Hey there,
I've seen from some posts here and I can totally relate myself that some of us have refrained from some activities due to our weight. It does feel almost like a waste of time, but it really wasn't, so I thought as a perk, we can list the great things that we have done-even while we were at our highest weight/or most self conscius/least social/least active etc
Here are mine (in various stages of weight gains/losses/regains)
-Moved to 3 different boroughs in BK
-After many months of searching, got a job
-Started a painting
-Took yoga for the first time, and hot yoga too
-Took the LSAT...more than once
-Went to a Knicks game

This might be a little different than what you had in mind, but i was just thinking the other day that some of the best (and hottest) guys i dated were when i was at a higher weight (granted, i've never been obese, only a little heavier than i am now)...better guys than the ones i dated when i was thinner. Just goes to show that guys aren't as shallow as we think and that losing weight is not what stands in the way of getting a good guy

Well, I think it's wonderful to think of our lives as "used" as opposed to "wasted," regardless of our weight.

I "used" my fat years to raise a daughter, stay a good friend to my friends and a good sibling to my siblings. I chaperoned countless school trips (and was thought of by most of the kids as one of the fair and reasonable parents.) I donated time to the church. I knit for charity. I made jewelry. I went on a great driving trip with my DD as her graduation celebration from college. I bought a kayak and learned to use it. Never once did I think of my life or my time as wasted. I can't possible count the years between being 35 to 60 as wasted because I was heavy!

Please - any of you who do - change that thought immediately! you are a valuable person no matter what you weigh. Even now, your time is not wasted! Even the bad days where you think you messed up. It's a learning experience and that is always a good thing.

Let's get on this thread and all realize that our time is not wasted. We need this positive train of though to pull us through the difficult days. Thanks, Pixellate, for thinking of this. POSITIVE ATTITUDES MAKE FOR POSITIVE CHANGES.

Lin

^^^ this EXACTLY!!! she said it better than i could have

ive been overweight for my entire life and NONE of it has been wasted...i've learned, grown, raised my boys, married and re-married, held fantastic jobs in the fields that i wanted to work in, and done everything and anything that i've wanted to do even at my highest first-pregnancy weight of 270 and even at my highest second-pregnancy weight of 230

Great idea for a thread.

I have been obese most of my life. I have gone back to school and gotten a B.A. and to Graduate school for my M.A. I have a decent career and career opportunities. I found a man I love and was married in December 2011. I am a wonderful sister a wondeful friend and lover/wife. I have given wondeful lives to my dogs who passed away a few years ago and now to my two cats. I go to aquafitness and yoga and play ping pong.
I have camped, gone to conerts, taught workshops, cared for children, cooked tasty healthy meals, gone to pubs, played pool, played darts, played games, gone to movies, rowed a boat, canoed, swam in lakes, and walked miles at a time.

I live.

Oh yes! Bravo! At my highest weight:

- I met and married my incredible husband
- Had two of my three children (I was obese for each birth, just far less so for my last one)
- Drove across the country for college and ENJOYED myself in it, fat or not!
- Taught knitting to a bunch of friends and their children
- Started my fiber arts business
- Hiked to two different glaciers (as close as the trails went, anyway!)
- Volunteered at numerous church and political functions

The list goes in and on, but being fat didn't stop me from living and loving life. It made some things harder and certainly made me more self conscious in certain situations, but it wasn't wasted time and I didn't matter less when I weighed more. Nor is life immensely better now that I weigh less. Things are much improved, but it was things like growing in wisdom, changing my attitude, and cultivating strong, healthy friendships that did a lot more to fix my life issues than cutting out donuts and jumping on an exercise bike.

Regardless of weight, attitude is what made the difference for me. And realizing what my true value was - which is, by the way, completely independent of any physical characteristic of mine!