Anybody else losing fat...TO LOOK GOOD?

24

Replies

  • Shriffee
    Shriffee Posts: 250 Member
    Looking good is a motivator for losing weight, but I'd like to think there would still be a lot of people working on their fitness even if it didn't change the way they looked. A good example of that is smoking. Quitting smoking doesn't change your appearance initially (it improves your aging process in the long run...), but people still do it despite the extreme difficulty in order to better their health.

    I don't think wanting to look good is bad.
  • battybecks
    battybecks Posts: 147 Member
    I think some people worry that if they say they're losing weight to look better, people will judge them. They'll think that they are vain, or superficial, or whatever (people aren't actually as nasty as we fear!)

    Also, one thing I've come across is people saying "but you look amazing as you are". Pointing out to them that you're not a healthy BMI, or that you're at increased risk of type 2 diabetes because of your waist size, or whatever, is a good way of avoiding that kind of comment. They can't argue with health facts, but they can try to convince you not to lose weight because of aesthetics.

    So, saying you're losing weight for health and not for looks can be a way of protecting yourself, and warding off the saboteurs (who usually think they're being helpful).

    Obviously some people ARE losing weight purely for health reasons, and don't care what they look like. However, I'm pretty sure that most people have a little insecurity demon who criticises their appearance when they look in the mirror - and admitting that you have this demon is a scary thing ...
  • chachabear79
    chachabear79 Posts: 14 Member
    Yes obesity and fatness can be heath deterints.

    Me personally, I watched family members die slow, sad deaths due to it's ravages. So fighting it in my own life is imperative from a health standard.

    But come on, an enormous piece of the puzzle for me is to look good. I grew up as a fat boy and that image absolutely destroyed my self esteem. And it wasn't the potential health risks, it was the fat body. The fact that I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin.

    Having been overweight and normal weight, I feel better, and LOOK far, far better with weight off. And I think losing weight to give yourself a body that looks the way you feel authentically, that reflects the best of you, is life changing. You can not underestimate the power of living in a body that is visually pleasing to your OWN eyes.

    And yet I see this notion constantly villainized. Why am I seeing more and more often this idea that you should NOT lose weight for looks, only for health? And what's worse is that I think this is clearly a lie. Would most of us really be busting our buts to widdle down our frames if our new bodies didn't visually change?

    What's with this sham that losing weight to look better, which consequently might help you feel better about self, is somehow bad?
  • kaotik26
    kaotik26 Posts: 590 Member
    It's a big reason why I do it. I want to walk by a mirror and say "hey sexy *****!!" because that is what is going to bring me more confidence in myself. I want to be my husbands Trophy Wife! It's vanity at it's best, but letting myself do it is what helps me succeed.
  • timberowl
    timberowl Posts: 331 Member
    BE ADVISED **Something that not many people who need to lose more than 50lbs (not sure if you do but this IS important) are made aware of is that skin integrity becomes an issue. You reach your goal weight and are like "Well, this is wonderful when I'm *clothed*..." That is why toning is so important, even when you are still larger.

    Thank you for this. I just had an argument with a friend yesterday about this. She said it's pointless for me to work out if I'm just going to eat back my exercise calories--that I may as well not work out at all. I'm trying to lose 43 lbs (23 left to go) and she's trying to lose about 200 (I believe 140 left to go). She never works out because it's "pointless" when she can create a calorie deficit without it. She loses like 5 lbs a week and I lose 1.5-2.
  • Amitysk
    Amitysk Posts: 705 Member
    I would say its 50/50 for me... On the health side, being strategic about not succumbing to any disease that runs in the family and on the looking good side, well its about knowing I look hotter at 40 than I did at 20!
  • addieblue
    addieblue Posts: 17 Member
    I won't lie. My BMI is in the upper range of normal, my blood tests are OK and I don't look bad, I just wanna look awesome. :laugh:

    Same here :D I want to get back to my former weight from 2.5 years ago (50-52kg) not only because I want to fit in my old clothes, but also (and mainly) because I want to look even better than before - slim and toned :) )
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    I originally lost weight because my insomnia was so bad that it was ruining my life. I tried every prescription sleeping pill on the market over the years and it they either didn't work or made me feel hungover (without the fun night). My doctor PROMISED me that if I exericsed reguarly I would sleep better. I took her up on that promise and never turned back. Of course to exercise regularly you need to eat right. A run fueled by a burrito and chips doesn't work out too well, so my eating habits changed and the weight started coming off...which made me realize that I CAN BE HOT. I always just kind of assumed I would be overweight forever. So then it became my goal to be hot by 30. I was overweight my entire life. Now here I am, 7 months away from my 30th birthday, feeling and looking better than ever. Oh, and I sleep like a giant baby too. No pills.
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
    I definitely do. Or did, at first. I wanted to be hot, get sexy clothes, everything!! That was the main goal at first. Still is, in a way.
    Strength, health, well being and feeling so much better came along so process and I'm so grateful about it.

    The goal isn't important, after all. The journey is so full of surprises!
  • chachabear79
    chachabear79 Posts: 14 Member
    absolutely I'm losing weight to look good,even losing a few pounds makes my face look different.and who doesn't love that feeling of buying a pair of jeans a size smaller and then they fit.so the fact that exercise and healthy diet makes you healthy and makes you feel better ,is an added bonus. but the one thing I try to keep in mind is, don't be in such a hurry to drop that weight to fast, the healthy way keeps it off.
  • mdhummel
    mdhummel Posts: 201 Member
    Yeah, I want to get healthy and live longer (blah, blah, blah), but I really want to look hot in a bikini at the beach. Our family goes to the beach every Thanksgiving and I get tired of hiding from the camera in my swimsuit.
  • GoreWhore72
    GoreWhore72 Posts: 190 Member
    BE ADVISED **Something that not many people who need to lose more than 50lbs (not sure if you do but this IS important) are made aware of is that skin integrity becomes an issue. You reach your goal weight and are like "Well, this is wonderful when I'm *clothed*..." That is why toning is so important, even when you are still larger.

    Thank you for this. I just had an argument with a friend yesterday about this. She said it's pointless for me to work out if I'm just going to eat back my exercise calories--that I may as well not work out at all. I'm trying to lose 43 lbs (23 left to go) and she's trying to lose about 200 (I believe 140 left to go). She never works out because it's "pointless" when she can create a calorie deficit without it. She loses like 5 lbs a week and I lose 1.5-2.

    I've been working on the 'diet' for two years with toning, and I couldn't be happier. There's a huge difference in how the body works and the strength involved, and what it looks like compared to losing 38 pounds without toning to losing 38 just by calorie deficit. I would rather the inches go down than the scale, but of course the scale will go down. It's about balance. I've always been relatively healthy when overweight regardless and active. there were a few times I wasn't as active as I wanted to be which resulted in weight gain of fat, not muscle, but now it's about looking good. Just like healthy fats and unhealthy fats, there's the same for obesity. So, if it takes me five years to get exactly how I want to my goal, so be it. I want to do it right, and look smokin' hot, although confidence obese has never been an issue, or attracting the opposite sex.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Nope, you are the only one.
  • Stripeness
    Stripeness Posts: 511 Member
    Personal motivation is personal.

    I already look good. Fitter me is differently good, but what really motivates me is functionality (not test results, functionality)

    Right now, I can't do the scrunched-up crouch on a surfboard that's a preliminary step to standing up. That bugs me - and since I can't make my arms longer, I'm gonna have to get my middle smaller.

    Focus on you. Be positive.

    Personal motivation is PERSONAL.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    You make a good point, although your "function"/ "form" comment sounds a bit contradictory; after all, function has a lot to do with the form. Anyway, yes, it is possible that many people just "like the way they look", but something tells me that each one of these people, at least once in their live thought "I wish I were close (if not as) to her size..." What is that called - oh, wait, "being in a denial stage". I am not overweight at all, yet I still want to manage my weight as much as possible. Why? Aside of health reasons and economic reasons (eliminating the need of constantly replacing cloths that don't fit anymore), the psychological comfort of being somewhat in control of how I function as it relates to my size, beats all other reasons; and the older you get, the more limitations you start experiencing, and don't tell me that even though someone "feels good" at 200LB does not wonder about their mobility factors as they age, hence think about their size. You might not have the goal or desire to lose weight, but I bet that thoughts in your head are often more honest than any public statement regarding your "self comfort at your size" - by "YOU" I mean anyone, not specifically you :)
  • misti777
    misti777 Posts: 217 Member
    That is part of the reason. Also, I have an overeating problem and MFP helps me keep that under control. Also, diabetes runs in the family, and I want to be able to put my shoes on without feeling like I'm all scrunched up and stuff, and get up from the couch without looking like I'm trying to grab onto something invisible that will help me up or go, "ugh."

    I've been flirted with before and things like that, so I know I am attractive enough... but I just don't feel like it. I mean, occasionally I like how my butt and hips look but that's about it. And I like my hair. But my face has this double chin... and there's other things that bug me about my body.
  • kaotik26
    kaotik26 Posts: 590 Member
    BE ADVISED **Something that not many people who need to lose more than 50lbs (not sure if you do but this IS important) are made aware of is that skin integrity becomes an issue. You reach your goal weight and are like "Well, this is wonderful when I'm *clothed*..." That is why toning is so important, even when you are still larger.

    Thank you for this. I just had an argument with a friend yesterday about this. She said it's pointless for me to work out if I'm just going to eat back my exercise calories--that I may as well not work out at all. I'm trying to lose 43 lbs (23 left to go) and she's trying to lose about 200 (I believe 140 left to go). She never works out because it's "pointless" when she can create a calorie deficit without it. She loses like 5 lbs a week and I lose 1.5-2.

    I'm guessing she is a bit heavier than you, that said she is going to lose fast for a while. But that 'pointless' exercise is gonna come in handy for her down the road.
  • misti777
    misti777 Posts: 217 Member
    That is part of the reason. Also, I have an overeating problem and MFP helps me keep that under control. Also, diabetes runs in the family, and I want to be able to put my shoes on without feeling like I'm all scrunched up and stuff, and get up from the couch without looking like I'm trying to grab onto something invisible that will help me up or go, "ugh."

    I've been flirted with before and things like that, so I know I am attractive enough... but I just don't feel like it. I mean, occasionally I like how my butt and hips look but that's about it. And I like my hair. But my face has this double chin... and there's other things that bug me about my body.

    And my feet hurt a lot if I've been on them for long enough. I think like an hour does it and the pain gets really bad.
  • Shuuma
    Shuuma Posts: 465 Member
    My mother is morbidly obese and has a myriad of health problems including joint pain, herniated discs, diabetes, and hypertension. Diabetes and hypertension run in our family. I don't want to be dependent on pills to get through my day and I don't want to live in fear of dying before my kids are even grown!

    I'm 45, overweight, and hypoglycemic. The chances of becoming insulin dependent increases every year I am overweight so I am really motivated to get healthy for the simple reason that I don't want to be in the same situation my mother is and my grandmother was.

    As compelling as those reasons are in and of themselves, I totally want to be a hot 50-year old. What can I say? I want to climb mountains at 70 and look amazing while I do it. So, yes, I'm doing it to look good and be healthy.

    :drinker:
  • dianesheart88
    dianesheart88 Posts: 111 Member
    Yes obesity and fatness can be heath deterints.

    Me personally, I watched family members die slow, sad deaths due to it's ravages. So fighting it in my own life is imperative from a health standard.

    But come on, an enormous piece of the puzzle for me is to look good. I grew up as a fat boy and that image absolutely destroyed my self esteem. And it wasn't the potential health risks, it was the fat body. The fact that I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin.

    Having been overweight and normal weight, I feel better, and LOOK far, far better with weight off. And I think losing weight to give yourself a body that looks the way you feel authentically, that reflects the best of you, is life changing. You can not underestimate the power of living in a body that is visually pleasing to your OWN eyes.

    And yet I see this notion constantly villainized. Why am I seeing more and more often this idea that you should NOT lose weight for looks, only for health? And what's worse is that I think this is clearly a lie. Would most of us really be busting our buts to widdle down our frames if our new bodies didn't visually change?

    What's with this sham that losing weight to look better, which consequently might help you feel better about self, is somehow bad?

    This is so very true!
    A little of two years ago I was diagnosed with Heart Disease... you would think that, that alone would make me want to lose the weight. Nope... two years later I am 40 pounds more. Finally I am back to creating a better me... why? Because it sucks carrying all this extra weight and I hate the way I look and feel. I hate having a hard time putting my shoes on.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    The main reasons I started on here were a) I felt 6 months pregnant when I tried to tie my trainers (and my youngest was 13!) and b) because every time I ordered clothes they were too tight, so in the end I had to admit I was way fatter than I thought (or would admit to myself).

    I'm enjoying the health benefits such as more energy and suppleness - but they have come as much through the new and enjoyable exercises - Zumba - which have helped me lose weight - but chiefly I love putting on a UK size 12/14 and finding it fits - or is loose! - rather than being too tight. And that my legs no longer look like sausages.:tongue:
  • angie007az
    angie007az Posts: 406 Member
    In this for both health and looks. I already got my blood pressure down, now I'm going for the rest of the pie. I want to look good and make my husband proud. After all, I was a size 10 when he married me. :smile:
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    I don't think it matters why anyone wants to lose weight, it's a personal thing and if they say it's for health reasons who are you to question whether there is a vanity component in there too?!

    For me it was the fact that I came back from a holiday in Asia with scars on my thighs from a month of constant sweat rash. My clothes didn't fit, in fact I ripped two of my favourite pairs of pants just doing normal daily things, and it is expensive to need to buy new clothes. I was out of breath walking up the two flights of stairs to our apartment, I was eating a huge amount of food that I didn't need and I felt crap. Looking better has been a positive side effect but I found that moving the focus on weight loss to being on something other than what I looked like gave me more objectivity about my successes, and as such I stuck with it in a way I had found difficult a few months earlier.

    And you aren't likely to be villainized, called shallow, narcissistic, or have your goals belittled for this reason.

    This thread isn't about "questioning" people who are losing for health reasons. It's a commiseration about the reality that there is a seemingly increasing backlash against people who are losing primarily or solely for aesthetic reasons. I'm not judging your for losing for health, and I doubt anybody else in this thread is.
  • ashleymarie9807
    ashleymarie9807 Posts: 40 Member
    I have about 20 more pounds to lose, Its the last of my pregnancy fat, yes i say fat because the first 4 weeks after giving birth i lost all the pregnancy weight (All 15 pounds of it lmao) and still had another 70 pounds to go lol.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    I would also like to note that most people losing weight mostly for their appearance are doing it for "health". Our mental health.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Excellent conversation starter!

    I was fat my entire life, even as an infant. My doctor told my mother I was too fat at six months old. She was told to put me on a diet, which she did. It didn't work. I grew up the fat kid who was made fun of because, back in the 60's and 70's, obese kids were the minority. The kids at school gave me a hard time, and my dad was even worse. My mother tried to steer me in the right direction of "good" food while my skinny family ate all the "bad" food because they were thin.

    The more people bugged me about my weight, the worse I felt about myself, as if there were something wrong with me. As a kid, and even partially through adulthood, I allowed myself to have really low self esteem due to my weight.

    About 12 or 13 years ago, after trying fad diets and allowing myself to have yo-yo weight, I said enough. I didn't want to be overweight any more, and I certainly did not want to feel badly about myself either. I signed up with a trainer at the gym, who worked with me on weight lifting but not diet. I went through a couple of trainers because they moved on from the gym, but then I found one who taught me how to do full body workouts and how to log food calories. He told me this new "plan" was a lifestyle change and not a diet. He told me if I wanted to keep the weight off I would have to learn how to log my food and exercise, though at that time I was not logging calories burned.

    I listened and lost about 50 pounds, which was a total of 70 from my highest weight when I was in my twenties. My weight fluctuated by about ten pounds over the next four or five years, then more slowly crept back on over the following five year period. Last year I made myself step on the scale and found I'd gained back about 30 pounds! I was unhappy with the way I looked, and I also was concerned about how aching my body was during the cold winters, and I just didn't feel good. After blood tests, the doctor could not find anything wrong with me.

    Last April, I decided it was time to get back to the basics again of logging food and exercise, but I dreaded writing it out by hand again. That was when I found My Fitness Pal. What a great tool for logging food and exercise. I bought a food scale and a heart rate monitor to ensure accuracy. I made a plan to weight lift (mostly free weights) and run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and do other exercise on Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday and/or Sunday.

    In other words, I made the decision to eat less and move more.

    Today, almost one year later, I am at my lowest weight I have ever been as an adult, and I am within the healthy range for my body frame (large) and my height. I feel fantastic, but I also look fit and healthy. I love how I look, and the fact that my old size sixes are comfortably loose on me. Yep, that was my plan, to get back to my old weight and to get back into my clothes, but the fact is that I like having my clothes a bit roomy so losing that extra six or seven pounds from my weight ten/eleven years ago is just fine with me.

    There is nothing wrong with losing weight because you want to look good. When you've grown up the fat kid and you conquer losing weight and maintaining for any period of time, it's a big boost to self-esteem.
  • weightedfootsteps
    weightedfootsteps Posts: 4,349 Member
    For me there were many contributing factors as to why I want to lose weight:

    -Want my back not to hurt from walking (this is mainly stopped)
    -Tired of walking and bumping things with my butt on accident
    -I do want to look good (always had a pretty face and apparently a great rack...lol)
    -Accomplish a goal I've had for a long time.
    -Lots of health problems in my family that I don't want to have.
    -Want to stop being confused for my twin sister. (Yet I want her to lose weight too..and am trying to get her to join my gym everyday.)
    -Want to be able to play outside with my daughters and not get tired fast.
    -Want to ride rollercoasters!!!!!
    -Wearing clothes that fit my frame and I like them! They don't make very many cute big girl clothes...some yes..but more expensive.

    That is only some of the reasons I have...but they are all great reasons to lose weight...any and all! Life is short! You only get out of it what you put into it. I'm planning on enjoying every minute from now on!
  • asianmonkie
    asianmonkie Posts: 264
    Actually, it is the ONLY reason why I'm trying to lose weight. In the words of Kevin Spacey, "I wanna look good naked."
  • arrseegee
    arrseegee Posts: 575 Member
    I don't think it matters why anyone wants to lose weight, it's a personal thing and if they say it's for health reasons who are you to question whether there is a vanity component in there too?!

    For me it was the fact that I came back from a holiday in Asia with scars on my thighs from a month of constant sweat rash. My clothes didn't fit, in fact I ripped two of my favourite pairs of pants just doing normal daily things, and it is expensive to need to buy new clothes. I was out of breath walking up the two flights of stairs to our apartment, I was eating a huge amount of food that I didn't need and I felt crap. Looking better has been a positive side effect but I found that moving the focus on weight loss to being on something other than what I looked like gave me more objectivity about my successes, and as such I stuck with it in a way I had found difficult a few months earlier.

    And you aren't likely to be villainized, called shallow, narcissistic, or have your goals belittled for this reason.

    This thread isn't about "questioning" people who are losing for health reasons. It's a commiseration about the reality that there is a seemingly increasing backlash against people who are losing primarily or solely for aesthetic reasons. I'm not judging your for losing for health, and I doubt anybody else in this thread is.

    Sorry, I obviously misread the tone in your original post then. I got the feeling you were claiming that nobody loses weight without being focussed on improving how they look, and if they claim they aren't then it is a lie. I felt a bit affronted because my primary reason was NOT for appearance. To be honest I don't care if someone thinks I'm vain, shallow, narcissistic or belittles what I've achieved, because I did this for me and not for anyone else.
  • ironclaw79
    ironclaw79 Posts: 42 Member
    Wouldn't it be disappointing if one did not look better after losing so much weight? I'm a little afraid of that.

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