I wanna hear everyone's reasons for starting the weight loss trail!

Mine was because I was tired of the names my friends were callin me, the stuff people were saying, sick of looking in the mirror and seeing all the fat, tired of all that had to do with being fat. For a person like me that commands respect and attention, being fat definatly wasnt helpin.

:db:

I wanna hear everyone's reasons for starting the weight loss trail!

Mine was because I was tired of the names my friends were callin me, the stuff people were saying, sick of looking in the mirror and seeing all the fat, tired of all that had to do with being fat. For a person like me that commands respect and attention, being fat definatly wasnt helpin.

:db:
My reason for trying to lose weight is mainly because my parents are overweight I see all the health problems they're having aready(neither is too past age50) diebetes high blood pressure stokes its really been a wake up call to me that I need to make changes even if there only small ones.

I'm going on the weight loss journey for a couple of reasons. First is that I'm sick of looking in the mirror and seeing something I'm not happy with. I don't really care what other people think of how I look, however I don't like what I see - it's the embodyment of laziness. So I'm becoming unlazy. It will also be nice to be able to buy nice clothes and look good in them rather than buying big clothes to cover what's underneath.

The other reason is that my passion is motor racing and I need to loose weight to 1) get renew my licence (the medical is similar to that of a pilot) and 2) get some more performance out of the car (loosing 30kg off me is easier than loosing 30kg off the car).

i have a few reasons:

first, i stopped playing football and dont want to be so bulky anymore.

second, with my knee injuries, it is my belief that living at a lighter wieght will help my knee recover.

third, i have a lot of muscle, and i want to be able to see it and show it off

fourth, i feel better the leaner i become.

I want to lose weight (well, not really...i want to lose fat and gain muscle) because of the many benefits that are attached - Feeling the sense of accomplishment that comes from hard work and discipline, living longer and having more energy, feeling better about myself, taking the best care I can of this body that God has given me for the time being, and of course, so that I may look better. - Jeremy

The same reasons other people listed. Feeling better and Looking better!

I remember the exact moment and how I felt. I just got out of the shower, had boxers on, and leaned over to pick something up off the floor. I happpened to catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror in a non-pose type position. You know, the pose where you fool yourself into thinking you look ok (suck in the gut, hide the fat, big shirts, etc).

I saw myself the way I really was just for 2-3 seconds and thought "I'm fat" and it wasn't pretty. Then I decided to quit fooling myself thinking I looked ok and did something about it. About a week later, after a lot of research, found Johns site and then realized its possible in a short amount of time. I always thought it would take about 3+ years to transform the way John did. This put my motivation in Turbo mode and haven't really thought about looking back.

Hi, All! New to the board. Great people on the board and great website, John. Very motivational! Thanks much!!!

Anyway, my reasons for trying to lose weight are:

1.) To look great ( like everyone else I'm tired of being fat). :(
2.) Improve stamina (I mean come on just few steps up the stairs and I'm already catching my breath).
3.) So I can model for GQ (J/K). :D

-----
02/27/04: 230 lbs.
Currently: 220 lbs.
Goal : 190 lbs.


I know I'm loosing too much weight in just a short time but I think it is normal. I'm not starving myself to death-I'm eating regularly but I do need to make a good meal plan.

GOOD THREAD TO RECALL MY reasons

1. I got tendinitis in my ankle, that made me limp for about 1 year
2. All my life I felt like I am somehow lot different (psychologically)
than my classmates, friends. which I always hated....
3. I cant take my shirt off..except during bath
4. I lost many friends....some are incredible people.... because
of bad persona I devloped inside my mind...
5. Whenever I go to my village, my older relatives treat me as
if I am a physically handicapped person.
6. Eventhough I cleared technical part perfectly, I lost two most
incredible jobs (Interviews), which are my dream jobs and finally
landed in a job where they desperately offered me job
COZ nobody else was there with those technical skills.
7. I want to Run on beach someday.....
8. I want to repair my body physically which would help me grow
psychologically, intellectually, socially...And Someday I am gonna show everybody around me what it means by 'LARGER THAN LIFE'

Thanks guys.... It really helped me to recall my reasons keep myself
focused again..... :tucool:

For me it was more than aesthetic reasons.

I was obese at 310+ lbs and my health was horrible. I had trouble breathing, sleep apnea etc. One morning I was taking a leak and happened to see my profile in the mirror. It was sickening. I had a huge overlapping abdomen, rolls of cellulite everywhere, an enormous double chin, and droopy fat man-boobs. I had let myself go completely to sh1t! It wasnt too long after that that I got on my program.

Now, my health is good, I feel so damn good some days its scary like I'm almost manic! At this point, I'm just trying to hone what i have. I want to get my bf% down to about 15% and increase my lean mass a tad more. I'm interested in total body fitness as well as mass, strength, and good looks.

My reason's a little more aesthetic than most of yours. I want to be able to see my abs without pulling the skin down or flexing.

i had wanted to lose weight for a while, but never really knew how
i started to just "eat less" which hasnt healthy at all, i just cut down on food, and didnt switch to healthier food

then i stumbled on to bodybuilding.com, which changed my life! i learned how to lose weight the smart way, and the proper way, i found john's site though their forums, which educated me alot more! i just learnt and learnt from then on, made a diet for myself, got a gym membership and i've never stopped learning since

I wanted to know exactly how good my body could look if I put on a bit more muscle and lost the unnecessary fat, and that wasn't going to happen after gaining about 30lb in two years after stoping al my sport activities. I've had the decent, athletic looking enough frame to carry a good amount of muscle without looking too thin or too bulky

I've never been exactly huge (fat-wise), and was in great shape until 15/16, but since then my fitness has trailed off and I found taking long walks tiring and sweaty; that walking thing was solved after a month of running on the treadmill and I'm about 17lb lighter.

just wanna look :cool: so the girls :drool:
:claplow:

Purley aestetic for me, I just wanted to see what I look like and if I liked being leaner through summer. To be honest, I felt happier where I was (17-19 stone), I was stronger, I could perform my work more efficiently and much more easily, I sure as hell had a better social life (well, what I remember of it..)

I guess I'm not old enough yet for the "drag" of carrying around extra weight to outweigh the benefits. Oh well, I could fall in love with abs yet... I deserve to give it a chance, at any rate! :)

I'm sick of how I look every time I look in the mirror. Sick of being the fat kid of the group, want more self esteem, self respect, better fitness.

My girlfriends sister is getting married in June and I have to squeeze into my suit as I hardly ever wear it and didnt want to replace a perfectly nice suit.

Sounds silly, but any reason to loose excess weight is a good reason...

I turn 50 next September. Darn it, I may be slowly but surely turning into an old man, but I refuse to be a fat old man!

here are my reasons for loosing weight:

1st: appearance
2nd: I'm a rock climber so by loosing weight i boost my perfomance really quickly. Because even if you are really strong the tendons in your finger can only widthstand a certain amount of weight before failling.


So those are my two main reasons

And contrary to many people here i would definitly like to loose some muscles (only in the legs though).

I used to be very athletic: 5'7", 155 lbs, 9 % body fat. But then I got married and kind of let it go. Well, kind off to 300 lbs in 4 years. And then my father had a mini stroke, and i remembered that my father's father died after a heart attack. That created a history of heart problems in my family. It was the single most important reason of why I decided to lose weight. 2 years down the row I am standing at 179 lbs and losing. Want to hit my old time 155 by June 1 and then bulk to about 175 staying between 8 and 10% body fat.

I am loosing for much the same reasons as others here. I have tried many times I was successful for awhile. but I always gained it back in time. this time no more of that. I want to be a healthy weight and be fit for life. I want to go to the pool or beach and feel good about taking my shirt off in public. I want my body to be noticed by others because it looks good not because I am overweight. I want to be happy with the reflexion in my mirror every morning. Also I am intrested in taking up some sport since I never really played sports on school because I was always somewhat out of shape. My current goal is 12% body fat by june 1st.

I hated fat people. I became fat and hated myself. Now I'm not fat but I still hate fat people even more now. :mad:

A quote from some where
"I wan't to be able to clean my teeth without jiggling"

But also I've become repulsed by fat people, and me being fat I have come to hate my self.

I want to be able to walk around without people trying to feel my man boobs.

I was always quite slim in high school, though my sister was much taller and skinnier, so even when I was a size 4 I was "the fat one" in my family, in the past 4 years I have gained about 35-40 lbs and have actually become the fat one for real, I'm very mad at myself for letting it happen and I can't beleive I would let it go so far, but now I'm trying hard to lose it, I'm at a stand still right now on the weight loss so it's becoming very frustrating and I fear that I'm losing motivation, but this site is a big help, so hopefully I can stay on track! !

After finding myself "chunky" and out of shape from the spread of middle age, I also learned I had high cholesterol. I began reluctantly going to the gym and somehow stuck with it. As the weight came off and I began to tone up I realized how badly I wanted to have the body I once had when I was in my twenties.

There are a lot of folks on these forums who are still in their early twenties and are trying to get in shape - GREAT FOR YOU! Always remember that NOW is the most optimal time for you to be in the best shape of your life! Now that I am getting close to age 40 I keep thinking to myself that there is only so much time before you begin hitting an age where all of this becomes much harder. I don't want to look back some day and think, "Man, I could have had an AWESOME looking physique if I had only tried. Now I am too old and have lost too much muscle to get there." I want to cruise into age 40 looking better than when I was thirty and have my friends tell me that I look great for my age. I want my wife to always look at me with that excitement of physical attraction that we shared when we first met. I keep all of these reasons in mind each time I workout and pass up some fattening food.

I'd been trying to make a change to my lifestyle for the past few years, but I never really got anywhere with it. Then one day last year, as I was holding my baby girl, I had this horrible vision that I was going to have a heart attack and die. This scared the crap out of me, so I started to do some research and hit upon John's site, as well as Bodybuilding.com. Since my start on Jan. 9th, I've lost 22lbs of fat. I now weigh 252lbs, and my target is 220.

The main reason is to be able to do two of the things I like the most better: rock climbing and running. For both of them, loosing a couple of pounds is a much easier way of boosting performance than training them. (Which I also do of course).

My goal is to go from 15% to 10% BF.

The biggest disadvantage of loosing weight
I am loosing fat quite rapidly, and I think it is really annoying when my pants don't fit well anymore and my shirt untucks itself all the time. When I have reached my goal I will have to pay the tailor a small fortune to make my suits fit well again. :p

Im getting into all this because I have a very sedentary lifestyle. I love video games and that obviouly has got me sitting around alot. If I got friday off for a holiday "NICE, thats 3 days of gaming instead of 2". I am very fortunate I didnt have a weight problem. I have always had good diet. I am very fortunate my family can afford to buy GOOD food. What happened is, I realized that Im not going to be able to play video games all day and not get fat when Im older. So to the GYM I shall go :).

1. Cuz the chicks dig it!!!
2. Sick of seeing too much of myself in the mirror
3. Better health (father has diabetes)
4. So I can walk around without a shirt on in the summer
5. Cuz the chicks dig it!!!

A very shallow reason at first, I was tired of being fat and my constantly aching knees didn't help matters either, but in the end, it was the affection of a girl that ultimately made me begin my long hard journey.

Unfortunately we broke up shortly after :( but she gave me the initial motivation I needed to get my health back, and in some small way, I really do owe her my life.

I have self esteem issues.

I want people to stare in disbelief at the shape I've been able to get into.

And I'm 30. I want to be able to wear a bikini to the beach at least one summer of my life.

im sure ull get there, just keep it up!

I definatly want people to give me the envy stares too :D

I am obese in all 18 years of my life and last dec holi i put on 8kg while working. I am quite scared of it and decided to slim down. I love playing basketball and soccer. Because of my weight i cant seem to improve when i reached a certain level and am quite piss when some of my friends are better than me because of speed and stuff like that and not because of skills.
Anyway i gonna get enroll in National Sevice(army, it is complusory) in 2 years time and i hope to be fit and not suffer inside.

I used to be in very good shape when I was eighteen or so, mainly because I was young and very active. Then things started to gradually get out of hand. I was eating poorly and my activity levels were dropping. And then came beer, partying etc. Before I knew it (5 or 6 years later), I had put on an extra 25 kgs (55 lbs) and was feeling miserable.

I managed to lose about half of the extra weight with the help of good ol' starvation and let's-lose-some-muscles diet (I didn't know any better), but that was it. I was still 180 cm (5'11") and weighing about 87 kgs (192 lbs) so I was far from being fit. That's been going on until a little while ago.

From time to time I've been daydreaming about being my old 'young self' again, but I've done very little to accomplish that - aside from a few bouts of yo-yo dieting that did me absolutely no good. Now a while back I was thinking again about the olden days and I said to myself 'Stop your daydreaming, moron. You're 28, not 82. If you want to whip your fat ass back into the shape it used to be, or better, just do it!'.

And who am I to argue with me.

Honestly? At the age of 20, all the chicks were drooling at me. I'm not kidding. I was hot - the last 6 years, they haven't.

Now they're doing it again - being a bachelor, that's a good thing :D

Oh yeah, and I feel much better, I'm more active, I can race downhill skiing without taking a break every 100 meters, I have no probs keeping up with my bro on hikes, and I don't even break a sweat biking to work.

I'm just pissed at myself for not taking action years ago :rolleyes:

Same as Duckman really. Sure, my life is great but wouldn't it be greater if more girls showed interest?

Plus, I have my health. I'm 18 and I don't want to end up being a fat 30 year old. Lose it while it's easy to lose it.

self esteem, confidence, in other words...girls, obviously. :p

Senior week in Ocean City, Maryland is less than 4 months away...need to get that six pack.

self esteem, confidence, in other words...girls, obviously. :p

Same here..

Girl Girls girls....

Senior week in Ocean City, Maryland is less than 4 months away...need to get that six pack.

Just throw the hoes some mulla, f 6, trust me bro, I live in OCM... hooo raaah!

I decided to loose weight because it all came to a point where I realized this wasn´t what I was meant to look like. I mean If I look back on pictures just a few years ago, I would at that point never think I´d become this fat unhealthy, rude pig that I was before starting this whole new life with JSF.

I have lately been trying to get my parents into it all aswell, they are in their 50´s but seem to have lost happieness not only because of their overweight (my mom especially) She used to be really pretty but seem to have put looks aside after giving birth to 3 children including myself.

I have now come to realize that this was exactly what I did, I simply put looks, appearence and health to the side, but for what???, cheeseburgers, pizza and beer??....

My parents are facing eve harder obsticles than I have, they are both alcoholics and drink several bottles of wine each every night!. My mom has gone serious about this whole dieting thing, and she seems more happy, but there is still the wine which is obviously the major reason to her overweight. Since they are both very heavy drinkers they have a bad influence on eachother because one of them can´t stop drinking if the other don`t.... well it´s really hard to do much about, because they are totally aware of the risks and everything, but still they can´t help themselves from grabbing the wine at night.

I have come to realize how much not only self discipline but the importance of finding alternative things in your life that you put in front of e.g drinking. I mean drinking once and then is OK, but to drink yourself to sleep every night at the age of 50 seriously will in the near future give you problems not only with your weight.

I think what they and many more should try and do is to think through their life situation, life doesn´t have to end just because you´re 50 or 40 or 30 for that sake. I mean it is totally a matter of control of your life that brings you to where you are at. and life isn´t as long as it seems to be, so why not take care of yourself and do your best to make yours and people around yourselfs life to the best.

blablabla.... talking to much!....

anyway just picking up a good thread :tu:

Health, looking attractive to my wife, looking attractive to others (not to pick them up, but attractive people are treated a bit better), satisfy my ego that I have something most people don't. :D

I decided to lose weight because I had somehow gone from 180lbs-240lbs seemingly overnight. I had no idea I gained that much weight until i got my physical at work. I was 24 or 25 at the time and thought that I was too young to be so out of shape. I didn't start exercising until early 2003. I decided to do that because I had never been the muscular type, I was just "normal" most of my life. Since I reached/maintained my weight loss goal, I wanted a new challenge. Once I reach that goal, I'm sure I'll move to another challenge, whatever that may be

Jason

It is awful to say this buy during my highschool years I wasnt very social. I didnt party, never hung out with friends. My weight was a contributing factor. Being fat and not social was easy to do. I decided to change my life. Being fat killed my confidence. I am a handsome young man with a good education but I had no confidence because of the way I looked. I was afraid to talk in front of people because of what they would think of my weight/looks. The one thing that was holding me back in life was my weight. I decided that it was time to change. After I started my training I became more confident in my looks. I started becoming more socially active. Going to clubs/parties and meeting girls. I was not ashamed to approach anybody! I deeply regret letting myself go for all these years. I missed out on a lot of stuff. Right now my motivation is life. I want to finally be able to enjoy a healthy physical and social life. This is my motivation.

Too many reasons to list, not the least of which is:

- attractiveness
- to increase self-confidence
- rid myself of health problems I knew were weight related
- to generally feel better about myself

I could keep going, but you get the idea. It'd be reiterating what's probably already been said.

For the most part, it was for me. Of course, a longer more active life with the love of my life is a bonus... but it was mostly for myself. Life has never been a picnic for me and I never bitch about it - I look at it as "that which does not kill me only makes me stronger". So when I wanted to do something for myself in life... something I could do, for me, and me only, I looked in the mirror. Literally.

Fitness is mine to achieve, mine to maintain, and mine to cherish. Even in the worst of times, no one can take that from me - except myself. I will never let go of what I've earned to this day and I'm only going to keep fighting for more.

-R

Fitness is mine to achieve, mine to maintain, and mine to cherish. Even in the worst of times, no one can take that from me - except myself. I will never let go of what I've earned to this day and I'm only going to keep fighting for more.

-R

All I can say... heck yeah. Fitness is something I do for myself. After getting in shape, I don't think I could ever go back. I haven't had to lose that much weight, but I definately wasn't eatting healthy or living the best life. It has helped my backpain, I sleep better, I worry less, I have more confidence, I have more peace of mind, I don't have to worry about being out of breathe when others aren't... the list could go on forever. It is so nice to see people caring about their health... cause it seems like it is becomming a forgotten art. :db: Keep it up all... cause I know I certainly will.

My dick looks small cos of all the fat around it
I've been overweight since I was 11 and I always feel bad
My fiancée is beautiful and I'm paranoid about wanting prefering other guys
I have no stamina (in and out of the bedroom)
I want to be healthy
I've lost nearly 3st (40lbs) since January and I find it really easy to do, I'm actually enjoying going to the gym now!

Because one of my friends did it. It took him four years, but he went from fat and doughy to trim and cut.

And I'll be damned if he's going to be able to do that and I'm not.

One thing that worries me is that he's sort of fallen off the horse a bit. If he doesn't cut down again, it's metaphysically possible that I can catch him, at least in weight, by the end of the summer.

Time to make some new goals!

Yeah, my buddies and I are pretty competitive.

Oh, one of my biggest fears is that I'll become a major snorer, which is tied to being fat. My dad got really fat and now snores like a chainsaw. It got so bad he had to sleep on the couch for months before he and my mom finally separated. I'm afraid of snoring the way most guys my age are afraid of going bald.

Damn fellas - I think I might print this out and read it every morning. Talking about motivation.

For me - it's to the point there I want my body and mind to be at one. I dont care about the girls, clothes, respect. It's truly feeling better about myself. The great thing is when I do feel that way all the other things will more then likely come.

Thanks all for your post - great thread.

Perhaps my biggest moment was this spring on the first warm day (I'm near Buffalo) when I hopped on my mountain bike to head for the trails. Well I barely even made it up the paved hill that leads to the trails. The past year and a half I had worked a fairly sedentary job, got complacent about my fitness while living with my now ex-girlfriend, stopped many of the phsical activities I used to be so passionate about. While sitting at the top of this hill, extremely winded, legs burning, I recalled how a few years ago I used to race mountain bikes in the NORBA series and did quite well. Now I had reduced myself to barely making it up this easy hill and probably wouldn't survive one lap of a race. It was time for some serious changes. My goal is to be back on the race circuit for next season (no way I could be ready this season, I let myself go too far). Besides that my reasons are the usual-feeling better, aesthetics, re-gaining my self confidence. When I need motivation I simply look around my office. Not to be mean but there are so many fat lazy slobs who get winded walking up a flight of stairs and they do absolutely nothing to take care of themselves. I want to ask them "So how does it feel knowing you'll be dead from a heart attack within 10 years?" and "How can you accept that and not do anything about it?" It's really disgusting. End of long rant.

1. I'm so self-conscious about my body that it's seriously affecting how I interact with others. Case in point? No female interaction for the last 4 years. This has to change :o

2. Being able to keep up with my friends, all of whom are very active. Playing bandy I'm huffing and puffing by the time they're done warming up.

3. Being able to go swimming and other activities that involve taking my t-shirt off ;)

4. More energy. I've noticed, over the last week, that my metabolism and energy levels are way higher than any other time I can remember.

5. Building a foundation for later on; being only 20, turning this downward spiral before it gets too out of hand can only be good.

6. Something to do. One of the reasons for my decay was an unhealthy obsession with online games. No more.

I have always been fat. In highschool at my sophomore year I weighed 270lbs. I could bench more then any senior ever in the schools history and squat. I could even do 80 situps in a minute.

BUt I was still freaking fat. Maybe I would have lost that fat but my junior year of highschool my brother and I took on a tree in a car and lost. Ended up with a shattered humorous lol. It took 5 screws to fix. Lets just say I got fatter and on January first 2004 I weighed myself. I wieghed 325lbs.

That was freaking ridiculous. As I had been going to college I wasnt very active. I did alot of spelunking and was in better shape than alot of people but I was still obese.

I made a committment this year. The beginning of this year I went to every restaurant I liked to eat at and ate. I ate what I liked I gorged and then I quit.
I just shut it off.
I havent been out to eat since.
I have been on a diet. I feel alot better.
I ride my bicycle 22 miles every other day.
I have since the beginning of the year lost 70lbs. I weigh less now at the age of 24 then I weighed at the age of 17.

These are all reasons I want to keep loosing weight and why I have.
The man reason I want to loose weight is so I can marry a beautiful woman. Some women dont care what you look like or how good of shape you are in.
But I do. I dont want to marry a woman then have a heart attack on her in a few years and the woman I marry will be the same.
Also clothes are cheaper. I wear an 1x instead of 3x shirt. I have a 40 inch waist instead of 48.
I dont spend money on gorditas and grilled stuft burritos.
I used to eat 2 of those burritos!
Thats most of my reasons for loosing weight.

Many many reasons.

1 Both my parents are risk-factors for me cardiovascularly. Being overweight is stupid in these circumstances.
2 I look so much better with 1 chin.
3 I miss being able to easily run.
4 Some of my favourite clothes don't fit currently.
5 I lost it all before, and gained it all back.
6 I don't want to fail on my promise to myself to lose the weight.
7 When I get my new suit made, I don't want to have to get it 'adjusted'.
8 Never had visible abs. Want visible abs.
9 I like tucked-in shirts/tops, but feel I can't do that now.
10 I want to feel comfortable on the beach.
11 There are clothes shops I'd love to buy stuff from.
12 Want to look better for my wife.
13 I like the vascular look for forearms, but don't have it.
14 An angular jaw is much better than a flabby one.

Andrew.

My reason is that I looked at my pictures from when I played Lacrosse and then looked in the mirror before a shower and was appalled by the difference.

-Always wanted to walk around w/out a shirt on and feel good about myself (I do now, but I'm still not quite to the point I want to be!..)

-I'm a senior in college. When I was in HS and I was a husky kind of guy I didn't get girls and I figured "Well, when you get to college there will be a million to chose from and you'll get one..." After 3 years of not feeling confident because of my body, and not dating even ONE girl since I came here (keep in mind we have 42k undergrads, and 60%+ are female!) I figured it was time to get in shape!!! I'm hoping by the end of the summer I'll have a 6pack just in time for all the women (and freshman ;)) to come back to town!! HIP HIP..HOORAY!!!!

-Smoked my lungs black w/ ganja (even smoked when I had respiratory infections!! I was so addicted!) and drank enough every few days to kill a small horse...that stuff ravages your body and made me feel weak, sick, and broken down all the time. I didn't have energy, and what energy I did have was waning. BOOYA! Quit smokin' and RARELY get drunk, although I do have a beer every now and then (esp. local micros!)

When I was a little boy, I was skinny. I was the tallest kid in the class, the most athletic, I recall always getting 'secret admirer' notes, and was the smartest. I loved life. Then my family and I moved to the country and all that changed. Went to a new school that hated me because I was a city boy, no neighbors with kids that were my age, so that put me in a bad position. So I had to depend on myself. I always ate rather crappily but I was always active whether it was going on adventures or riding bikes. Now, there was nobody to do that with so instead of bikes, I started playing Nintendo.

Things changed a little better when I went back to the city for school but was still too far away to meet up with friends so it was basically fun during the week but hell on the weekend. So I kept eating bad and kept being inactive. The weight came on slowly. It went off in two different periods: once in 6th grade when trying to go to football practice (didn't end up going) and in 7th grade track when I wanted to do well as a sprinter. As I got older, my parents gave me more choices, specifically what I could eat. So my somewhat unhealthy eating turned from bad to worse. In one year, I gained 50 lbs. I grew a few inches but still, a lot of it was fat but I still kind of maintained.

In High School, I dabbled in weightlifting and went out for football and was able to maintain at 5'11 and anywhere between 230-240. From being the kid who got admirer notes, I had nothing. The only girls that would talk to me were the ones who were girlfriends of my friends so were friendly because of the acquaintance status. Most girls even went to say they felt sorry for me. Why, I have no idea but still, it left me with absolutely no play. Then when football was over, I continued to eat even more and January 2003, I hit 250. Kind of pissed, for 2003 I did dozens of half assed attempts to lose weight with failure.

At the end of the year I hit my breaking point. I did crappy in school, obese, had no girls after me or even acknowledging my existence, and seen my grandfather become blind and immobile from diabetes. So I decided enough was enough and started losing weight. Right now I'm at 218 pounds, the lowest I've been since 8th grade. I'm now fitting into old pairs of pants and from XXXL shirts (they were big on me but I hid them because of my boobs), XL shirts are still loose fitting. 36" pants feel lose from 40" pants the same time last year. I still got a ways to go but I'm making great progress.

My end goals are to get down to 10% bodyfat. Then after that, build muscle and keep similar bodyfat (8-12%; never any higher) and keep building that muscle until I hit my limit of being natural. I'm not into the idea of prohormones or steroids. Hopefully I can be about 220 lbs at 5'11" with 10% bodyfat when I hit my natural maximum. This probably won't happen for another 5 years or so. I want to get to 10% bodyfat by March 2005 at the latest. I can't wait until I start bulking (a clean bulk) and building up that muscle.

I have started the journey once again after several false starts. I moved back to Canada from the UK where I'd lived for many years. The area I moved to is populated with fast food joints which I lived of for every meal. My motivation was seeing my big flabby stomach in the mirror after getting out of the shower, and when recently working out of town had to put up with a guy continuosly addressing me as "Slim". I realised there was nothing particularly slim or attractive about the way I look, or the unpleasant disposition I created in my self from the lack of self esteem, or the jelousy I'd feel when seeing other guys who looked great and had no trouble in buying clothes at the mall and have everything they wear look great. A gym opened around the corner from where I live so I started to go in there every morning at 6am which feels great- I am seeing a more positive outlook on life and am working my way to a different life and will not be the person I just described. 2 Months ago I booked a trip to Australia over Christmas to visit my sister & my folks will be there visiting from England as well. I want them all to see the more svelt version of my self than the fat version they saw last year.

I want to loose weight because my size slows me down. The only thing that is keeping me from getting thru EOD school is my slow run times because of my 200 lbs body on my 5'8 frame. Im tired of being fat. My out of shape body is affecting everything from my mentality to my sex life. Because of this i decided to loose weight all was going well until i got mentally weak and quit my diet (i had gotten down to 190) But ive reviewed my mistakes (lack of sleep, hanging out with the wrong ppl, being mentally weak) and i have fixed them. My goal is by janurary 7th (my birthday) to be down to 180 lbs that is a loss of 5 lbs a month. I also plan to be
running 6 miles 5 times a week
swimming 90 mins 5 times a week
doing 400 pushups/500 situps/300 dips/60 pullups x 3 times a week
By janurary.

I have voluteered to join the challenge from august 2nd to december and i am determined to win it. Im tired of being this way out of shape and out of cofidence its time for me to make a total persona change back to the way i used to be.

-Phil

I wanted to loose some weight because i was starting to gain it...i have been lanky, skinny kid all my life...ate whatever i wanted, played a alot of basketball growing up..now i am 22 years old, 5'10" ..i noticed in the past 6 months i was slowly putting on pounds...i went from 160 to 180lbs...i guess due to inactivity (no sports), eating out all the time, busy with work and school...ok so when i saw 180lbs on the scale i thought to myself its not a big deal but thats where it was gonna end..so i started a cleaner diet, weights, and cardio..i still need to be more consistent...but even with on and off working out for 3 months i lost 5lbs now i am 175lbs and most of all mirror says a lot...lost some good flabby stuff from midsection and back...added some defination to arms.. and thanks to this website i have made a lifestyle change and not just a "diet"...Thank you John Stone and all the helpful members here..rock on! :claplow: :tu:

I've always been fat. Just for a short moment before I die (hopefully a LONG time from now) I'd like to see a six-pack ab on my body. I'm tired of making every other guy look good.

But more importantly, I need to be in better shape because my life may depend on it. I just started a job as a law enforcement officer, and I don't want my butt to get kicked... or worse, I don't want my partner's butt to get kicked because I couldn't keep up in a chase or something.

To the girls on the beach, "here I come !"

Right now I am about 148lb 5'6" 18yrs old BF%=???... I want to get fit and strong for several reasons. In no particular order:

1. Be healthy
2. Look good
3. Stamina
4. Strength. In high school I was one of the weakest ones in arm wrestling. Lost a lot and to my similar sized friend who was left handed ><
5. Da Ladies :D

Mine was because I was tired of the names my friends were callin me, the stuff people were saying, sick of looking in the mirror and seeing all the fat, tired of all that had to do with being fat. For a person like me that commands respect and attention, being fat definatly wasnt...

You stole my reasons

The reason was that I wanted to improve my self-image. That will be a great help in lots of situations. And my self-image depends to some extent on how I look. But also on how I feel...If I feel that I´m fit and in good shape my confidence will grow. And the third part of my self-image is to know and be able to prove to myself that I can set a goal and reach it. To prove that my will-power is strong enough to solve any problem even if it seems difficult and hopeless or to endure pain if needed. I´m not always positive and sometimes I think rather negative thoughts. But the will-power and ability to force myself to continue is strong enough and I will not give up when I feel like that. And after such periods I feel better than before. I get more determined.

Regards!

The reason that I am losing weight is first to get in better shape and second to be a good example for my son who should arrive into the world in September. And I want to be around a long time to see him grow up :spaz:

That is what is keeping me motivated towards my goal of 10% BF!

:db:

Well, there are couple of reasons:

- My father has a type 2 diabetes (he is also overweight and has been almost as long as I remember) and a high blood pressure and he has to have medication for them. He has had them since he was around 45 I guess (he is now about 60). My mother has high blood pressure and has to also eat pills and she has had problems with very high cholesterol as well. I'm now 34 years old and looking at my genetics, my future health prospects aren't exactly thrilling. So, I want to do something about it before I too get hit with diabetes or something else equally nasty.

- I would like to be able to tie my shoelaces and breath at the same time... :D

- I hope that the exercise will do some good to my lower back as well. And losing weight should ease the pressure a bit from my left knee which acts up times.

Of course it would be nice to offer some prettier sights to my wife then the current gutbucket... :tu: