Who are we losing weight for... Really?

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Replies

  • Julesbait
    Julesbait Posts: 190 Member
    I think most people do it for themselves first and foremost. Everyone knows that being fat is unhealthy and knows the benefits of exercise and healthy eating.

    *puts on flame suit*

    But I also think that most people who say they don't care what anyone else thinks about them are not being completely honest with themselves.

    I got sick of always being the fattest girl in the room. I know I was being judged because of my weight by somebody at all times. (Something else most people will deny ever doing, judging someone based on weight.) I was turning down offers of going out places because I was ashamed of how I looked. I would go shopping and leave feeling awful because not only is the selection of plus-sized clothing so much smaller than regular-sized, it's god-awfully ugly.

    And I KNOW I'm not alone in all of those feelings.

    Yes, I'm losing weight for me. But I'm also doing it to feel normal by society's standards.
  • mgorham13
    mgorham13 Posts: 168 Member
    I did it/doing it because I wanted to feel "normal" for the first in my life. Buy clothes at regular stores, fit in airplane seats, not get discriminated against on job interviews (image is important in my profession) not feel achy and depressed. Those were the things that got me started.

    The things that keep me going are how awesome I feel, how strong I have become physically and mentally, my wife and kids reactions to my new ability and attitude. Even though I'm still going my reason have changed as my goals have changed.

    My point is whatever it takes to get you started varies for everyone. I think the real truth in why you do it comes from what really keeps you going.
  • Sreneesa
    Sreneesa Posts: 1,170 Member
    I see what you are saying about the media influencing us to look a certain way but in my case I have always been loved and accepted, and never made fun of. Always got attention so I may be influenced by what is considered sexy by the media but its not to be loved and accepted by society in general.

    So, with that being said I chose to lose weight because I wanted to. Yes, I'm sure media influenced me but society has always embraced me. Never had trouble being noticed. Never been made fun of. Never been called ugly or unsexy. Always been told I'm pretty and when I say I want to lose weight people wonder why, even at 200; I'm 5'10 and always carried it well.

    So its all me. Not doing it to impress no guy. Not doing it for my daughter. I'm doing it for me because I'm vain. LMAO!!!!

    Just keeping it real! lol
  • Marymoe138
    Marymoe138 Posts: 68 Member
    I am definitely losing weight to feel better for me,myself and I. I can not be there for my family if I do not take care of myself first. Of course I want to look good for my husband but more so for myself. I feel better about myself and at the end of the day, that is what matters the most to me!
  • Frank_Just_Frank
    Frank_Just_Frank Posts: 454 Member
    I started this before my wife left, At the time it was for health and wellness. It's still mostly me wanting to be fit looking, but I won't lie. There's a big part of me that wants to show her she made a stupid move.
  • mammamaurer
    mammamaurer Posts: 418 Member
    :bigsmile: I want to keep ahead of the zombies!


    :smile: i just want to be faster then the people im going to trip wile running for my lifezombi-smiley_zpsbcb0f292.gif
  • tfoste6278
    tfoste6278 Posts: 18 Member
    I am losing weight for myself, my health, and my kids. If I were to keep up all my bad eating habits I am welcoming my family history of hypertension and diabetes. I was tired of feeling like crap, having no energy, busting out of my clothing and the list goes on. I want my life back.
  • cursiny
    cursiny Posts: 907 Member
    I started this before my wife left, At the time it was for health and wellness. It's still mostly me wanting to be fit looking, but I won't lie. There's a big part of me that wants to show her she made a stupid move.

    This.
    Doing for me but also for all those who said I COULDN'T DO IT!!
  • heydanno
    heydanno Posts: 16
    lol

    awesome comment, i know just what you're referring to, rule #1
  • ProactiveElder
    ProactiveElder Posts: 27 Member
    I'm losing weight for my knees, my heart, my lungs & my health. Being overweight increases the risk of developing many chronic diseases that I do not want to live with for the rest of my life. I also have a lot of things on my bucket list that I want to do with my darling husband & I don't want to be distracted or held back by pain or weight.
  • pnubn1
    pnubn1 Posts: 339 Member
    Really....for me...to look better..wear cuter clothes..feel better..and to look AWESOME naked!!!
  • SaintGiff
    SaintGiff Posts: 3,679 Member
    If you're losing weight so that someone, or lots of someone, will love you or find you more attractive, then you have to at least consider the possibility that the reason they aren't loving you already has less to do with your weight and more to do with the fact that you believe that your weight determines your worthiness of love.
  • Sreneesa
    Sreneesa Posts: 1,170 Member
    :bigsmile: I want to keep ahead of the zombies!


    :smile: i just want to be faster then the people im going to trip wile running for my lifezombi-smiley_zpsbcb0f292.gif

    And this would be the other reason! :laugh:
  • Sreneesa
    Sreneesa Posts: 1,170 Member
    If you're losing weight so that someone, or lots of someone, will love you or find you more attractive, then you have to at least consider the possibility that the reason they aren't loving you already has less to do with your weight and more to do with the fact that you believe that your weight determines your worthiness of love.

    I like this.
  • sarafischbach9
    sarafischbach9 Posts: 466 Member
    I am not losing weight for anyone. I started to lose weight because I felt out of shape and my clothes were fitting really tight. Everything was fitting tight and I was having really bad problems with water retention Now I was not overweight; I was still at a healthy weight for my height before losing weight, but if I continued the way I was, I would have been overweight in a few years.

    I am mainly just trying to shed a few lbs and eat better, while getting a healthier lifestyle.
  • ElizaB84
    ElizaB84 Posts: 105 Member

    It's all bull**** really, isn't it? We are the same however much we weigh - it's our minds and personalities that matter

    Except mind and personality can't overcome the physical limitations weight can cause.
    Some people want to do physical activities that are very hard or impossible to do while over weight.
    Some people want to make their bodies stronger.
    Its not all just about looks, its about getting the most out of our bodies.
  • Dcbear24
    Dcbear24 Posts: 21 Member
    I'm a ballet dancer.
    In all honesty, If I have people paying to watch my body perform, it better look fit as eff. Bikinis are fun too. So are attractive guys. And crop tops. :smokin:
  • angelalf1979
    angelalf1979 Posts: 244 Member
    Johnny Depp isn't married yet...
  • 12skipafew99100
    12skipafew99100 Posts: 1,669 Member
    3 weeks now. 3 weeks I've been weighing **** out and calorie counting. I've been jogging every day too. I feel great. I've lost nearly a stone. But I'm thinking who am I really losing the weight for?
    Of course we all say 'it's for me' - but aren't we all doing it really so we feel sexy and acceptable? Acceptable to magazine ideals, to people we wish would love us if only we lost a few, etc...
    It's all bull**** really, isn't it? We are the same however much we weigh - it's our minds and personalities that matter. Someone who is un-sexy and irritating at 18 stone will still be the same at 12 stone, there's just less of them to be irritated by?

    Yea, screw this diet. I quit!
  • SrJoben
    SrJoben Posts: 484 Member
    3 weeks now. 3 weeks I've been weighing **** out and calorie counting. I've been jogging every day too. I feel great. I've lost nearly a stone. But I'm thinking who am I really losing the weight for?
    Of course we all say 'it's for me' - but aren't we all doing it really so we feel sexy and acceptable? Acceptable to magazine ideals, to people we wish would love us if only we lost a few, etc...
    It's all bull**** really, isn't it? We are the same however much we weigh - it's our minds and personalities that matter. Someone who is un-sexy and irritating at 18 stone will still be the same at 12 stone, there's just less of them to be irritated by?

    For probably the same sort of jumbled pile or overlapping and occasionally contradictory reasons we do anything major.

    So sure, a bit for us, a bit for then, a bit for good reasons, a bit for silly reasons. Whatever. The end result is a better looking and healthier you. I don't see a downside.

    Also we like to think it's just minds and personalities that matter. But come on. In your heart you know it's not true. The other stuff matters too.

    Listen to this wisdom from the pragmatic and charming gold digger Lorelei Lee (Marylin Monroe) from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes:

    "Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help?
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I started for my health - avoiding diabetes and worried about a circulation problem.

    I continued because I felt great - sexy and younger. My husband loved it. My friends were jealous (there I said it).

    I found my students then responded to me completely differently.

    I don't ever want to go back. I wish I had done this 10 years ago.
  • Balsam1951
    Balsam1951 Posts: 34
    When I was a young woman I controlled my weight because I wanted to look hot. LOL Then I became a mom and lost a grip on my weight and ballooned up. I wasn't worried about being hot but I still worked on it because it made my 1st husband happy to have me trimmer. Now I'm in my 60's and if it wasn't for my lousy health I wouldn't care but lets face it being overweight is hard on our body systems. So now I do it to be healthy. My2nd husband is a dear he is over weight too and never complains about my being plump it really is a health concern for us both. So I think our need to loose weight varies with where we are in our lives.
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
    I'm doing it for myself and my own self respect.
    If you're doing it to impress someone else then more than likely you're destined to fail.
    YMMV....
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    I did it for me. I love the way I look and feel. I have energy and stamina. I can go anywhere and do anything. My health is excellent. I'm way too old to care if other people think I'm hot or not, but if they do, I don't have a problem with it. My husband seems to like me whatever shape I'm in. :heart:
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    I do it for me. I enjoy running, biking, and lifting. I enjoy being able to keep up with my kids. I enjoy being able to say "yes" when I get invited to compete in a run, or hike, or any number of other activities.
  • Kurindal
    Kurindal Posts: 355
    I actually started losing weight for my girlfriend. She broke up with me a month and a half later (at the end of august). (I had lost almost 30 pounds at this point... I'm now at 85 with another 35 to go.)

    Now I do it for me. I do it because it makes me feel good to see that scale come up with a lower number. Part of it is spite motivated, because I suspect my weight had something to do with the breakup. Part of it is because I know by losing weight I will be able to find someone I am very much attracted to. But above all that, I do it for my own happiness and well being.

    The compliments don't hurt either.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Sure, wanting to be accepted is part of why I'm doing it...but I'm also motivated by other factors....like my future family. You see, I've had to watch my mom slowly die for a number of years from completely preventable health issues...and I'm not willing to do that to anybody else.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    I'm doing it for purely selfish and shallow purposes. Other's do it for health and stuff (Which is awesome) but that's not me. However being shallow and selfish doesn't mean it's not for 'me'. I want to look awesome and hot and what have you. Ergo it's for 'me'.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I started it because I wanted to look good in my wedding photos. I kept going after the wedding because I have a lot of health issues. I often feel at odds with my body. Losing weight, and starting to actually push my body to do athletic things makes me feel in control.
  • ge105
    ge105 Posts: 268 Member
    I'm doing it for purely selfish and shallow purposes. Other's do it for health and stuff (Which is awesome) but that's not me. However being shallow and selfish doesn't mean it's not for 'me'. I want to look awesome and hot and what have you. Ergo it's for 'me'.

    This.

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