I stand up to wipe. . . . always have, even when I was skinny. I think that it might not be a weight thing. I'm only commenting because it made me sad to see you got sad.

Just read the last few pages and wanted to pop in here and say how much I am appreciating this thread.

Was just talking to my uncle the other day, and he was explaining that it was hard to stay motivated to "diet" because gravity had taken it's toll and that when you get older, somehow losing weight doesn't seem to matter as much (his opinion).

I was trying to explain to him that for me, in the end, the weight loss wasn't about feeling self-conscious or clothes at all - it was about feeling so unbelievably grateful to be able to do stuff like this again, to be able to move.

Of course, in the beginning, it was because I felt bad about how I looked. Now that the weight is gone, my very best benefit to weight loss is this feeling of freedom. Like it's not a big deal to run for the bus or crouch down and scrub out the shower or what have you.

Funny thing? I still feel bad about how I look sometimes. Maybe I just can't quite figure out a decent outfit, or I worry that there is something wrong with my legs or my shape or whatever.

And yet - I am *thrilled* when I notice how much easier it is to do things. Don't laugh, but I like to sometimes do stuff, just for the fun of it. Like, I'll purposely crouch down in a supermarket somewhere and read a label on some food item. Just because I can. Lying in bed at night, I'll start doing leg lifts, just because it's fun to do. I know - it sounds totally weird, but ...I can't tell you how much I appreciate this feeling.

This kind of thing didn't cross my mind at first - I guess I didn't really realize just how much the weight was slowing me down? I was much more concerned about feeling totally awkward about the way I looked.

Can I just say that I wasn't expecting this? Feeling so good about being able to just do stuff? I must have gone into a kind of denial about it.

At one point, I did join a gym and took up weight training, but truth be told - I've totally slacked off in that department for over a year now.

And yet...I *still* love to run up the stairs. Just because. I clean the fridge more often than I ever did...just because.

I just wanted to say that this freedom to move and do stuff is so much better than a single digit size is. I didn't realize that this would be the case, but it is. Sure, I have flab, and yeah ...I do struggle with food/weight still. I've had some creep up on the scale and so on. Still working at it, still trying to get it right.

Meanwhile, can I just say how great it is to run up the stairs? To not worry if someone wanted to play volleyball or whether some place was too far to walk?

This thread is talking about what it's like to not be able to do some of those things. Being able to do them is better than you'd imagine.

I guess we're talking about contrast. Not liking something and trying to imagine how nice it would be to have the opposite.

I swear - it'll be way better than you think. Even if you still battle a few pounds, even if you have flab, even if certain things still don't look good on you. I can't describe this feeling of just being able to up and do stuff...

Very glad I came across this thread, because it articulates what I was trying to explain to my uncle. That there are more reasons than just a clothing size or a particular number on the scale or whatever. How great it is to walk all over the place, run up the stairs, clean out the fridge, get stuff from a bottom shelf at the store, do leg lifts in bed at night just for the fun of it.

I know...I sound weird, but just wanted to share.

Keep going! This 'being able to do stuff' is so, so worth it.

I could not agree more. I am not at goal yet and I still definitely have some junk in this trunk...but now I don't think twice about taking stairs two at a time or standing on the train for a half-hour if there are no seats available. These are things that I would never have tried before or would have dreaded. Now they are no big deal...and that is priceless.

--Melissa

I had a moment the other night, while at a Red Wings game...I was sitting there in my TINY little seat, with my side fat resting on the arm rests on either side of me when it hit me...The tdc thread "what do you want to be able to wear" popped into my head. I want to be able to "wear" my seat at Joe Louis Arena without feeling like a cupcake! I though this would be better served in this particular thread since I can't actually "wear" my seat. (Although it was questionable the many times I had to stand up to let people in and out of the row whether or not my butt would actually pull the seat out of the concrete flooring....yikes!)

So...that's it, I want to be small enough to take up my seat, and only my seat, at public events!!

This really made me think about ALL of the things that I can't do because of my weight. The usual popped into my head right away of not being able to wear the cute clothes that I would like to (sun dresses and shorts in the summer, heels, pin up girl style clothing *love the retro look dresses) One thing that I really feel that I can't do at this size is date. I have been divorced for two years and I'm afraid to even attempt dating. In many ways I must confess, this journey of getting smaller is also my journey of getting a new man I will have the confidence when I lose the weight!

i am going to reward myself when i get to goal with a motobike licence and new bike.

What a fabulous reward!!! Keep up the good work! I saw your pics and your doing great!

Gymnastics

But really even now I have a hard time doing pull ups.

I can fit in a plane seat but it isnt comfortable and I have to have a seatbelt extender. I can't wait until I don't anymore!

We went on a Panama Canal cruise two years ago and I was at the time just under the weight limit to go on the zip line in one of our stops, Costa Rica. Unfortunately, there was a dock workers strike when the ship arrived and we were not permitted to dock and Costa Rica was eliminated as one of our stops as a result (and our zip line cancelled). Since then I gained more weight and am now considerably over the limit so...

I still wanna to go ziplining in the rainforest in Costa Rica!

Well, I have a history of breaking chairs. I'd like not to do that again.

I'd love to be able to roll around in my bed without the wood creaking so much.

The same with walking on wooden floors.

And I would love to fit in a walk-in shower with ease.

Sex. There, I said it. When you're fat, you can only pick up scumbags. The few that are somewhat my type and actually cute..it has to be someone I find online far away that I'll never see again just incase I embarrass myself or it goes wrong or they don't want me again..or I don't want them again. As for real relationships..well if someone is attracted to me being fat then chances are they won't be attracted to me when I look the way I want to again and how I should be. My mom tries to be helpful in telling me about how a guy she works with likes women with "meat on them" and some jokes about having sex with a skinny chick she might break in half. Well, what if the "meat" is gone and someone is thin again? He will dump her? Sounds like the opposite of men who lose interest in their wives after they gain hundreds of pounds. So it goes in circles. Yes, I have issues but to me they make sense.

Hmm. I respectfully disagree. I don't think we are resigned to only pick up scumbags, and I think relationships in general, including romantic/sexual relationships, rely on us to take control of them. You will be treated the way you demand to be treated, honestly. I'm not saying this to invalidate your feelings, I think your feelings make sense, but it's just one of those things where our issues often go beyond the weight and our self esteem really suffers and causes these, like, self fulfilling prophecies.

And while there are certain men who have a fetish for overweight people, and there are even men who prefer their partners to stay heavy as some way of controlling them, there are men who just love women, you know? My husband is a total chubby chaser. Don't even get him started about the "unfair criticism" of Kelly Clarkson. But a) he also loves women in general and b) his preference is just that- a preference. He'd prefer me as a brunette at all times, but hey, if I go blonde, he grows a goatee, and we know not to give each other too much hell. I think it is a dangerous misconception that "chubby chasers" must have something wrong with them to find a heavy woman attractive, and I don't think it necessarily follows that they will dump ya the minute to lose the pounds.

Agreed!

My husband is 5'8 and 145lbs. I'm 5'5 3/4" and as you can see from my stats, anything but thin! When we first married I was not 200lbs, but I had maybe 20lbs to lose. We have had great sex at every size. And married 12 years to boot! and I must say he's pretty cute too