Me too! I'm barely 5'2 so I'm short and that's why I want to be thinner. I think I look short and stumpy right now and since I'm not going to get any taller, I might as well get thinner.

Exactly! I want to look taller due to thin legs

I'm 5'6, but I have friends, who r similar height but slimmer, and optically they look way taller than me..

My goal is contentment. I'm just so tired of thinking about food all day everyday. I want life to be something I live not watch.

What I found is that I need to inspire myself because nothing or no one can keep me motivated except me I have the final say if I do well or crappy I need to make the decision to get up off my duff and do what I need to do Now don't get me wrong I agree that our loved ones and other people going through the same type of stuff makes life more understanding, easier and we make it through the day or night but all of us here that have success stories of even just that first pound or first dropped size,... we all made the decision to just do it and we did!!!!
so with that,.... I would like to say "Well Done" to us all

Hola everyone! Just started here so I have no idea what I am doing! Argh! My reasons are that I am absolutely sick and tired of looking at other women and thinking 'God, why isnt my body like that?' or 'Why am I so big these days?'. I NEED to do something. The trouble is... food is just too damn good! Hence why I joined this, we can all help each other. We can be each others motivation.. as for an inspirational quote, I come up short

I knew I had to get healthy! I had gotten to where moving left me out of breath and I couldn't get into any of my "big" clothes. That pretty much what got me in gear. My biggest motivation truly is reading/seeing other people's success stories. They keep me going!

Reading the success stories, and the how we have struggled really do help to motivate me! Thanks so much for starting this thread, there are so many upbeat posts (I must admit that at 9+ pages long I have not read them ALL! LOL)

Figure this is a good spot too, to post my first post on the board (other than my intro). My biggest motivators are my kids. I REALLY want to be able to do the fun stuff that their dad does with them. Sometimes I find that I am sitting on the sidelines too often while the rest of them have a good time. Plus I dont want to be that young person who dies an early death from heart disease or other weight related issues.

I also have Hypertension, and am only 29 years old. I want to desperately get off of that medication and get my BP back under MY control!

Few other reasons that motivate me are:

Being able to like the way I look in clothes
Having more energy
Feeling good about who I am
Better sex with hubby
Looking sexy and feeling as beautiful on the outside as hubby sees me on the inside.
Living my life as an example to others rather than always wishing I could do the things that others do.

Keep it up everyone! We are each others biggest fans!

What inspires me? The man in the mirror.

honestly, of course its looking and feeling good about myself and being "more" appealing to women and all but really i want to be able to wear a small enough shirt so you can see my belt. might sound stupid but what kind of fat guy has shirts small enough so u can see hit belt.

heh!

katfish

I need to lose weight so I can get rid of problems that are caused by my weight.
Also so we can try and have a baby. We've been married almost 11 years and want to start a family. I need to do it for me and my happiness.

I'm tired on my family calling me fat.

Definitely clothes. I have so many cute clothes that I want to fit into. But a lot of them are size small and medium, so their too small for me. Also theres gonna be a lot of celebrations and summer events/parties I'm going to pretty soon and I want to look really good.

I'm graduating in a year, and getting married in two. It's pretty much about the clothes for me!

Energy - Like somebody above... I want to live my life, life not watch it pass me by!
Confidence - I'm trying to start my own business, but I can't do it as long as my self-esteem is in the pits because of my weight. I want to be able to meet clients and feel comfortable with myself!
My Baby - I have an 8-month-old who deserves a strong, confident mother who can be there for her both physically AND emotionally.

My husband is thrown in there somewhere. He swears that my weight doesn't bother him. The fact that he doesn't find me desirable anymore proves otherwise. I want to be that smokin' chick that he couldn't keep his hands off of 3 years ago! (Though, I def. needed to lose weight then.... I was just more confident in myself!!)

Oh, and I am SO tired of being limited to 2 or 3 stores that carry my clothing sizes!!

I hate pretending that im not embarrassed by my size.
I love that i feel healthier and sexier when im thinner.
I hate that i cant eat in public without being paranoid that people are assuming its my 40th meal of the day.
I love fitting into clothes from normal shops (not plus size ones)
I ADORE shoes and want to wear all manner of sexy little heels
I hate that im embarressed in the gym and i havnt been swimming for three years.
I hate that i have worried my parents and friends.
I hate that i have let myself get like this.
I hate that i weigh so uch that i would be humiliated if my husband knew my weight.
I hate that i have to cut the labels out of my clothes as im so ashamed by the sizes i need.
I hate that im dreading the plane and bathing suit aspects of my holiday.

Lastly, i hate that i have shortened my life and increased the risk of all sorts of diseases just cos i couldnt say no. Im an idiot and I know it.

However I LOVE that i finally doing this properly, healthily and (so far) successfully.

Inspiration is prob the no on the scales, the ever decreasing tape measure and the people who have lost as much I have to. Evidence that it can be done!

Hello All,

Mal has a point. If you're not doing it for yourself then who is it for? You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Same with Love!

I started living healthy because my breathing was being affected. November of last year I weighed in at 265lbs. At 6' 1" I can carry it without looking very bad but inside it felt heavy.

Today at 240 and dropping. I don't have the hay fever I used to and haven't been sick since Oct of 2006. I workout 3x a week and interval train the other 3. I don't count calories because I eat healthy. I have a snack(unhealthy) once a week. Yet I still lose fat.

I found you have to be right with yourself inside before you can get right with yourself outside. Take it for what it's worth.