Something that has been helping me is to think of the things I look forward to most. I saw a thread about what the best things about losing weight are, but it would be fun to see what everyone else is looking forward to!

1. Comfortably fitting in airplane seats
2. Doing my toenails without holding my breath
3. Being healthy enough to have children
4. Crossing my legs
5. Being able to exercise without jiggling so much (though I do realize no matter how much you lose you'll always jiggle a little...)
6. Having a wider selection of clothing stores
7. Being physically able to bend certain ways and do certain things

I think the first time I can walk into a store without a plus size section and find clothing that fits and looks good, a confetti/balloon shower should rain down on me.

Haha, that made me laugh, and I completely agree with that. The day I can buy normal sized clothes from normal shops and not in the plus size section, I think I'm going to start crying in the middle of the store.

Apart from that, I also can't wait to be able to fit into nice dresses and formal clothes. I love them, but I can't find any that are comfortable on me, and I just feel so LUMPY in all of them.

The thing that got me finally started was realizing that life is flying by so quickly, that if I were to just make certain steps in the right direction then the weight would come off. It's been nearly a month so far and I've lost about 20 pounds from simply changing my mindset to one of "no more 'tomorrows'". Start today and then if you mess up, don't pout about it, just make a better decision the next time you are faced with temptation. I know I didn't exactly feel motivated, but once you start seeing the scale drop it's pretty encouraging.

I already feel better walking and getting active, but that could be that the weather's dropped to about 30 F and I'm no longer sweating like a pig.

Airplane seats and normal stores are big motivators for me too. I can't wait until I can get through a dance class. Hiking. I've been to some beautiful places but haven't really been able to enjoy them because my weight kept me from full mobility. Putting my shoes on without a struggle. Riding a bicycle.

But motivators don't have to wait for when we've lost weight! I feel a surge of pride when I go shopping and only buy healthy foods. I look at all the fruit and veg going down the conveyor and it just makes me feel awesome.

Or the other day when a barista complemented me on my exceptional taste because I ordered a small skim milk cappuccino and inside I was like "Yes, from now on I am going to be the elegant, refined woman who does things in moderation!"

Not sure if I'll ever be elegant, but I'm still working on that one... I got myself a 12 oz. SF White Mocha with SF Marshmallow syrup...

1. Fitting into my favourite dress
2. Losing my stomach

1. Being overweight instead of obese!
2. The choice of regular-size clothing stores!!!
3. SHOES. Being able to easily find shoes that fit, including dress shoes.
4. Feeling comfortable occupying any seat/chair without worrying about my weight or size.
5. Feeling confident knowing that I look like everyone else.
6. Being able to travel internationally without having to consider my weight.
7. Finally achieving these goals I've had for so long.
8. Seeing how my face looks at a lower weight.
9. Going skiing.
10. Wearing skirts, including during autumn/winter (with sexy shoes/boots).
11. Getting to try different looks (because I can fit into all these clothes) and figuring out which ones suit me.

He he.

If you need to lose lots of weight (especially the 100+ pounders) and achieve this, you'll realize the difference between what you hoped for and what you get are far greater.

Like:

1) sh!t, I never realized I looked so hot (the face changes are awesome).
2) looking better than most of your normal weight peers.
3) being more physically active than most of your normal weight peers.
4) feeling and eating better than most of your normal weight peers.

etc. etc. etc.

The journey can be much more than just becoming "normal". With focus and effort - needed for big losses - you become in some sense "special".

You set the bar but what you end up with can be far greater. It is for me so far. And I am no longer the same person as old me (I did not see that coming). Big weight loss can change you.

Fitting in the airplane seat was great, but I look and feel awesome which is...to put it mildly...a little bit more amazing.

Old me, now deceased:



I broke him down with diet, then exercise, and built him up again.

But he is not the same guy.

Now:

It's all about the clothes. Even when fat I scoured the stores for the best fat clothes that I could find that fit me. I always got those left handed compliments like, "You really dress nice for someone larger." They meant well and I did take it as a compliment but fat clothes are fat clothes even nice fat clothes.

I went to the alteration shop yesterday (I sew but I'm too busy now to get to it) and had a few pieces that I love cut down. I stood on their pedestal and I saw a fat woman but not a faaaat woman if you know what I mean. Fat in a normal fat way. Totally blending with the regular overweight.

God knows when I am just overweight I'm going to have a knockout wardrobe. At goal it will be smashing. I have started it already with one perfect dress.

loosing the stomach, being able to buy clothes and actually feel good in them and not self conscious all the time

I'm not at my final goal, but I am happy to say after all these years that every single thing on my list has been checked off, plus so much more. It's so worth it to stick with it. (Though I do still jiggle and wiggle when I workout) Haha. Just not NEARLY as much.