Your Goal : Fitness or Looks ?

shafstar

Answer honestly please..... I'm seeing far too many posts focusing on how people want to 'look' and the transporter to it is excercise/diet. It's almost as if they're abusing their fitness skills.

For myself it's the opposite and is strictly fitness the looks are a bonus (mind you I am enjoying them too :happy:) but my primary goal is to go beyond what I see as being a good healthy fitness level and head towards Olympic fitness. This is a tough/impossible goal and most probably not achievable at my age - however I'm giving it my best shot.

ps Currently I consider myself very unfit, my journey started 3 months ago and have come a long way but I estimate I've got 12 more months until I can gauge my full potential. Any like minded people are welcome to add me

pcdoctor01

Both, I want to be fit but look good also.

laceyfowler

Definitely both :-) I certainly want to feel healthier - I like being able to play harder, jog longer, hike further, etc, and I want to live a looong, healthy, and happy life - but I readily admit that I also really enjoy looking better! I have more fun shopping for clothes (or going to the beach, of a ton of other situations) when I am more fit. And, the way our society works, like it or not, being more attractive (this includes presenting oneself with confidence) has significant benefits in both personal and professional/work interactions. Fair? No... but fact? Yes.

Bottom line - both fitness and looks are important factors in becoming healthier and maintaining a good level of health. And, I'm okay with that - both reasons help with my motivation to be healthy, so as long as not taken to an unhealthy level, both are beneficial to my goals of being fit and healthy :-)

elyelyse

I'm here because I want to feel comfortable in my body...that means being able to hike for miles, AND look awesome while I do it.

Why does it matter to you what someone's motivation is? "abusing their fitness skills"? That's a little silly. And condescending.

alechua

Both. But more on achieving the body I want. Because since I was chubby.

alisonlynn1976

This is not a dichotomy. Both!

neandermagnon

My main focus is on what I can do (or to be more precise, being able to lift really heavy things), rather than what I look like, but yeah I agree looking good is a nice bonus :drinker:

Each to their own though, there's nothing wrong with having more of a focus on looks than fitness. Health should be a major player for everyone though.... as in it doesn't matter what your goals are so long as they're healthy and you're going about achieving them in a way that promotes good health. (that includes mental health as well as physical health)

darrensurrey

Looks. I was fit enough already, thanks!

The problem with fitness is that you have to define what you mean by it. Someone who looks very unfit can still run a marathon. That makes them fitter than me because I have no desire nor the fitness levels to run a marathon. I'd rather eat my shoes than run tbh. "Are you fit?" "Fit for what?"

dgm82

Both

SweeDecadence92

Looks! The benefits to my health and fitness are certainly a massive bonus and they keep me going when the scales aren't changing and the inches aren't in decline. I do really enjoy exercise these days, I feel I need it to keep my head healthy, I feel really gross and disgusting is i miss a few days exercise. Looks are the driver though!

sydneybeachgirl

fitness - definately..

overcominglazy

80-90% looks. The life I plan on living does not involve being incredibly fit, just a decent level in order to keep me able to walk up a few flights of stairs. I have been marathon running level fit and it took up way more time and energy than I ever want to spend on an activity I enjoy, but not that much. And when I was able to run that far, I didn't look like a 'fit' person and most wouldn't have believed I was.

HeidiMightyRawr

Strength/fitness, the looks will come as a result of that assuming you eat reasonably well.

We can all enjoy, and aim towards both though. Regardless of whether strength is number 1 or not, I still want to look good!

TamaraKat

I am definitely fitness oriented though am reaping the looks too!

twixlepennie

Neither-I added exercise after I transitioned into maintenance because I needed new goals to work towards. I was happy with how I looked and felt without it (and I was very healthy). But, I'm determined to be part of the small percentage that successfully maintain their weight loss long term, and part of that is always having new goals to work towards.

acpgee

Health.

When I retired from being a fashion model at age 25 I resolved never to think about my appearance or diet again. I didn't care about my weight and put on 2 kg a year, every year, for over 20 years. Gaining 2 kg a year is an average daily surplus of only 50 cals. I shouldn't of let it go that long, though.

Started MFP when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Have now lost enough weight to successfully reverse the diabetes. No more meds for that condition. Now I want to get off the blood pressure meds.

suppakana

Started off, as most do, all about looks. Began becoming more fit, went "OH THIS IS AWESOME."

Now it's half and half. I like oogling my body in the mirror going "Oooh damn girl, flex it."

DavPul

Answer honestly please..... I'm seeing far too many posts focusing on how people want to 'look' and the transporter to it is excercise/diet. It's almost as if they're abusing their fitness skills.

I don't understand why this is an either/or and I must certainly don't comprehend the concept of "abusing one's fitness skills". Everyone has their own personal goals and each is equally valid as the next person's goals.

allopathicJ

Fitness plain and simple..

lisacan2011

Both fitness and looks!

MysteriousMerlin

Fitness. If I happen to look good once I've reached my goal, then great.

DMZ_1

Both

_jayciemarie_

All my life I have hated running and exercise. I was in the Army--couldn't even run a mile without walking and breathing heavy. By the end of Basic Training I could run 7 miles fine. Not fast, but no walking. I still didnt like exercising though. I got out of the Army and just started eating and being lazy. Gained about 100lbs. My goal now is to be able to walk into any store and find my size. I hate that I have been a plus size and my clothing choices are limited. With that being said--I actually love exercising now. I push myself as hard as I can. I want to be able to run 60 minutes straight. I don't care about the distance. I just want to be able to run without stopping. So, long story short--I want both.

pcastagner

yes

mybelovedrebel

I think that to be successful it helps to have a bit of both. I started off the day after I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. my A1C level went from 5.7 to 10.1. That is a massive jump and I "achieved" diabetes through a very strict regemine of considering 1 package of sweets 1 serving, not exercising at all, and lying in bed being depressed a lot. All in the span of 4 months. What an achievement!

The diagnosis scared the uhuminahumina out of me because my Mom has terrible type 2 diabetes and is largely confined to bed with muscle wasting and depression. Her own father died of...you guessed it, complications from diabetes from lying in bed from depression. I promised myself my son wouldn't grow up spending time in the hospital watching his grandparents suffer, but guess what...it is happening, though I am handling it better with him than my Mom did for me. Standing over my mother's bedside I realized I couldn't control that my kid sees my Mom sick and suffering. I can, however, control whether my son stands over MY bed watching me, his Mommy disintegrate, feeling torn between caring for me and caring for his children and hating to shortchange anyone. I therefore got my sorry tush out of bed, got meds for my anxiety that doesn't have a weight gain side effect and got to it. My goal was an A1C lower than I had ever had before and I came in at 5.6, which is .1 lower than I had ever come under before. I am 50 pounds down through calorie counting, exercising, getting support (my YMCA offers a program called In It To Lose It that I highly recommend if it is offered locally) and taking that damn pill that lightened my emotional load quite a bit. 50 pounds down and at least 100 more to go, I feel great, I am doing intervals on the treadmill the faster of which involve running, and I am happier.

Now my son does Bollywood Dance videos with me, pushing me to get extra exercise videos in. When we go to the playground to kick a ball around it is effortless. He is my extra personal trainer. He likes to go to the local football/soccer field and run up and down the stands. I follow him up, follow him down, follow him around the track. It is very motivating because truthfully my main driver is my health right now.

Having said that, I can also now wear a shift dress without looking like a jolly Buddha in a dress (nothing against the Buddha, but he just couldn't carry off a shift dress, and neither could I.) I am almost at the point where I can buy professional suits in regular stores, which is helpful because I am looking for a more professional job right now. I know all too well that weight changes the way people talk to you and I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to be seen for my professional skills until or unless I am at least "average." That is not nice, but it is the truth. I am a woman, I managed a business successfully for six years, but people see "plump secretary" when they see me. That has to end.

Having said all that, my DH has noticed my body changes and loves them, and I love that he loves them. That would be incentive enough. That is all I will say about that.

So mostly health, mostly for the sake of my husband, son, and career with the side benefit of feeling better than I actually knew was possible, which is a gift I give to myself.

MB_Positif

Both. I am loving the way I look and that I can sprint up the stairs and not get winded or carry 12 bags of groceries on one arm.

arcticfox04

Fitness, looks only help you for so long till your skin and body breakdown. Fitness keeps muscle & bone health in better shape down the road. Rather be active 50 years down the road then being skinny now and being broken down in 30-40 years.

Mr_Excitement

Does anyone actually work out solely to be more "generally fit"? I mean, if weight lifting/running/etc. made absolutely no difference in a person's appearance, no one would be in the gym.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Answer honestly please..... I'm seeing far too many posts focusing on how people want to 'look' and the transporter to it is excercise/diet. It's almost as if they're abusing their fitness skills.

I don't understand why this is an either/or and I must certainly don't comprehend the concept of "abusing one's fitness skills". Everyone has their own personal goals and each is equally valid as the next person's goals.

This

StarChanger

Both...plus fitting into clothing sizes (especially up top) that I haven't seen since 8th grade.

shafstar

Does anyone actually work out solely to be more "generally fit"? I mean, if weight lifting/running/etc. made absolutely no difference in a person's appearance, no one would be in the gym.

Athletes or semi-pros do hence the nature of the question.

I'm confident that most of us can hit decent fitness levels but how many of us would push further is the question. To a certain degree you've hit the nail as most of us are more inclined to stop once we've reached appearance goals.