Is your Goal FASHION or FITNESS? (perfect woman 171lbs)

100% fitness for me.

It used to be fashion when I lived in Japan and I felt uncomfortable in public unless I looked like I stepped out of a dress shop window. Now it's about performance and feeling hard thighs under my yoga pants instead of squishy ones that looked good in pretty clothes.

I say Fitness because I was starting to feel myself getting slugish as I was getting into my 30's and didn't want that to become my 40's+ where I was battling health problems. I guess trying to be proactive about it.

But....I feel somewhere deep down it's Fashion for everyone (IMO). There is a standard out there and even if you aren't actively seeking to meet that you still have it in your head that you aren't healthy because you don't meet the standard.

I would say it started off because I wanted to look a certain way but now I'd rather get stronger than look perfect.

PS - If you think losing weight and looking a certain way will get you the prize of love and "settling down" (whatever that means) I'd prepare myself for a lot of unhappiness.

Fitness and Health- I lift heavy. I weight 178 lbs, 5'6" and wear a size 10 pants.

Fitness is primary for me. Active duty Air Force here which means I need to be almost perfect at fitness in order to pass PT. But definitely add in fashion as I want to look good as well.

Excellent! I'm only 2 lbs over the ideal. I should have this wrapped up in a week. I wish!

My primary goal is fitness. I LONG to feel light on my feet again.

I was 120 lbs when I felt my healthiest and I (and others) thought I'd gained too much weight then. I blame it on chubby cheeks (facial). he he. To be 120 lbs again seems ludicrous now.

I think the article, and especially the title are misleading.

It does not say that the perfect height and weight for a woman is 5'7"and 171 lbs.

It tells of a Medical Examiner (coroner) who interviewed/tested 400 college students and found a woman who was healthy and strong, and in HER OPINION was the epitome of the 'perfect woman'. She happened to be 5'7" (well above average height at that time), and weighed 171 lbs. Apparently her body fat percentage was lower than today's average, since she was 'physically strong' and had a 30 inch waist and 40 inch hips.

This does NOT mean that every woman who is 5'7" should weigh 171 lbs.
Some women ARE indeed healthy at that weight, but your average female today probably has a higher BF% at that weight, and is quite a bit more sedentary than the test subjects of 1912.

Not saying that we should all be skinny, but that health is relative to the individual.

My top focus is health, at my 50 yrs of age, as Diabetes and heart disease, are a great risk at this age, and arthritis has already damaged many of my joints. Carrying less weight alone will help prevent further damage to my joints. Choosing the right combo of foods within my calorie goals will help with weight loss as well as help me to prevent Diabetes and heart disease.

That said, now that I am out of the obese category, looking better in and out of clothes is a nice perk.

Fitness. I want to be healthy, energetic, have no pain, disease and take no pills. I also want to be professionally and romantically desirable and to fit into my old clothing.

I like this.

Although I would answer "FASHION" honestly -- simply because even though I was obese at 262 lb when I started MFP I did not have any health problems. Of course I was at a much bigger RISK for tons of problems but I did not have them at that point. Going from my HW 307 to 262 was for health. From 262 to now has been more aesthetically motivated to be totally honest.

When I think "fitness" -- perhaps wrong of me -- I think of chin-ups, planks, and running. To be brutally honest, I don't care much about that stuff. I want to be able to get around easily my whole life as I have up to this point and I like keeping up with my husband on bike trails and hikes. But I am not a fitness junkie. I am more motivated by looking cute in skinnies with boots or rocking a curve-enhancing dress.

Both, duh. ????

When I started working out and logging my food in Sept. 2013, it was all about getting healthy and being fit. I'd had a couple of things bother me that my weight was really becoming an issue, so it started as a lifestyle change to get fit. Now that I've dropped almost 25 pounds and had to get new clothes, it's certainly put my focus on fashion lately!

Fitness, definitely.
Fashion holds little to no interest for me.

If I had to choose just one, it'd be fitness/health. That's definitely the most important to me.

But right now I'm only losing more weight because of the fashion for flatter tummies. My fitness goals haven't changed and aren't affected by that really, and I'm not overweight. How much I eat is the only thing that would change once I lose a few more lbs. I'm still eating at deficit.

Even the muscle I might add once eating at maintenance is probably fashion as far as me liking it. I still have a lot of strength gains to be made with the muscles I have, I'd think. But the lifting is for health, so if I get more awesome muscles, so be it

Fitness. I like hiking and ziplining, and dragging 30 extra pounds plus harnesses up the side of a mountain sucks just a bit.

Fitness, but the benefits of being fit/healthy will help me fit into clothes I'd never considered before.

Fashion for sure