Your Goal : Fitness or Looks ?

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 :-)

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

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)

Both

fitness - definately..

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!

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.

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."

Fitness plain and simple..

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

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.

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.

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.

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