People often say what they're going to do when they get weight off and are stronger, healthier, more confident, etc. Buying brand new clothes in your target size(or close to it) and loving shopping for them, looking in the mirror at yourself at your goal weight, just how you feel sitting down and doing nothing... is it just like how you imagined it would be when you first began "dieting?"

Of course, people hype up and sensationalize and idealize how their life will be at their goal weight. I'm wondering, for those of you who are already there, is it everything you'd dreamed of? Less, more? I realize it's different for everyone but I want to hear your feedback.

I'm close to goal but will be making a new one. I want to get rid of more fat in my belly and thighs. I don't think that I had very high expectations. I wanted to be able to play with my kids and keep up with them. Did that - and it is wonderful. Best feeling in the world. I can even out do my kids in some activities. (At least for now)

I'm more comfortable in clothing. I wore a swimsuit without being embarrassed at the public pool. I'm showing more skin in some clothes and feel confident in my appearance.

Yes, it was worth it for me.

I am still a progress but so far i am amazed on how i feel both physically and health wise, which just fuels my momentum.. When i started i could not even do basic hygiene like wiping myself "back there", or walk a few steps before getting severe shooting pains down my back and legs. Body was just an morbid mess. Not anymore.

I'm at goal and have been for awhile and yes, it's everything i thought it would be and more, an amazing, awesome feeling. The only thing i didn't know or prepare for was loose skin so i will never have the tight body that i long for but being slim, yes, it is all it's cracked up to be (however winning the lotto would solve a LOT more of my problems )

Your post topic question and body are quite different in my opinion.

Happiness is a lot different than being stronger, healthier, more confident, buying brand new clothes in your target size(or close to it) and loving shopping for them.

I was happy before. I am happy now. I have a positive attitude about life. I had this when I was 300 lbs and I have it now.

I am stronger, healthier, and a bit more confident. Still don't like shopping.

I've been maintaining for more than 2 1/2 years, and it's just as great as I had imagined. I used to dread shopping, summer, social events, etc., but I never do now. Also, I relish in how great I feel & what I can do (e.g. walk three flights of stairs w/out feeling winded).

It would only make sense that achieving your weight loss goal would be a positive thing. I don't recall saying all happiness in life does or does not revolve around that weight loss goal.

The topic is meant for comparing what you'd envisioned for yourself in the future when you were thinking forward to your goal weight vs. the reality you're at now.

Omg! Yes! I have some loose skin and I don't think my butt is quite what it was before spending a decade at or above 200 pounds, but I am amazed at how good I look! Every time I get dressed I enjoy it, and I LOVE shopping. I bought a size 6 pair of jeans the other day and was in heaven.

Last weekend, I went dancing w a guy almost 20 yrs younger than me and in great shape himself and was so tickled that he crapped out before me! And that he was dancing w me at all! And that I didn't feel like I was out of place.

And I didn't see this one coming but my husband of 25 years who I was totally devote to and crazy over left me. Of course that has been horribly painful, but I think it woulda been so much worse if I were still heavy. It is very hard for me to imagine that there's someone out there who I will think is awesome who will want to be w me even at this weight, but if I also had the fat monkey on my back I'd never have the confidence to put myself out there.

TheSatinPumpkin, you are my inspiration On days where I'm like, eff this, I don't want to do it anymore, I think of you and tell myself, if he can do it, JFC girl, so can you!

So I'm not at goal, but I was previously thin. And then my body caught up with me, I had a baby, I stopped playing basketball, whatever my excuse is for gaining weight

The one thing that I hope for - which I completely took for granted and I know I'll be there again when I reach goal - is that I will never worry about how I look ever again. When I was thin, I never tried on a dozen outfits to find the one that made me look okay; I grabbed whatever shirt was closest to my hand and went on with my day. I didn't flip through cameras, delete photos I didn't like and demand another photo; most of the time, I assumed I would look fine and never checked. I didn't stress about weddings and parties and family gatherings, and I never skipped an event because I was afraid of how I looked. I was confident, I accepted and love my body and I never knew I could ever feel otherwise. If getting to goal gets me back to that point, then yes, it will be everything I ever wanted on this journey and then some

I've twice been at a normal BMI (about 22-23) but I didn't feel great. I had issues far greater than my weight (I had a very bad self-image and looking in the mirror I still saw the girl who was overweight).

But since the last time, after I gained weight, I promised to never be like that again. I'd be happy with every pound that went off and when I lost 33 pounds two years ago, I was still weighing 220 pounds, but I felt great, skinnier, etc. Actually, I was more in love with my image then, at 220 pounds, then I had been before at 138 pounds.

So, to me, as long as you resolve your body image as well as lose the weight, you'll be happy. But you can't just fix your weight without changing how you feel about yourself.

Of course as time goes on, life's problems will be waiting for you and the happiness of reaching goal will fade a little but you will still be forever grateful not to be obese anymore. The freedom of movement is a major pleasure and should never be taken for granted but alas we do.

Love this!

I kind of agree with John - I took the question the same way ready to phrase it like he did. BUT since you clarified, these are my thoughts:

For me, when I weighed 225lbs, I had poor mobility and was extremely limited by my weight. I was suffering with knee and ankle pain that would flare up and make it hard for me to walk just to get through a grocery store trip. I was wearing a tight size 22 which meant the only place I could find clothes that were anything resembling nice was Lane Bryant and that is $$. And even then, I was still unhappy with what it looked like. (This is where it gets hard for me to separate out the emotions as mentioned above.) I was depressed and hating myself and my body. My self esteem was in the toilet and I was everyone's doormat. It affected my body, my career, my marriage, my everything.

Then, as I lost weight, I got those things back. But they came with the mental "work" to believe I was worth the continuous effort to take care of myself. My self esteem soared and then the rest of my life improved. Now, I still have more to go, but I personally feel that the biggest part has already come to me - I've regained my mobility and I've regained my "self." Another 30lbs is vanity and I'll enjoy it but it's light years different.

So - do I like my new body better - sure. But it's a small compared to how much I like my new "self."

There is an amazing post here written a few years ago by DCHound on this topic. I'm going to try to post it because I think it answers your question WAY better than I ever could. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/100-...different.html

I've been maintaining for a year and a half now (80 lbs lost!) and life is really great.

Early on when I imagined how life would be as an average sized person I really didn't want much. I wanted to be fit and strong, able to walk or up stairs without getting winding, have no excess fat rolls on my body and keep the weight off. I didn't have a dream celebrity body and I didn't want to set my goal so low that would be tough to maintain.

I am healthy, very physically fit and I have tons of energy. Never in my wildest dreams I thought I would be able to power walk/jog for 3 - 4 miles 5 - 6 nights per week and not be exhausted afterwards.

Throughout my entire journey I lifted weights so I never had to deal with loose skin.

I learned a lot about myself and my willpower was tested to the extreme, but I really wanted this.

I'm the smallest I've been in my entire adult life and it's feels great to say I look better now than I did 20 years ago when I graduated high school. I was normal sized then and looked nice in clothes, but out of clothes I was flabby and I was out of shape.

Shopping is a pleasant experience now. I'm tall so shopping for pants and long summer dresses can still be a challenge, but I still can't believe I can walk into any store and buy things off the rack and have them fit.

I'm not saying life has been perfect. During weight loss I've struggled mentally, lost friends, got judged for not drinking alcohol (my fav. drinks were all 500+ calories...so not worth it!) and I've dealt with my many food issues.

After weight loss dealing with men (and some women) staring etc. is annoying and people who didn't know me before peg me as "one of those skinny mini's" (I'm not skinny though!), and at times I still think I'm bigger than what I am really am, but I wish I would have done this and stuck with it a long time ago.

I was very happy for the first year after goal, now I feel like 138-140p is my new "fat". I could stand to lose another 5-10p but I just don't have it in me to go the extra miles....literally. Getting to goal was extremely hard for me, to think about setting a new goal right now sounds as appealing as sitting next to a screaming baby on a 7 hour flight.

Maybe someday...but yes, it's worth it!

Moral of the story is I don't think anyone will ever be 100% happy with their bodies even at goal but it's better than being at starting weight.