plans when you lose the pounds?

Betty_Canada

This is a wonderful thread. It's so nice to see people thinking positively.

RainHoward: I grok the depression thing. Me and the scary monsters in my head have an ongoing battle over, well, freaking everything. Medication helps, but support helps more. And I'm finding that having my life partner on my side and taking the journey with me is making all the difference in the world. I think it's really important to find someone to get behind and push, or pull, or sometimes just walk beside you or be there when you bottom out. I've tried for years to lose this weight. I was diagnosed with an endocrine disorder years ago, and finally got someone to prescribe me an insulin sensitizing drug to help treat that aspect of the issue, and it's making all the difference in the world. This is a marathon, not a sprint. *zenhug*

Well, I've got too many stretch marks to feel all that comfortable in a bikini, so that's not really a good one for me. (Although all these people wanting tattoos makes me wonder how much it would cost to get something ridiculous like a map of Middle Earth done across my stomach.... then at least the lines all over me would have a purpose... *lol*)

Definitely want to get a boudoir set done. I know of a number of wonderful photography places in the city who do amazing, professional, sexy work, and I'd like to celebrate my new body in a way that claims it at every level.

I want to be able to walk into Marie Claire, or Sirens, or Le Chateau, or Ricki's when I see something awesome on sale, and say - "hey, that's cute!" - and buy it and walk out with it and not have to worry about whether or not they carry it in my size. I want to be able to shop at La Senza or La Vie en Rose for pretties, instead of having to order them online.

Sundresses. Oh my goddess, I am buying a thousand cute little sundresses that I can wear without bike shorts under them like everyone else does because my stomach won't yank them up an extra 3" and leave me panicking about flashing people.

I'm with the poster who wanted to put everyone who ever trashed them in a room and walk in in something amazing and tell them to blow. I'm SO looking forward to telling my mother and my doctor to go get stuffed. Maybe that's not exactly a positive motivation, but hey, whatever gets you out of the sack in the morning.

I want to be able to walk without pain. That one is unlikely, due to permanent knee damage completely unrelated to my weight, but I used to do the CIBC Run for the Cure (okay, I walked, but damn it I still did it), and now it hurts enough that I don't know if I'd make it that long. I miss being able to walk 3 miles without worrying about it. I want that back. (One of my fitness goals is walking a minimum of 60-90 minutes a day.)

My body and bone structure are such that I'm never going to be a single digit girl. But there's still a galaxy of difference between the fashion choices available for a 14 and the choices available for a 24.

In the shorter run, I have a white tuxedo which is a 20 that I'm looking forward to being able to wear again, perhaps for New Years' Eve..

Being able to enjoy intimacy more is a big issue. Don't get me wrong, I'm sexy and I know it, and that's got nothing to do with my weight. But being heavy makes things more awkward - not even sexual things, just intimacy things. Like I want to be able to curl up in my boyfriend's lap when we're watching TV and not worry about breaking him.

I want to have abs, Well, I'm sure I *have* abs, as they hurt from time to time when I do something stupid, but I'd like to be able to see them once in a while, even if it takes flexing. Yeah, I can live with a two pack and two stubbies.

There's a Victoria's Secret opening here in fall of 2012. My goal is to be able to shop there by fall of 2013, and since the biggest thing they carry is a 14....

I can't ride a bike (inner ear problem - no balance), but I would love to get one of those tricycle contraptions. They're ruinously expensive in Canada, but maybe I'll get the money scraped up someday.

I want to be able to buy a wedding dress off the rack someday instead of having to special order it.

Really, mostly, it's the clothes. I know that sounds vain, but when your wardrobe has been limited to "what fits" and "what's on sale" as opposed to the clothes you want to wear for two decades, it's a very important thing.

=Betty=

(ETA: In the really, really long haul, possibly implant surgery. I am very disproportionate, and the endocrine problem listed above has resulted in certain things not developing to their full potential.)