loving yourself and losing weight

Seigla

Love yourself first so that you can lose weight?

or

Lose weight so that you can love yourself?

Which one comes first for you?

MamaBirdBoss

My relationship with my body has always been fraught because I have a genetic muscle disease.

I'm getting in shape because a discovery of peripheral neuropathy followed by severe neuralgia scared the pee out of me. Vanity is vanity, but that's what lit a match under my rear. I need to be in tip-top shape or things will break that can't be fixed.

Orphia

The first one. I'm awesome. My weight doesn't define me. I want to be awesome for a hell of a long time, so being a healthy weight follows from knowing I'm awesome.

DemoraFairy

For me it was probably the second... sort of. I lost weight purely for health reasons, once my BMI went into overweight I went on a diet just to be healthier. Back then I knew I didn't look great, but I really didn't care. It just wasn't something that entered into my world. As I lost weight and got into dieting I began to start caring about what I looked like, and began to hate how I looked more and more because it wasn't what I wanted to look like. Even bordering on underweight I wasn't happy and still wanted to lose more. I know I look better than before, but I'm a hell of a lot more body conscious than I ever was in the past.

So I lost weight so I can love myself, but I ended up hating myself more than I did before I lost weight... this has gone well for me! I know that really the solution is probably to start weight lifting, but right now my hate for my podgy tummy doesn't outweigh my hate of the gym haha.

smotheredincheese

A bit of both really, I'm slowly learning to love myself as I lose weight and get fitter. So I'd say they happen at the same time for me. If I'm feeling really down on myself I lose the motivation to get up and exercise, but if I don't exercise I feel worse about myself, so I can't love myself OR lose weight without the other.

Vune

I find that they work together. I'm eating better and being more active because a healthier body will contribute to a healthier mind. Some of my health problems are also from a genetic disease, but I have to be honest with myself that I don't have to feel as bad as I do. Eating the vast amounts that I did, no matter how delicious, turned out to be a punishment for my body. I love myself, so I have to behave like I love myself. And fitting into pants definitely contributed to my happiness because I can be proud of myself for finding a mindset that works both ways.

SezxyStef

Orphia wrote: »

The first one. I'm awesome. My weight doesn't define me. I want to be awesome for a hell of a long time, so being a healthy weight follows from knowing I'm awesome.

This...I am awesome no matter what I weigh...I love my curves.

I've been told I have an issue because I used to look in the mirror and not see an issue...I still don't...

I lost weight to Healthier...I got some bad blood work back and losing weight fixed it....I lost weight because I love myself.

WBB55

I think the first. I love myself enough that I gave up drinking sugary soda every day. Not for weight, but because it was not healthy. I did things like this for a while, and then realized I'd lost 30 lbs (I was quite obese and ate horribly). That gave me the motivation to keep going. I lost 100 lbs. Still didn't love the way my body looked. But I still loved myself enough to keep eating as healthy as I could for myself.

DeguelloTex

I'm not my body. I'm fine with me. I hated the fat. The fat's gone. I'm still here.

SLLRunner

Seigla wrote: »

Love yourself first so that you can lose weight?

or

Lose weight so that you can love yourself?

Which one comes first for you?

Great question! For me it was about loving myself not matter what size I was and changing my relationship with food. For me, they go hand-in-hand.

SLLRunner

SezxyStef wrote: »

Orphia wrote: »

The first one. I'm awesome. My weight doesn't define me. I want to be awesome for a hell of a long time, so being a healthy weight follows from knowing I'm awesome.

This...I am awesome no matter what I weigh...I love my curves.

I've been told I have an issue because I used to look in the mirror and not see an issue...I still don't...

I lost weight to Healthier...I got some bad blood work back and losing weight fixed it....I lost weight because I love myself.

And, this!

I used to allow my weight to define me, but learning to love myself taught me that my weight has nothing to do with my quality as a person.

lemurcat12

First one, for sure.

But it's also true that accomplishing fitness goals--not just losing the weight, but feeling like I was treating my body well, doing good things for myself, and exercising and meeting exercise goals--helped me feel happy with myself and have a lot more confidence. This started even before I'd lost much weight and was part of what kept me going.

eatgoodeat

Orphia wrote: »

The first one. I'm awesome. My weight doesn't define me. I want to be awesome for a hell of a long time, so being a healthy weight follows from knowing I'm awesome.

cosign

IndigoSpider

I struggled for years with my weight because I believed the second. Lost some, gained all and more back.

Now, loved myself regardless and, oh gee, the weight is actually coming off! So, I vote first one.

daniwilford

lemurcat12 wrote: »

First one, for sure.

But it's also true that accomplishing fitness goals--not just losing the weight, but feeling like I was treating my body well, doing good things for myself, and exercising and meeting exercise goals--helped me feel happy with myself and have a lot more confidence. This started even before I'd lost much weight and was part of what kept me going.

^^
This. I am still working on the losing but I am feeling great and my family says that I am nicer too.