Making a Lifestyle Change (or Plus Sized and OK with it)

Interesting, I haven't thought about this before. Why do you want to be over-weight but not as over-weight as you are now?

Congratulations on completing your first week!

CrmpetsNTea wrote: »

logg1e wrote: »

Interesting, I haven't thought about this before. Why do you want to be over-weight but not as over-weight as you are now?

Congratulations on completing your first week!

Thank you for the congratulations!

I'm glad I gave you something to think about, but I am going to follow that up with a question or two: Why do I have to want to be thin in the first place? Why can't a fat girl like her body and want to be healthy without it being a contradiction? It's society's norm. I don't have to conform to a body image that doesn't make me happy. Losing the weight will make it less likely of me developing diabetes and lessen my risk of heart disease, among other things. I will be stronger, more flexible, and better able to do the things I want to do. YMMV!

A fat girl can of course love her body. The reality is, though, there are zero benefits of being overweight from a health standpoint, an athletic standpoint, or a social standpoint. I say a social standpoint because if I were still an overweight boy, and I met a girl who I really like and she is very active, I want to be able to keep up with her. I want to bond with her over our mutual physical capabilities. If she wants to run a 10k, I want to be able to do it. If she wants to hike a 5,000 foot mountain, I want to be able to do it. I don't want my physical ability to limit the people I can spend quality time with.

I am also very into playing basketball. If I am not in the best athletic shape I can be then I'd be inefficient on the court. I'd get tired easily and it wouldn't be fun for me anymore. My friends play basketball too, and I want to be able to keep up with them. I want absolutely zero physical restrictions in my life.

I don't conform to the social norm, I conform to my own social expectations. I am someone who struggled in high school meeting people and making friends because my weight held me back from activities I enjoyed. I lacked confidence in my abilities because, honestly, my abilities were s***t.

So you don't have to want to be thin. But there is no reason to not want to be the best you can be. Just because it is a social norm to be fit doesn't mean being fit is a negative thing. There is nothing to gain by being a hipster in this case, IMO.

The contradiction is that fat is not healthy, at least not in excess. It is great that you love your body just the way it is. But what is wrong with being healthy and happy with your body? Losing weight doesn't make you love your body - a lot of women find this out the hard way. I would not attach a numeric value to your weight loss journey. Just start! Once you start losing weight and can do things like run up the stairs without getting out of breath you will feel like a new world has opened up, or at least I did.

My own journey has led to me to an addiction with obstacle course races (mud runs) and now I strive to lose weight and get fit to perform better. I dropped the wanting to be thin for others a long time ago.....I focus on eating nutritious whole foods at a deficit and training for my races. I love the hourglass shape that has been emerging, but what I love most is that my body can scale 10ft walls, climb mountains, and crawl through mud.

The only limits that exist are the ones in your mind.

Best of luck!

I totally get what the OP is saying in the original post. I am "big boned", and although I lost a bunch of weight once (from 260 to 190), it was extremely hard to keep it at 190, to the point that my life was miserable. I rebounded to around 210-220 and was there for a couple of years, feeling great but still "overweight" according to the cahrts, BMI, and the fact that I could pinch a pretty good roll of fat from my middle :-)

basically, i thnk some body types (big boned? LOL), wil never be like the amazing transformations you see here in some of the awesome Success Stories section. So it's not that I wouldn;t LIKE to be thin, it's that I am being realistic about what my body can do. Hopefully I am wrong and i will get a six pack this time!! :-)

These responses are just irritating. It is completely possible to be "plus sized" and 100% fit and healthy. I hate that the misconception that this is not possible exists... because "plus sized" is subjective, people. I do believe that the OP mentioned a specific weight loss goal in which she believes she will still feel comfortable in her own body, be healthier and happier, and still maintain the curvy figure that she desires. We all mention our "number" goals on this site- and this is her goal; not anywhere did I see her mention that once she reached this goal she would "miraculously" be the fittest and healthiest she could possibly be. As crazy as it sounds, this is just not the goal for some people (me included). She said she wanted to feel better and improve her overall health and unless I am sorely mistaken (which I'm not), the road to losing 55 pounds by incorporating healthy eating and exercise habits, along with the final loss of 55 pounds will absolutely help her obtain this goal of feeling better and decreasing her chances of diabetes, etc.

I think a little research needs to be done-- a mere 10% reduction in body weight has a TREMENDOUS effect on one's health, including

---

feeling better and lowering one's chance of diabetes and heart disease (her exact goal. Gasp.)


ETA: this was typed out before several other responses were posted.

Am I right in thinking that "plus-size" means over-weight?

Tea I don't think that this has to do with self-confidence / self-acceptance. You talk about health being your motivation in your first post. By definition being over-weight is not healthy, so I'm not sure why you'd stop at an unhealthy weight.

You ask me to consider the question yourself, but I haven't lost weight to be thin. I was 11st 11lb at my highest, I lost weight to be healthy.

rabbitjb wrote: »

I think for the OP her targets are what she has bought into that allows her to commit without fear at this stage of her journey ...good for you ...and good luck

I was thinking this. I also wonder if she feels that setting a goal that is less than over-weight is somehow betraying her over-weight self and/or others.

Remember Tea, we aren't criticizing you just to be harsh. I've spent the past year and a half grinding through this journey. We are just giving you an alternate way of looking at things because many of us have been in your position. You ultimately get to decide what you want to do. 55 pounds is a great goal to set and it will take lots of dedication. I am only suggesting that, if you set your goal to 55 pounds and will still be overweight after you reach it, you might want to set that goal to 65 pounds of 70 pounds. Then you can even gain back those 10 extra pounds you lose through progressive weight training and lean body mass over the year or two after your original weight loss. It will be slightly harder, but the heath rewards will exponentially be greater.

Ignore the social norms or the expectations other people set. Just consider doing what you have to do to be the healthiest you can be.

rbfdac wrote: »

These responses are just irritating. It is completely possible to be "plus sized" and 100% fit and healthy. I hate that the misconception that this is not possible exists... because "plus sized" is subjective, people. I do believe that the OP mentioned a specific weight loss goal in which she believes she will still feel comfortable in her own body, be healthier and happier, and still maintain the curvy figure that she desires. We all mention our "number" goals on this site- and this is her goal; not anywhere did I see her mention that once she reached this goal she would "miraculously" be the fittest and healthiest she could possibly be. As crazy as it sounds, this is just not the goal for some people (me included). She said she wanted to feel better and improve her overall health and unless I am sorely mistaken (which I'm not), the road to losing 55 pounds by incorporating healthy eating and exercise habits, along with the final loss of 55 pounds will absolutely help her obtain this goal of feeling better and decreasing her chances of diabetes, etc.

I think a little research needs to be done-- a mere 10% reduction in body weight has a TREMENDOUS effect on one's health, including

---

feeling better and lowering one's chance of diabetes and heart disease (her exact goal. Gasp.)


ETA: this was typed out before several other responses were posted.

No one said you have to be thin to be healthy. But if health is her ultimate goal, why stop at the bare minimum? That's the part I don't understand. I'm still overweight, and I'm pretty darn healthy and strong right now. It's not good enough for me though, I *know* I can be healthier and stronger. It's like short changing yourself, IMO. And it makes me sad. I know big goals are overwhelming and scary - I've lost almost 60 pounds so far. I just feel like she's not giving herself enough credit.

LaurenAOK wrote: »

Because maybe she LIKES having a bigger, curvier body. Not everyone has to have the same beauty standard. Not everyone has to want to be thin.

I think that some of us are questioning because her goal isn't to be thin or beautiful. It's to be healthy. Being over-weight is not healthy. Being a healthy weight is healthy.

LaurenAOK wrote: »

Why is that anyone's business but hers?

Because she started a thread "throwing it out there".

LaurenAOK wrote: »

Weight is only one factor in health. Being overweight can make one more susceptible to health problems, but it doesn't per say make a person unhealthy. I'm at a healthy weight and I have overweight friends who have better bloodwork numbers than I do, can run faster and further than I can, and can outperform me in any sport. Am I automatically healthier because I'm at a "healthy" weight and they're not? No. The whole overweight automatically equals unhealthy concept is outdated and incorrect.

We agree that thin does not equal healthy, that's not what is being discussed here.

I also understand that some over-weight people can be healthier than they might otherwise be (eg. fitter or disease-free).

However, being over-weight has (poor) health implications. Diabetes, heart disease, joint problems as well as related to depression and less inclination to exercise.

And PS - you don't have to be overweight to have curves.

CrmpetsNTea wrote: »

logg1e wrote: »

Interesting, I haven't thought about this before. Why do you want to be over-weight but not as over-weight as you are now?

Congratulations on completing your first week!

Thank you for the congratulations!

I'm glad I gave you something to think about, but I am going to follow that up with a question or two: Why do I have to want to be thin in the first place? Why can't a fat girl like her body and want to be healthy without it being a contradiction? It's society's norm. I don't have to conform to a body image that doesn't make me happy. Losing the weight will make it less likely of me developing diabetes and lessen my risk of heart disease, among other things. I will be stronger, more flexible, and better able to do the things I want to do. YMMV!

just sounds like an excuse to be lazy.

That's like saying, just because people like having healthy teeth doesn't mean i need to brush. Yes my teeth will not look as nice, and slowly throughout my life my teeth will start to wear more and then eventually betray me. But i'm not conforming to society, what do they know, toothless with a weak purpose is much more important.

I understand your decision and respect it. Your choice.

Why get down to a healthy weight though? Because the stats support that the idea that if you are at a healthy weight then you are likely to live a longer and better life in health terms. Thats important enough for me to want and worth putting the effort in to achieve, You will of course get some benefit if you go some of the journey, but id prefer most of it.

You are talking about reducing your chances of many of todays most popular killers
Heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, brittle bones, arthritis, cancer. Look it up.

On the plus side there was a study which supported the idea that yo yo dieting is much worse than just staying at a constant weight. Iff to the gym now Illl poist it if I remember when I get back.