Your Goal : Fitness or Looks ?

The honest answer its both.

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.

Exactly~^

I want to look better, and feel better mentally and physically. But I tell ya one thing, when I drop this weight i'm hitting the mall to "abuse my fitness skill"

Both!
I love feeling healthier and stronger and at the same time... ya know I'm 18 I wanna look good :P

Fitness is my goal. It wasn't the fact that I was wearing size 22W stretch pull-on jeans and 2XL shirts and that I didn't turn any heads (at least in a good way) that finally motivated me to try to lose weight. It was the fact that I couldn't bend over to tie my shoes, got winded walking up 3 steps to get to my front door and just felt like a big blob all the time.

My goal is strength, stamina and endurance and if I just happen to look better as I perform better, that's the icing on the cake.

For me it's both, I want to be fit, healthy, and strong, but I also want to look great!

Looks. Definitely. I could care less about the fitness part of it.
Think of it this way, if you could have a killer body, never have to work out and eat whatever you want, would that NOT be the dream?!
If I could maintain a six pack while eating a diet of only fast food, I would never do another minute of cardio again.

I get a lot of stress relief from working out too. I like the team effort that comes with some of my work out classes, a sense of community and belonging where I work out, and even if it didn't change my looks fast food makes me very ill. You might be young enough to where fast food doesn't make you feel awful. If so, enjoy it...that changes as you age!

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.

Before I learned more about why I had failed before, and managed to succeed now, I was willing to work out and eat right just to lower my A1C level (diabetic blood sugar level.) Being fat but not diabetic (and therefore not guaranteeing to be a burden to my child) as long as I could get fast enough to outrun my kid if he bolted into a parking lot or street was enough for me, honestly. I still can't see the difference in my body 50 pounds later, but the compliments and the clothes I am putting aside for donation this week tell me otherwise.

I do have some very inspiring friends who have lost a lot of weight and look very good, and it has made me want that for myself, but when I started I didn't really think that exercise and nutrition was going to be enough for me. As it turned out I was depressed, allergic to foods I didn't realize were making me sick, underestimating how much exercising I needed to do and I hadn't found exercise I didn't like, which all contributed to a big pile of fail in previous attempts. I finally put it all together, though.

My goal is health - both physical and mental.

How I look is part of it. I want to feel comfortable in my own skin, and aesthetics is part of that; liking what I see in the mirror, being able to fit into clothes I like etc.

That's only one part of it though. I like how being fit makes me feel. I like that I can manage depression with running. I like being able to go up and down stairs at work, sometimes carrying things, and not be out of breath like everyone else around me. I like being asked to carry heavy stuff, or surprising people when I can carry heavy stuff. I like having more energy, and sleeping better. I feel better knowing that I'm doing my best to avoid the diseases I'm genetically predisposed towards getting. My health used to be a big worry to me, and now it's not. I like being able to learn new sports (having been a completely non-sporty person) and the fact that I can realistically plan a trip now that includes climbing a big ****ing mountain.

No question Fitness!!!


I was good looking even when I was obese!! LOL!!!

love this answer

for me it was sheer vanity, but i think if you keep at it you will get both.

Sheer vanity at first...but that made me approach it the wrong way, personally. I wanted to burn as many calories as possible and just spent my days on the elliptical and treadmill (which I DETEST). When I got into lifting the lightbulb went on and I focused on reaching my fitness goals rather than focusing on the scale. And what do you know, I got the body I wanted in the first place, minus the extra stress and forms of exercise that I despise.

When first got started I was all about looking good.. I was sick of feeling overweight and frumpy. Once I got a routine going and seeing progress I also started noticing how much better I felt. I go to the doctor so much less than before, things that bothered me dont anymore. I notice when I eat bad right away how it make my body feel. Now its all about being healthy.

Health then feeling young.

If you wanted HONEST answers then why would you start with an introduction as loaded as this..."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?"

To get hench.