Mainly for my health. I want to be as healthy as possible especially for when my husband and I decide we are ready to start having children. The next biggest reason is because I want to feel good, inside and out, because when I have that confidence and feel great about myself, everything else falls into place.
My ultimate reason for losing weight is to improve my quality (and hopefully length) of life. I want to be able to play with my family. Fitting into the "cute" clothes is a huge bonus too!
Answer : As part of a research study... MY OWN!!! I decided to be my own N = 1 Experiment
Abstract : Conduct simple trial of weight loss to improve health and reduce risk of developing chronic and debilitating as well as potentially life threatening disease and illness as evidenced by metabolic markers.
Findings : Reduction of weight from overweight category to normal weight category significantly improved metabolic markers and resulted in an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
Conclusion : What I did works... I've lost a lot of weight... And I'M KEEPING IT OFF!!! And you can too... Good luck everyone... and be well...
- Heart health- heart disease is the #1 killer of women, and obesity can contribute to heart disease.
- Losing weight will enable me to do more of the activities I love, and to do them longer. I love hiking and other outdoor activities. But it's really hard on my knees and feet when I'm as heavy as I am. Especially if I add to it by carrying a backpack full of gear!
- I want people to stop looking at me like I have no self-control and I'm a loser. Many people associate obesity with laziness and don't see the real you. They make assumptions about me that are wrong and it's hurtful.
- In the winter, I participate in backcountry snowmobiling with my DH and friends. We ride, by definition, in avalanche terrain. Although we all have training for avoiding avalanches and for dealing with a search if someone gets caught in one, I don't want to responsible for someone dying because I wasn't fit enough to get to the avalanche location, to locate and dig out my friend. This is the #1 reason I am trying so hard to lose weight and why I exercise at a high intensity.
- I want to join a volunteer backcountry rescue group. I have training already in many disciplines that could be helpful, but I'm afraid they'll take one look at me and not take me seriously at my weight. And in reality, if I can't keep up then I'm a liability rather than a help. So I need to get this weight off and get more fit so I can apply so I can help people.
- I want to fit into airplane seats comfortably. I want to be able to get into a bathroom stall comfortably. I want to be able to wear clothes I find in local shops because many places simply don't carry women's XL and larger. Especially places like REI, where I guess they assume if you like outdoors activities you must be thin.
I am losing weight for health reasons. My father passed away this summer from Congestive Heart Failure and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I adored that man and I was not prepared for him to die.
My own heart is not quite behaving as it should and my cardiologist told me that carrying any extra weight is hard on your heart. He said quite simply that my body is made to run at around maybe 140 pounds and anything over that is taxing on my heart so... it must come off. This is not optional, if I want to live a full life and see my children grow and have grandchildren... I have to be a healthier weight.
I watch my mother, who has battled her weight her whole life, struggle to get around. Her knees are shot and she is in constant pain. She can barely walk some days and I just don't want that to be me in 30 years.
It started off as a necessity of my job; I'm in the military and we have certain standards of fitness that HAVE to be met in order to be promoted or even just to retain our enlistments/comissions. That's not even including the reasons WHY we must (namely physical jobs, deployments, etc.).
In early 2004 I started to get very sick and was also gaining weight (The weight gain being due to inactivity and poor diet, not linked to being sick). My doctors worked for MONTHS trying to figure out why I was vomiting every day and nauseated constantly when finally one of them said 'eat better and exercise more'... and from that day on I have had my gastritis (as it was later diagnosed) under control. Working, eating right and subsequently losing weight was keeping me from being sick so I was hooked!
After that I started to focus more on aesthetics so that became like 90% of the reason. I was fit so the health/job aspects sort of took a backseat.
Once I decided to really move into fitness full time it once again became about employment; this summer I will be separating from the military and will be going back to school to earn another degree, this time in Personal Training. As a personal trainer my body is my calling card - employers want to hire someone who looks fit to represent their company/business, and clients want a trainer who looks like they know what they're doing. To be blunt, I would never hire someone who didn't have a body that inspired me so I assume that most people feel the same way.
I suppose in a sense it has sort of come full circle! Yes, it is 90% about aesthetics and 10% about health at this point... but that 90% includes my livelihood as well.
I have a lot of the same motivations. We are deploying soon (UDP) and I would like to be back where I was a few years ago! Plus PFT season is coming up.
My ultimate reason for losing weight is to improve my quality (and hopefully length) of life. I want to be able to play with my family. Fitting into the "cute" clothes is a huge bonus too!
This! And I want to experience the "firsts". Like first time telling the sales-person that I need a small-sized shirt, 23-24 waist-pants, going in shops that only sell clothes for slim people etc. For someone who's been fat all her life, entering those shops is like venturing in uncharted territories.
Healthy Body is good for everyone Over weight body is the source of many problems like Pain in knee,heart problems,breath problems, In addition to that you become lazy too.
Honestly, the final reason for pushing myself this time is shoes.
I think I said this is another post, but my friend had WLS last year and had gone shoe shopping with another friend while I was tagging along. They were having loads of fun and I just got depressed about it. I wanted to have fun shopping, too. And, actually, I am!
I want to lose weight to be confortable. I'm not planning on having a hard rock body because that would take much of my time and i have a family to run
I just want to be a normal size, feel good in clothes and make my girls look up to me... If Mommy is lazy and unfit, they will probably think one of two things: 1: I'm ashame of my mom, why doesn't she do anything about it??? Or 2: It's OK for me to gain weigt and being lazy, my mom has been like that all of her life...
Neither of those 2 things are good, so having a somewhat healthy life will give them the chance to worry or focus about other things than weight!
I want to lose weight so i feel comfortable in my own skin. I gained a bunch of weight-like 20 pounds in 2 years-and I just feel as though I look terrible in everything.
I want to be a normal size and feel healthy and not be hindered by blub.
At my highest weight, I made the realization that I was making myself very, very sick and was losing my independence. Given my family history, I was well on my way to diabetes, cancer, losing my mobility, and worse. My blood tests run fine now, but photographs of my retina indicate that I have over 10 years worth of diabetic damage to my eyes . . . I'm not at all surprised about that. I had all sorts of symptoms I ignored (especially constant thirst/frequent urination) because I had no insurance and no money for the doctor for several years.
When I was in my late 20's it was a struggle to walk from one end of the room to the other; I'd be completely out of breath. It was even more of a struggle to pick up something from the floor or even the bottom shelf of the fridge. And taking the stairs? Forgetaboutit.
Not that vanity didn't have a role. One of the things that woke me up was shopping in a plus size store with a friend and realizing they didn't carry jeans big enough to fit me. Yes, I was too fat for the fat chicks store. Even though I'd completely given up on even trying to look good, I at least had to wear clothes, right? Something had to change.
These days I'm motivated by how much better I feel and look. I can walk for miles at a time and even throw a little jogging in (still trying to work my way up on that). It used to be a struggle to keep up with my husband whenever we went out, but not anymore. And I'm just starting to fit into the regular sections of clothes. I still have a long ways to go but the progress is both fantastic and surreal.
Last edited by Elladorine; 01-09-2013 at 03:48 PM.
I saw a photo of myself and I couldn't believe how big I was. I still can't believe I didn't see it. I recently went in for my annual doctor visit and when she told me that I was 191 on my last visit I was shocked. I guess I must have blocked that out of my memory. She is very happy with my progress so that was a plus.
I like to run obstacle course races and even though I finish the races and complete the obstacles I still feel winded. I would like to finally finish a race and keep up with my friends.
When I originally started losing weight health was a primary concern as I was 19 with high blood pressure, and could barely get around. Vanity was also a factor. Now despite still being overweight, I am incredibly fit and healthy, thus I have new reasons.
- One of my mains goals at this point in my life is to one day be a competitive CrossFit athlete. While odds are I will never be games material, I think given enough time and dedication, I can do at the very least scaled competitions. Hopefully, one day working up to regionals - even if its in the Masters division 30 years from now . While it is going to take SEVERAL years to get to that point (hopefully not 30!), this is a life long thing for me so I have all the time in the world.
- Pure vanity. I want to be able to wear whatever I want with pure confidence. Additionally, I want to feel comfortable approaching any guy I please. Doesn't mean I expect them to take the bait, but I want to approach anyone with confidence! I am a very confident gal, but I want my outside to match my inside. Plus I LOVE clothes and at my highest weight I couldn't even find age appropriate clothing. Now I can, but I want more options.
- Happiness. I was incredibly depressed and felt less than human when I was severely overweight. I loved the outdoors and hiking, but could never do anything I enjoyed. I had major anxiety even walking out my door, and had two horrible semesters of college because I felt I wasn't worth it. The weightloss has helped me realize my true potential, and finally gain my fearless "I can do anything" attitude back. Which is both fabulous and a little dangerous...
- I am an exercise physiology major planning on working in the fitness industry primarily as a personal trainer. Needless to say, that requires being at the top of the fitness ladder and looking the part as well.
And I want to experience the "firsts". Like first time telling the sales-person that I need a small-sized shirt, 23-24 waist-pants, going in shops that only sell clothes for slim people etc. For someone who's been fat all her life, entering those shops is like venturing in uncharted territories.
. While it is going to take SEVERAL years to get to that point (hopefully not 30!), this is a life long thing for me so I have all the time in the world.
