beat those people down to where they belong!! They are our enemies and are friends with our inner beasts. boooo-hissss

I want to break the cycle of bad food for my kids. Everyone in my family is overweight to some extent. Some, more than others, but every single blood relatevi I have has weight and food problems. I have to break that cycle now. I have to find a helathy relationship with food, so I can teach my kids to ahve a healthy relationshipw ith food, so that mine is the last generation in my family to ride the diet yoyo.

I want to be thin and pretty and buy cute cloths, etc. But I need to be healthy and alive. And it would break my heart to raise my daughter to have the same food issues I have.

well I have a bunch of reasons but the biggest right now is...

*I want to be able to put a bathing suit on in public and teach my kids to swim!!

My oldest is in grade 1 and they recently did a swim program as part of their gym class and she was the ONLY kid that didn't already now how to swim.

And that is MY fault. I am the parent who is always home so it is my responsibility to do these things for the kids and because I hate the way I look so much my children are losing out.

This is a great thread. I actually started out competing with my co-workers and because I am so competitive, I felt like I had to win the challenge (and it turns out I am, thanks to LC!) Now, it has changed. I like the way I feel. I feel like vanity smurf, looking in the mirror all the time and although I am not pretty naked (and I suspect I never will be) I see subtle changes.
My self esteem has not been too great, ever, but it's getting better and I like that. I feel proud of myself and more confident and this is only 19 lbs! I imagine wearing cute little t-shirts and jeans. I have gone down an entire SHOE SIZE which is awesome. But the reason I am able to do it so easily is the way my body responds. I actually GAIN energy when I eat a meal now instead of feeling tired and bloated. I will be around for longer and hike and kyak and all those "healthy" activities and my super health conscious vegetarian in-laws will have to ask me what I have been doing. Can't wait for that Anyhow, thanks for posting this.

I have a lot of reasons, like I hate not being able to tie my shoes or being able to walk to the mailbox without being totally winded. I can play racquetball now, and my back isn't killing me, and I am not gasping for air between each play. YAY!

More importantly though, I have exciting things coming up in my life. I am getting married in May of 2008, and my oldest daughter is having a baby, due in January of 2008.

Those exciting things are a really big motivation for me. Not just because I want to fit into a smaller tux (which would also be cool, but....), but because I want to live to enjoy them, a very very long time. I don't want to leave the ones that I love prematurely to God's plan, just because I wasn't able to control my eating, or didn't have the time to get out and work out everyday.

I have a lot of reasons to stick with this, but the thing is, I am doing it for me.

BTW, if someone offered me a $million to reach a certain poundage by a certain date, I wouldn't have to worry about how to do it... my husband would lock me in a room and starve me. LOL!
"What would you do with a million dollars" is one of his favorite fantasies.

I remember a good Friend who was and is still very overweight, saying to me 20 years ago that if she could just get down to 160 pounds she'd be happy. At the time I weighed 125 and thought, I would kill myself if I ever came close to that...........HA! Laughs on me, HUH! I have been overweight for about 7 years now, and I have no idea how it got sooooooooooooooooo out of hand. I have tried numerous times to lose this weight, without success, but this time I now have borderline high blood sugar, high BP, high cholesterol, I have been short of breath, and basically doing things is becoming very difficult. I am definitley doing it to live longer, and to be comfortable. I guess I needed that wake-up call. I have a wonderful, loving Husband who just happens to be very attractive, and I want to be around to have fun with him and reap the rewards of all of our hard work. One Day at a Time!
Sherry

Hey Kathleen, when I read the first paragraph I was thinking, hey I'd take the cash and spend some of it on a weight loss spa or clinic. Then I read the next part and the teenage Ayds...and well, BTDT!!! You are so right, I also wonder how much I've spent over the years. I assume that my medical expenses are higher b/c of it, clothing, etc. It really does add up.
I bet if you lost weight when you're young enough you'd save that much over your life time of not being overweight.
LOL That's too funny Karen. Don't give my dh any ideas now.

Nantucket, I don't care how much weight I lose, I will probably NEVER put a bathing suit on (or take it off) in public. Bodies like mine are why dressing rooms were invented.

a body made for radio!

Hey, perfectfit.

I was going to reply in your journal, but you don't have one, so I hope you're revisiting this thread.

Your post is so poignant--it makes me think of the first time in a long time that I bent down to look under a bed--and while kneeling down with my butt in the air and nose in the dustbunnies, just took a moment to savor the shock of finding myself there.

How many meals and days and years of denial does it take before we say, "No more, this is it, I cannot live like this any more"? I guess the answer is different for each one of us, but when that moment comes by, it's our golden ring--what feels like despair is actually a life-line--grab it and hold on tight.

Wishing for you an excellent year so that by next May, you will be the one your son calls over to help hang curtains and change light bulbs. The year will come and go anyway, right? Best to you . . .

Thanks for that post Kathleen. That was really nice of you.

I dream of the day when I can get down to look under the bed. I cannot do that at all. I cannot even get on the floor as it is so difficult to get back up.

I miss doing those things.

I am sorry I don't have a journal but I just do not feel the need for one.

I go to the YWCA sometimes for a swim and even though I cannot fit into a bathing suit (still too big) I wear shorts and a dark teeshirt. The Y lets me do this and the only thing I feel embarrased about is my legs. The fat just hangs off them. Once I am in the water though I am okay and this feeling goes away until I need to come out again.
I don't let it stop me however because I feel so good and so free in the water.

You're welcome. I think we all have dreams about being able to do things that others do without giving it a thought.

Re: journals--I love it that we are free here to do as we wish as long as we're civil about it. I sometimes don't know how else to contact people without a reply getting lost in a thread. I'm glad you saw this one.

I want to be a firefighter