I want to be a good example to my baby girl, be healthier in general (I have asthma and weight doesnt help) be able to get shop at the nice clothes shops and buy THAT dress where people go wow.Make my rather fit boyfriend proud of me (he is thin,fit,includes a 6 pack grrr) and also make my family proud of me too.
Mainly I want to do this for myself, I love who I am as a person, im pretty bubbly I just want to love my outside as much as my inside.
Oh, lots of reasons. Here are the ones off the top of my head.
-so I can be judged by who I am versus what I look like (well, okay we all judge appearances to a certain extent, but I feel like whenever people see me, I'm instantly in the 'fat girl' category)
-so I can treat my body like it deserves; my body is pretty amazing, I haven't had any major health issues and it responds to how/what I eat and if I exercise--it deserves to be given the best
-so I can feel fit and strong
-to ward off the health problems that I know are coming if I don't lose this weight
-to see what it's like to be a slim person. This really is rather scary, but exciting as well. I've always been at least overweight, if not obese. I wonder how my personality will be affected--there's only one way to find out!
Diabetes runs in my family. Heart problems run in my family. Depression runs in my family. High blood pressure runs in my family. There are a number of people with autoimmune diseases in my family.. and these are all on both sides.
A common link between all of my adult family members?
Obesity.
When I was an obese preteen/young teen I was on the fast track for those problems... My blood pressure was borderline, for a while I was on antidepressants, I got sick constantly, had horrible headaches constantly, and my doctor was worried about childhood diabetes.
Vanity was of course a motivator, but at the same time I saw the suffering in my family from poor health and did NOT want to end up like them. I'll be 18 this January and in great health now. It is not so much a factor in losing these last vanity pounds, but a huge motivator in maintaining the original loss.
I hope you don't mind if I use this thread to admit, once again, that I really don't have any reason other than vanity.
I don't really give a flying fig about my health. It's not that I'd like to get sick, but the remote possibility of maybe getting sick some day is just simply not enough to light a fire under my rear and get me to do the very hard work of losing weight. It is just too vague, too amorphous, too potential a reward to have any effect on me. I don't have kids, and I don't want kids, so being there for my kids or being a role model for them isn't going to do it either.
So, vanity it is. I admit it. Vanity is the only thing that was powerful enough to make me do the hard work. For folks who have motivations that might seem more noble or less shallow, go for it - that's great. For me, though, all I've got is the powerful desire to be the lean, strong woman I see in my head.
There have been other benefits that have come with losing weight, besides being happier with the way I look. I'm glad not to have as much pain in my knees. I'm glad to have more energy, to be able to do more and enjoy an active life more. But none of these motivated me. None of these were the reason I wanted to lose weight, or the reason I want to keep losing now. It's just plain vanity. I'm not ashamed of it, either!
Its disturbing how close this is to what I was going to write!
Other than vanity...
-To set a better example for my 5 year old.
-To avoid health issues (my mother and her mother are diabetic, my 13 year old brother is pre diabetic, and apparently my father is diabetic (he has never had anything to do with me) and a few months ago had to have his right leg amputated)
-To have more energy.
-To FEEL sexy, not just look it.
I want to be able to take advantage of all the sport opportunities Switzerland has to offer. I come from Oklahoma-- it's soooo hard to be active in Oklahoma, especially when you compare it with Switzerland. I had a really non-active childhood, and I want to be able to play sports, run, ski, etc... especially since I never had a chance before.
Also-- I had my daughter relatively early (everyone here in Switzerland waits until their 30's...) and I want to have the freedom to travel, do sports, etc in my 30's when she's older without having to worry about health issues.
I'm actually really excited about this. It's been a secret dream of mine my whole life, since I was in 2nd grade and watched Jackie Chan adventures every day after school.
When I lose weight, I want to take martial arts classes. My mom never let me because she was afraid that I would get beat up as a kid, and then when I got older my weight got in the way of me enjoying physical activities. But as I get better and better at exercising, I want to take martial arts. I don't just want to be skinny, you know? I want to be strong, healthy. I want to be a force to be reckoned with. Most of all I want to feel able to defend myself and enjoy the secret pride of knowing how to protect myself : )
