What was your epiphany for weight loss?

[kendsley]

Originally Posted by Minnesconsinite

Sorry......

This just struck me as someone who clearly has low self-worth.
You're thinking weight loss equates to love. Like a person is less deserving of love if they're fat.

Good man = beautiful wife/beauty in his environment

So a rotten man deserves a fat, "ugly" wife?

I also don't really care for how you equate fat with "not beautiful." (Which is what most of society does.)
Look at Carnie Wilson. Or Ann Wilson from Heart.

I'm an overweight pretty girl myself.
To be honest, I actually find that sometimes people are nicer to me when I don't try so hard. I find that sometimes when I go out without make-up, looking plain, people tend to be nicer to me than when I rock really nice make-up. (And I DO have that extreme polarity. Without make-up, I'm very plain, look about 19. With make-up, my green eyes pop, and I can look very pretty. I get a lot of compliments on my eyes, and I have a great smile and nose.... I kind of have the perfect face. Don't mean to sound arrogant there, but I probably do anyway. Take that comment how you want, you don't know me.)

It's almost like it annoys some people that I'm pretty...or something? That sounds really weird but that's the vibe I get sometimes.

It's as if the consensus is that plain jane fits with fat, whereas a pretty face is "wasted" on a fat girl.

A good example of this... I was in the public library parking lot a few years ago. I saw an attractive-faced fat woman with pretty long hair in the parking lot next door to the library. She was wearing a skirt slightly above the knee. (Not inappropriate, but bold for a girl her size. She had to weigh in the upper 200s.) It was a white business outfit. And she was rocking it. Only thing going against her was that she was very fat.

I saw a guy getting into his car a couple of spaces down from her, and his face said it all. He was smiling with a smirk. It was almost as if he was thinking, "Give it up, girl" or.... "Why are you even wasting your time?"

the world is a cruel place so don't let it get to you. beauty is in the eye of the beholder. there is "somebody" for everybody. im sure there are men out there that you would turn down so don't sweat it.

[andreaspercheron]

I saw two pictures. One of me with my daughter this winter (see my pics) and then I saw my drivers license updated photo. I was like OHHHH NOOOOO!!!!!! Now I'm down almost 40 lbs and feel GREAT!!!

[springfieldva]

My epiphany was a painful case of plantar fasciites triggered by the walks I was taking on concrete every morning - while being overweight. Not only could I no longer do my walks, I was limping around just running simple errands. It scared me to feel like that because I like to get out and do things with my husband, kids, other family members and friends - it would be horrible to be sidelined from the fun.

At any rate, after resting my foot for a month until it felt better, I bought some gel insoles and began walking on dirt trails and/or the treadmill - 3 then 5 (now 6) days a week. I did an analysis of my food intake and realized that I was overdoing it on the snacks and that my restaurant meals had a lot more calories (and salt) than I thought, so I now only snack on raw veggies and research restaurant meals before I go out...

The past 7 weeks or so I have really started to notice a difference. I'm no longer limping. My foot doesn't hurt anymore, I can walk barefoot again!! And this weight is coming off.

[MSPLove]

Originally Posted by kendsley

the world is a cruel place so don't let it get to you. beauty is in the eye of the beholder. there is "somebody" for everybody. im sure there are men out there that you would turn down so don't sweat it.

To quote Daria, I don't have low self-esteem, I just have low esteem for everyone else.

Seriously, what I meant by that post, is that yeah - I'm human. And it does make me feel bad when people treat me like dirt when I know I'm a pretty girl who just needs to lose a few pounds. It's frustrating, because I see my own worth.... but they don't.

And like I said in response to some nonsense I read, I really resent that extra pounds is automatically equated with unattractiveness.

This is unattractive:
http://www.commentbuddy.com/comments...s_227_5901.jpg

NOT this:
http://www.heartlinker.eu/images/weblog/ann2ndflyer.jpg



That was the point of my post.
Let's get real about what is *really* unattractive.... it isn't a few pounds.

When someone says "So-and-So deserves better than me at this weight" that triggers something in me. It's disturbing.

[miyu]

Everytime I hit 125 pounds I get scared. I try to refrain from gaining excessive weight in the first place if I could help it. I usually range from 113-118. My philosophy is that if you lose control, it is harder to regain it so better not lose it in the first place.

Working in a place where I constantly see diabetes, heart disease, and COPD is a sobering experience each and every day.

[shunammite]

What a nice thread. I have lost significant weight 4 or 5 times, different trigger each time - first time, a cousin saw me after a few years and said I was getting "middle age spread" (I was 22, had gone from 120 to 140) - I went on Stillman and knocked that weight right off! Kept it off too, until the birth of my first child some years later. I had obesity in my family history on my dad's side - and I look like that side - those traits don't show until you get a few years on you, usually.

The next time was after the birth of my second child - I think I was still carrying some weight from the first pregnancy too - I was in the midst of a lot of other young families, and most of the other young mothers were slim - it was personal vanity that motivated me - did it very "healthy" - can't remember where I started but got down to 130 and stayed there for quite a while. (I'm 5'7")In my early forties, premenopause - and hard family problems - few things equal eating for comfort - my husband never ever criticized me - only now do I realize how good a man he is for that - likewise a woman who does not turn against her husband for failure is good/faithful - I tried on and off to do something about it, but not much success - my oldest son had serious mental problems - I told myself if I could conquer my hard problem, it would be a great example to him - I had gotten up to 195, really obese, for the first time in my life - and had been there 4 or 5 years - did Atkins - dropped the weight pretty quickly, to 135 - amazed everyone, my husband was so thrilled - I saw something he wrote in a letter to someone else - and of course I was thrilled also. Ah - I also had a broken ankle at that time - it took a double whammy to change me - lugging around 195 lbs on crutches w/ zero muscle tone, horrible - I was visiting my dad in a nursing home too - and thought soon that will be me - it does take some serious motivation for a person inclined to fat to do something about it. Alas I did not help my son, but it did help me a lot.

Well, I hovered around 140 to 145 for about 15 years, I'd like to be less, but was not too upset about it. Then, I BROKE THE SAME ANKLE AGAIN, BENT THE SCREWS - and put on about 10 pounds while I was not able to move around much - trying hard to get it off - down to 145 again - would like to get to 135 and stay there, we'll see - using Atkins again - started out using something "sensible", sort of weight watchers, too slow - I was at 155 - Atkins is stalling on me also - may have to go back to Stillman, it's awful but it works.

Somewhere in there, I also found the original "catabolic diet", Victor Lindlahr, a little book on vacation - eat lots of vegetables, not much else, lose weight quickly, it's not the "anticalorie" food that does it, it's having plenty to eat that keeps you on the diet but not taking in many calories - it worked well the first time - nothing ever works for me twice darn it - but - part of the grace of it all - if you are seriously overweight, the initial weight loss is not hard - when you are near your goal, it's not so easy.

Good luck to everyone - I remember a quote from Sharon Stone, "I tell myself I don't like those foods" - well I really don't, the supersweet densely caloric desserts, they leave me cold. But I do love bread and butter and lots of other "bad" things lol. Another great help in weight loss for me, The Art of Eating, by M.F.K. Fisher, - more fun to read about her eating than to eat it yourself - helps you eat more thoughtfully, get more satisfaction from less, imo.