Ok let's be honest here..................

k2quiere

That's a great question. At nearly 350lbs, I always said I was the "healthiest" fat person in the world because no matter how tired, lazy, out of touch I felt, the docs could never find anything "wrong" with me. Perfect blood pressure, perfect blood work...skinny chick in a fat suit. In fact, I went to an orthopedist for knee pain and he said my weight had nothing to do with it (Yeah, I didn't go back).

I actually started on this path as a way of focusing my energy on myself instead of my children who were about to go off to college and leave me alone and lost; I also didn't want to spend ANY money on buying bigger clothes and everything I owned was starting to get tight. Then I realized how good it felt to eat right and began to remember how good it feels to workout. I suppose that feeling good could be considered "health" reasons. Now that I've lost nearly 50lbs, I'm starting to really look at how I look, and will admit that vanity is playing a role, especially in the fact that I'm more worried about how my clothes fit than I am about what the scale says. Everyone's story is interesting, whether you started for health, vanity, or a need to take control of one aspect of your life.

HeidiMightyRawr

At the beginning it was probably 50/50. I've never been "overweight" but I didn't like the way I looked. My blood pressure wasn't good either.
Now my BP's normal again though, the reasons are all vanity.

hannahlbur

Both but Mostly vanity.
If I was naturally slim I'm not sure if I would have developed an interest in fitness.

Vanity - I hate being this size even if it is "average" I don't want to be average. I used to be slim and now I wana be even better than I was. Lean athletic hopefully a head turner!!

atsteele

Started working out and running for neither vanity or fitness. More curiosity. I started working out in college with my girlfriend who was a amateur body builder and fell in love with it. Prior to that, I had always been in shape from working on our family farm. I never felt like I had the body for running till I met my husband who told me, "Anybody can run." And I believed him. Never did I actually think that I would be running marathons someday. Now I would say that I run and work out for both vanity and fitness but mostly just to see what I can do. And I keep re-assessing where I need to improve and keep building on what I know and do.

skinnydream115

VANITY! and PRIDE!

I want to look as hott as I can! Im young I cant waste this lol and pride I want it to take hardwork so I can be even more proud of what i accomplished and of course health benefits go along with all that but mainly vanity and pride! and motivation adn frienship..

TheBraveryLover

Vanity. I never have or will deny that. Health is just a bonus (even though I've never had any health problems). :-D

kerri007

VANITY! and PRIDE!

I want to look as hott as I can! Im young I cant waste this lol and pride I want it to take hardwork so I can be even more proud of what i accomplished and of course health benefits go along with all that but mainly vanity and pride! and motivation and frienship..

totally agree. i joined to be more accountable, then started working out harder when i got the motivation from people on here. and now that im where i want to be. i love the way i look in and out of clothes

SabrinaJL

Health. When Iwas 15, my mom died of a heart attack (she was 46). I've been dealing with high blood pressure since my early 20s and have been obese/overweight all my life. I'm tired of feeling like crap and worrying about dying and leaving my daughter without a mom. Looks really aren't much of a factor for me, which is a good thing since I actually am liking my body LESS since I started losing weight.

skinnydream115

VANITY! and PRIDE!

I want to look as hott as I can! Im young I cant waste this lol and pride I want it to take hardwork so I can be even more proud of what i accomplished and of course health benefits go along with all that but mainly vanity and pride! and motivation and frienship..

totally agree. i joined to be more accountable, then started working out harder when i got the motivation from people on here. and now that im where i want to be. i love the way i look in and out of clothes

cant wait to look good nakeddddd

macpatti

I joined for health reasons. I wanted a way to track my calories, and my friend Kerri had lost almost 100lbs and told me about MFP. I still use the site for health reasons, but I've also enjoyed the social aspect of it.

i_love_vinegar

VANITY

I started for health reasons as I had a health scare, but now I am at a healthy weight, I just want to get to a thinner healthy weight

littleenginethatcan

Health first. I love the feeling of strength, and confidence comes with that. Vanity is a bonus, because I'm looking fit in my clothes. I don't want to be skinny fat.

hippotx72

I am here to be healthy. Diabetes runs in my family, and I'd like to avoid it if I can.

Personally, I feel that I can be beautiful at any size. I am not worried about being perceived as "fat." I also don't have too many problems finding clothes. I can sew, so if I can't find what I want, I make it myself.

You sound just like me. Most of the men in my family are diabetic, AND there is also a history of heart problems. I actually don't have all of those yucky body image issues that I used to have. . .I've just decided that it's more important to please myself than anyone else. (BTW, I also sew, which makes it cheaper when I lose weight--just take my clothes in a few inches, and I won't have to buy any new ones).
Example. . .I used to go out with a guy who always tried to tell me how much to weigh, not to lift weights because women weren't supposed to look like me, and my favorite--he asked me that if I had exercised all my life (which I have, especially lifting weights and walking), then why wasn't I thin? I think he was jealous because I could outlift him, and I had sexier shoulders than he did. At that time, I was actually healthy and strong, but I joined WW anyway (for vanity reasons), and lost a lot of weight, only to please him, because I was stupid then.
So, then he dumped me, I gained all of my weight back PLUS sixty pounds because I went through a massive two-year depression-fueled eating binge!!! The worst part is that now I could just kick myself for ever letting someone put me down that way.
Yeah, so now it is health, and not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. Whatever your reasons or motivation, I wish all of you the very best in your journey!

jambondan

A bit of both but vanity definitely comes into play!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/jambondan

engineman312

vanity. i wanted to look better, but i'm finding i feel better, and my confidance is through the roof. something about walking into a room and just think to yourself "yeah, i can do more push ups then 90% of the guys here" is kinda ego stroking.

fteale

Started off for health. Now....borderline eating disorder.

circusmom

vanity. i wanted to look better, but i'm finding i feel better, and my confidance is through the roof. something about walking into a room and just think to yourself "yeah, i can do more push ups then 90% of the guys here" is kinda ego stroking.

Is it weird that I think the same way???

IronmanPanda

Both. I want to be faster, stronger, better and look damn sexy while doing it.

SkateboardFi

definitely vanity. however, the health advantages that come with an active lifestyle are a plus

hazelnutflav

im here for my health,

i come from a family of diabetic and obesity related illnesses and was slowly but surely heading down the same road, my body could not take the added weight and even though my dr. never told me i had high blood pressure or was pre diabetic i knew it was all just matter of time before he did....so at one pound from being 300 lbs i knew i had to take charge and get real about nutriton and fitness before it was to late and i lost my life or my ability to move my body which sceared the heck out of me.

today im 68lbs lighter i still have a long way to go but at least im on my way and i still have my health.


dont giave a damn abt vanity.

stubsy1968

I started this weight loss "journey" in January this year purely for health reasons. As I've now lost all the weight I need to and am in the middle of my Healthy Weight Range, I'm finding vanity is my new motivation. I love the comments from friends about my new "guns" and how they too would love to look like me. This inspires me to improve my appearance more - I want to look super fit, cut, lean and strong so guess vanity it is for me

Kathy

stubsy1968

vanity. i wanted to look better, but i'm finding i feel better, and my confidance is through the roof. something about walking into a room and just think to yourself "yeah, i can do more push ups then 90% of the guys here" is kinda ego stroking.

Is it weird that I think the same way???

Shawn - no way is this weird. I feel the same way too when I'm at the gym. I once had a boxing circuit class where I was racing a guy up and down the class and beat him 3 times. I loved it (not sure if he did though). :laugh:

stubsy1968

Started off for health. Now....borderline eating disorder.

WTF? Should we all be offering you some help here? :flowerforyou:

Kathy

EricNCSU

Honestly for health reasons.

But considering my wife left me a month ago, I can't help but say vanity as well, because I will be skinny and hot and my next wife will be too.. hahahahah

FearAnLoathing

Started as vanity,is still vanity

norma67

Vanity, let us be honest we all want to look good. I know for me I am an emotional eater.

ScotsLenny

I got told there was a certain amout of perving went on so,,,, you asked for honest,,,, now it is more fitness

Lyadeia

Well, since I am not technically overweight anymore and I am not unhealthy, my reasons are vanity. I have very specific goals for myself, and they are all centered around how I want to look. Now if I had high cholesterol or blood pressure or was obese, that would be different. When I was obese with those issues, I was losing weight for both vanity and health.

ritajean3

I was here to loose weight for purely vanity reasons was pushing for as much weight lost before my wedding...


Now though I want to lift bigger, run faster and ride farther.

Is it nice my husband always says super nice things about the way I look and how healthy I am? Oh you bet but I'm doing this for me and I won't stop until I am satisfied with my health.

LorinaLynn

Started with health. My ego was (or thought it was) perfectly happy before I lost weight.

Sometimes it's been a vanity thing, like wanting to fit into something that didn't fit before. But mostly I've been driven my health and fitness, or personal challenges. Being able to run a 5k, the Warrior Dash, a 10k. Now I want to do all those things faster and faster. Which I suppose is a vanity thing. Caring about my health meant being able to do them. Vanity is being able to do them better than other people.