Vanity by far is the biggest motivator but at almost 53, my health is a HUGE concern and i especially wanted to eat clean consistently and try to be as active as i can.

Also 2nd in line was for the first time, i wanted to be in charge of what and how i ate and that feeling of control is priceless.

The Vain Motivations
I look really good at 150ish pounds. If I can maintain between 140-160 (yes, it's a big weight range!) then I know I'll look good.

I also know that my current weight has been a major issue for a few things, and really I'd rather not have a rectifiable issue be a roadblock for my career. That's not fat girl paranoia, which makes me even sadder. It doesn't help that at my present weight I look like a bloated potato, so... meh.

The Slightly More Serious Motivation
I have an old sports injury (which was the catalyst for my weight gain in the first place) and I've noticed that since surpassing 190lbs my knee has just been a painful thorn in my side. My legs are my only form of transportation, so this really isn't a situation I can let continue. It even hurts to drive, which I know is through damage that has been inflicted due to the pressure from my weight gain, so I can't even ignore it by buying a car. It's time to face facts, I've gotten so fat my sport battered body can't take it!

In addition my periods have become highly irregular, my moustache is getting darker/spikier and it's all been linked to the fact I'm too fact. So my doctor has recommended weight loss in the first instance, to see if we can manage these symptoms without medication.

Clothes, Vanity, health. That uncomfortable feeling when i gain too much weight and I have similar to IBS symptoms, but mostly its like OH all these beautiful clothes I can't fit..... Must, get into them again. haha. Health is important too.

Ditto. Vanity has always been the prime motivator for me.

not being able to perform basic hygiene.

When I was younger, I never liked the way overweight people looked. I thought that people should show a certain amount of restraint. True to Karma, the weight creep caught up with me. I have tried many times to get rid of the fat, but my efforts have always been lazy. I've been a secreat eater. I gained the most of my weight working near food. Now, I am very strict with myself. Fear of failure is my motivator. I simply do not like seeing myself. I avoid cameras and photographs. I do not look in mirrors. I hate my looks.

Reading this thread, I was thinking, if vanity is making us want to lose weight, why didn't vanity keep us from gaining in the first place? I know that there are medical conditions and medications that cause weight gain and make it very difficult to lose. Sometimes it's difficult to lose after a pregnancy. But what about the rest of us? I think other than those with medical conditions, anyone who is overweight has some type of eating disorder whether they realize it or not. When I was young, I kept my weight in the 130 range due to vanity. It was a struggle, as I was not a naturally thin person. I think this caused my eating disorder. I became a compulsive over-eater due to stress in my life, and I just gave up.

Now I have several medical conditions that would improve if I lost weight. And I refuse to buy any bigger clothes.

I wanted to agree that for me, vanity only caused and fanned the flames of an eating disorder. I'm not sure why. Something about needing to look a certain way, especially as a teen and in my early 20s when I had a greater concern for what other people (peers) thought about my weight, really drove me to "get skinny" at any cost. And I found that unhealthy ways usually lead to faster weight loss, but they also lead to frequent and faster regain.

When I switched my thinking to weight loss for bettering my health, for me, not for others, I realize that i was ok with a slower moving scale if that meant I was doing it the right way. Also, it was a motivator that never changed. I was always present around me. When vanity was the motivator, things like up coming events where I would see people I haven't seen n a long time would create presser to lose again/ But during a time when I wasn't around others as much, I would "fall off the bandwagon" of weight loss.

I realize not everyone is like this. But for me, I could live alone on a mountain top and I would still want to be healthy.

After baby #1, my weight came off the slowest when I was still driven by vanity. That's when I joined 3FC.

After baby #2 I waited the longest to start weight loss, nearly 8 months. But then I got into fitness and that's when my motivation changed.

I started exercising 2 week post partum (walking) after baby #3 and was back to running at 6 weeks. The weight melted off, because I wanted to lose for me, I wanted to get hte weight off because its harder to run heavier.

I worked out this whole pregnancy. Ran until 31 weeks and I'm cycling now. And I'm gaining gaining gaining!! I'm eating clean (70/30 while pregnant) but still too much, and gaining. If vanity was my motivation, I wouldn't be doing any of that, because I have still gained too much, but I'm focused on health.

And just to show the difference. I am about 215 lbs right now, much higher than I wanted to be. You can see its not too far from my other pre-pregnancy weights in my siggy, and there is a possibility I will be there when I deliver. I cant say that's not discouraging, but my sugar test with baby #3 was 138. 2 points below failing, and I ended up having a 9 pound 6 oz baby, probably because my sugar was high.

My sugar test this time was 86! (Just for comparison, my sugar test was 90 with my first 8 years ago. )

Because I have been gaining the weight with healthy, whole foods (just lots of them!) and regularly exercising, my sugar is better now at 34 than it was at 26 years old.

I still look fat right now, but I know inside I am healthier.

I'll admit vanity is a huge thing for me. I want to be thin again. I miss liking the way I look. I miss the self-confidence that I had.

why I am losing weight is because.....

well I want to get back to weighing 132lbs because this is the weight that is feasible for my height. I'm just hoping these protein shakes will help speed up my metabolism I'm just sick of being overweight I really was trying to keep my weight under control but I'm a sweet lover I love eating sweets and its something that I like to eat but its not good for me its making me gain weight and I'm in a size 8 I was in a size 6 and I loved being a size 6 but I"d love be in a size 4 but I don't know what weight loss plan am I going to have to follow to succeed and get to this healthy not unhealthy. I know some people always go the route of diet pills or starving themselves and they think their co-workers aren't going to notice but they do they just don't want to tell you because they don't want to hurt their feelings or they will get into eating disorders and not want to eat because they think they look fat but that is their self-conscious. I just want to lose weight healthy I want to go back to the gym and start working out again but I don't know.

That's a lot to think about and some good points, but I don't think its something that can ever be fully answered or something we will ever fully understand. I will say that personally, as vanity is a big part of why I want to loose weight, that I just never saw the weight creep up. My figure hid it well, and it was very gradual from high school onward. That was over seven years to go up sixty pounds... Very slow. I never rapidly gained and I was plump to begin with. I never suddenly realized my shirt or pants were too small... I just used them until they were unwearable and bought new stuff that fit. I don't have any clothes left from the highschool 136 pounds, or even when I must have hit 150, then 170... I never weighed either so I didn't know. My bras got bigger, but I thought boobs could grow until your twenties. I got stretch marks and thought "oh must be an extra few pounds" but I was thinking five on 136... Not 194. I often hid from cameras so there wasn't a lot of pictures. When I weighed, I could suddenly see the pounds I never saw before. It was weird.

I was less active cause I had a desk job. I never had money or friends to eat out with before and then suddenly I did. I don't feel like I have any emotional attachments too food... Changing my diet hasn't crushed me as much as I thought it would. So I think its possible to slowly gain weight without an eating disorder... But then again if you look at it, I had some disorders views I suppose. I went from a home that was very particular about what you could/couldn't eat, never went out to restaurant's, etc to a more food freedom. My childhood wasn't horrible for food. Just slightly stricter than my friends, but it could have contributed. I don't know and don't think I ever will.

My husband- then fiance felt called to be a cop and I wanted to support him. I didn't want to be the plump girl anymore, I wanted to be healthy for future kids and pregnancies and I wanted to be a role model for the kids I mentor. So I went on the journey. I do it 70% for vanity, 30% for health and wellness, and I stick too it because of my husband and the dream we have for our future lifestyle.

Vanity.

Vanity for my geekdom's sake. How can I possibly cosplay the skinny characters I want to cosplay at conventions (Riddler and Scarecrow from the Batman: Arkham series) if I am not thinner myself? You can't be size 11 and be a Scarecrow, and Riddler has the same body as Mathew Grey Gubler... I just don't want to be that stereotypical chubby girl at a geek convention.
God I am a horrible person.

Also, reason #2 is that I am an aspiring distance runner. When the weather is nice I run 9-13 miles outdoor on average, a couple of times a week, and the same on the treadmill when it is not nice out. How much easier would it be to run that without an added 45lbs?

A mix of health and vanity. I really need to get the weight down to get off blood pressure meds. So a very real important health concern.

I was very hot in the past and I want that again.

Also, it's not fun being fat. I live on the ocean and if I was thin I'd have much more fun surfing and things like that. I want to go horseback riding and there is a weight limit. It's not fun being out of breath and achy.

I just feel better when I'm thinner. I don't mean skinny.

My motivation previously was vanity, well I thought it was, until a body fat percentage test this morning has shocked me and now it's definitely health - I'm annoyed that I haven't look after myself and my motivation is now to reduce the risk of all those horrible things that come with being overweight. So health it def my motivation now, the vanity thing wasn't doing it for me!