'd already finished raising my daughter. It was an unexpected benefit of getting healthy.

I like wearing nice sexy clothes and looking younger than my years now. I like the attention I get. But what I like the most is not cursing out the guy who parks 5 inches from my car door when I need to get into my car, not complaining about getting groceries because it means I'll have to stand on my tired feet and aching knees at the checkout for God knows how long, it means walking to and from the car, it meant...gasp!...exercise, hard work. I like that I get more done in a day and it doesn't leave me breathless. That I can buy clothes off the $3 racks at Wal*Mart. LOL That I can paint my own toenails, fit in the tub without having a shower curtain sticking to my thunder thighs, fit in an airplane seat...and be COMFORTABLE!, fit in an airplane bathroom! That I don't have to rely on the handicapped stalls now, and even when the stalls are super small, I STILL fit.

All those little things that cropped up along the way. Those are what kept me going, what keeps me keeping the weight off. They're why I want to be and stay slim.

Oh, you know, the usual...

The Lara Croft outfit I have to wear to work chafes with my big thighs.

It´s really embarrassing when your whip can barely go around your waist.

The other day I was confused for the 30 ton stone ball!

The canibalistic natives are on this new diet craze and only looking for low-fat victims.

That bridge to the Holy Grail is really flimsy. Really. And that lardo Indy cracked it last time he went there.

Seriously though, health reasons. If you can´t run that 30 ton stone ball will kill you.

archy!

While appearance is definitely a big reason for me, something that has become even more important is having more energy. I'm amazed at how much my energy level picks up when I 'm eating right and exercising! I'm doing all kinds of things I never would have considered doing during my couch potato days.

*Has a good laugh at Archy*

I always wondered how the morbidly obese got so heavy. I mean, how does someone get to weighing 350 pounds...was seeing 250 not enough to convince them to impliment a lifestyle change? 300? So I decided several years ago that at my height, the magic number was 200...if I started seeing a two at the front of my weight, I needed to do something, and do it soon, because it's just not ever going to get any easier.

Okay, that, and vanity. I'm 21, and I'm getting married in November...isn't it worth some sacrifices to be really cute for my fiancee, not just managebly attractive? Worth it to be thin in my wedding pictures, to spend my twenties looking the best I can? I'm safely out of the 200 lbs. danger area, but I want to keep going until I'm looking my best, wherever that happens to be.

I want to lose weight

-to be healthy. I am scared of high blood pressure and diabetes and the other health issues that can arise due to them.

-to feel better. Being fat sucks! I feel self-concious when I'm out in public. I would like to feel more confident. I already know I'm fabulous, but I feel like when people see me, they only can see my fat. It's frustrating to be ignored.

-to wear better clothes. I don't understand why plus size companies think all plus size women want to wear tents.

I used to be SOOOOOO VAIN... & I still am, to a point, but not as bad as I was when I was younger.... In my 20's & 30's, it was pretty much all about how good can I look in a swimsuit... and can I buy those size 6 jeans & look cute in a sleeveless top?

...anyhoo...

As I've aged, I've learned more about exercise, nutrition, and what the body is capable of & how it works & why it needs certain things (& why it doesn't!).

Now, my reasoning for "getting slim" is 100% health reasons. My hubby & I have no children; when we get to our golden years, we'll have no one to take care of us. We'll have to do it ourselves for as long as we possibly can. Therefore, we need to be very mindful of our health right now.

I need to lower my cholesterol, my blood sugar, and my triglycerides. I need to get COMPLETELY off sugar - FOR GOOD. I'm convinced that sugar is just from da'devil! It tastes sooooooo good! - but it's like a poison to my body! (And I'm talking processed sugar here, not natural sugars, like in fruit.)

I also need to eat better for my brain, my heart, & my bones/joints. These are things that I am working toward, slowly but surely.

So it's all about the health for me. Looking good in a swimsuit is a bonus.

I like this reason best of all!