So I'm sitting here thinking about things to write down on a list and put on my fridge door, in my wallet, in my plannet, sock drawer, etc...etc... -- a list of things i did, noticed, people said to me, -- that makes me want to achieve my goal.

-- i slept with a guy once, after the deed - he rolled over and said "i dont want you to think that i dont want a relationship - i mean - its not like you're really all that skinny." ... i cried the next morning. what i hated myself for - was the fact that i continued to let him sleep with me, just because for a couple hours - i felt loved.

-- i was referred to as "thick" by a group of guys at a bar.

-- i was moo'd at by a passing car.

-- for all the clothes in my closet i really would like to wear.

-- to be able to know that if i try on a pair of pants at a store - that there will be a larger or small size to accomidate me. not the fact that i *am* the largest size at the store, and if it doesnt fit me, then i cant have it. im tired of that feeling.

-- to be able to go to a pool in public. -- i had friends always inviting me out to go swimming. i never went because i was too embarrassed of myself.

-- i had chatted up a guy on the bus once-- totally casual chitchat. his response to me was "i dont like fat chicks." -- and walked away.

-- i had a guy tell me once "if you're not a size 6, get on the treadmill because no one is going to want you."

-- i want to sit comfortably on an airline seat.

-- i want to buy a belt at a normal store.

-- i want to feel like if people are looking at me, that it could just be a casual look - not a judgement. (paranoid much? probably...)


maybe this is depressing to some people, but for me - its a constant reminder of reasons why i need to change, feelings i dont want to have anymore.
does anyone else do this kind of thing? i also have pictures all over my computer of women whose bodies i envy to keep me motivated.

I let health motivate me. All my grandparents died young (cancer, cancer, diabetes, complications of alzheimer's). The genetic deck is stacked against me, I needed to take action. I was a 200 lb, lethargic, pale, out of shape person with a crazy sugar habit. I was a ticking timebomb of disease just waiting to go off.

Health is the best thing to motivate me, because unlike a goal weight, the desire to be healthy will never end. Before, when I dieted, I would lose some weight and reach a goal weight and just quit. Now, there is nothing to quit. This is just how I live now, it feels good. I have so much energy, I feel like a different person. I honestly feel like something magic happened to me.

And the shopping.

You are gorgeous and you have nothing else to fear because you have apparently already met every rude, bitter, judgmental, and intellectually challanged person on the planet. The best reason to lose weight is you. So you will think you will look better and so you will feel better. People who make comments like that are insecure and looking to insult others to feel better about their own shortcomings.

WOW....... I can't believe how rude people can be! If it's what it takes to motivate you without depressing you, go for it. I know there are a lot of people that have pics of people they envy and use those for motivation, if it works, it works.

My weight loss started as 100% health motivated reasons and then I discovered that I loved looking better and feeling better. Man, you have met your share of losers.

Wow, you must live in a really *censored* place to have people saying all those things about you. I've only had a couple people, EVER, who have insulted my weight since I reached adulthood, and all of them were younger than me so their ignorance can be somewhat passed off as the ignorance of youth :P

Health is my #1 motivator. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and many other health problems run in the family... almost all of them are related to being overweight.

Fitting into fun, new clothes, getting looks from guys other than disgust, having some of them tell me I'm hot? Bonus. I love the way I feel, the energy I have. I love my whole-wheat bread and soy products. I love fueling my body with energy instead of just running on "fumes", per-se.

When I was 16, i was upset because i didnt look like this girl or have the body of that girl. My dad took one look at me and said "Every woman has their own look that makes them unique. What one man finds attractive, another man finds repulsive.".....he was right. Even look at movie stars....Jennifer Anniston doesnt look Like Oprah Winfrey...or even have the same body shape...but they are both beautiful women. Brad Pitt dosnt look like Ed Harris....but they are both hotties. I am married to a man who thinks I am the most amazing, intellectual, georgeous woman on the planet....and this is after being togather for almost 22 years (we were high school sweethearts). He thought I was gorgeous when i weighed 99 lbs before children. He thought I was even sexier when i weighed 185 while I was pregnant with them. He thinks my stretch marks are great. He dosnt care if i weigh 200lbs or 119. Get fit for yourself. You deserve it. Do it because you will feel better, have more energy and a better quality of life. Do NOT do it because some nasty guy who, if given the opportunity, you would find shallow and vanitorious and not worth YOUR time said something cold and rude.

Im not really sure what motivates me. I really dont know what it is. I get up in the morning go to work and exercise really hard when I get home. It has just turned into a routine. Somebody today actually commented on how much weight I have lost. Made me smile

Wow. That was really deep, it cut me like a knife just reading what you have had said to you.

There are people out there that really feel that way. I think it is shallow, most of us agree that is insanely shallow.

But... this is the way it goes sometimes and it hurts like ****.

Honey, no matter what- lose it for you. I get using those horrible experiences as motivation. The pain and anger you feel because of them can propel you into changing your lifestyle. But when it gets down to the nitty gritty, don't lose it for jerk the at the bar that doesn't like fat chicks. Don't lose it for the guy who was lucky enough to bed you but insulted you. Don't lose it for the moo car. them. You lose it to feel good for you. And every time you see those tight little buns that you worked so hard for you can remind yourself that all those people can kiss your little You were always the same soul- just with a different shell.

I'm motivated by a desire to limit the effects of aging. I'll be forty next year. I've been working on this weight thing for 10 years now. Before that, I was thin, but didn't think so at the time. Now that I'm older and wiser, I want to be strong and healthy with strong bones and appreciate that healthy, bit body.

I have a pretty active outdoor hobby. Last year I took a couple of bad falls, could have really hurt myself--but all I was worried about was how ridiculous it looks when the fat lady falls. I thought, "How warped is this?"

I'm sure I'd still look like the falling fat lady, but I haven't fallen yet this year (better balance, maybe?) and there are quite a few fewer pounds to land with.

Do it for YOU!

Amen. I thought I was finished having kids, but nope. So I have an even better reason to stay healthy. But even before that, it's what motivated me. I just don't want to die young. Life's too interesting to throw it away.

I think it's a lot more difficult to lose weight out of self-loathing than self-love. I also think comparing yourself to others (pictures of others) isn't helpful or healthy. Cliched as it sounds, you are uniquely you and you have to find what you love and admire about yourself and use that to be successful with your weight loss.

The problem is, I really don't have high self esteem to begin with. Never did!! Lots of childhood issues are carried with me to this day and I haven't learned to let go. Even issues I have faced as an adult is still being carried with me today... I have tonnes of resentments and anger as well. I do know when I lost a lot of weight on Jenny Craig last year those resentments were starting to taper off, and I had an easier time letting things happen. But some things happened in the summer that reversed all of that, and here I am at square one again. Well I wouldn't say I have gained all of my weight back because I haven't but a lot of it I have. So what is it going to take for me to let go and forgive? Because I know that is truely going to help me not only lose the weight but keep it on and I am not a forgiving person!!!!

Kate.. I can honestly relate to your entire post. When I was younger, say around 17 or 18 I was constantly known as "the thick girl". It always bothered me because it seemed like a nicer way of putting "the fat girl". All my friends were skinny, tall and then there was me.. short, pudgy, but hey! I was the funny one! Go figure. You learn to compensate, you develop defense mechanisms. I've had guys point blank tell me they didn't date fat girls but I've met decent guys who liked girls with a little meat on their bones.. lol. I'm 27 now and have been married for almost seven years. My hubby and I met when I was somewhere in the arena of 140 lbs. He's seen me at my highest (206) and never said one word about my weight.. thank God or else his existence on this planet would have ceased.. j/k! I've successfully lost almost 35 lbs since February and am trying like crazy to keep it off. It's a one day at a time but my motivators are:

1. My son... being able to go out and play with him without the stares of others.
2. My health... I'm a nurse and see the effects obesity has on individuals and how 80 % of their health problems could be reversed or substantially reduced by losing weight.
3. Renewed self confidence.. being able to go out in public or out to eat without hiding in the inside bench seat so others won't take notice of my "rolls" while I'm eating.
4. Cute clothes... Buying something because I like it, not because it fits!

Sorry so long.....