Does looking at people skinnier than you give you motivation?

ok so is this something i should worry or even feel guilty about? The biggest motivation for me is looking at girls the size i want to be. Is this the case for anyone else? Should i be worried about this?

Btw i'm 5ft3, 122lb trying to get down to 112 for august x

yes, it's helped me keep on track but not helped me feel better about myself.  I've only got a few pounds left till my goal weight.... now, being happy with every number that I see on the scale but still moving forward is the only thing helping.  notice those around you but don't let it get to you.. stay focused. my advice.

I also get motivation by looking at where I want to be.  I think as long as the models/individuals you look towards are a healthy weight and provide a healthy lifestyle example, I think comparing yourself is fine.  You definitely have to keep optimistic that you can achieve your goal and using other women as an example is fine.  I use my sister as motivation.  She is generally fit and toned and has to work to maintain her figure.  I love learning about the efforts women have to make, the dedication they have to have to be trim and toned. It helps convince me that if I want to be where they are at I have to earn it just like them.

Aww, I was kinda hoping for a response along the lines of:

"Nah, I just wanna punch 'em"

Original Post by smartjock256:

Aww, I was kinda hoping for a response along the lines of:

"Nah, I just wanna punch 'em"

 too funny! 

but i wouldn't say skinnier. skinnier isn't always better. if it was someone fit & had lots of energy then yes, that would be contagious.

or i have some friends that look great in just about anything & they have real style too. sometimes when i think about going out with them ill get a little more motivation.

I have a thin picture of me.  I look at that for motivation.  :)

I mostly look at those celebs with flat bellys :(

honestly, if you're not overweight, i'd say you shouldn't do it... that's how my eating disorder got started. as long as it doesn't make you hate yourself, it should be pretty harmless

I get veryyyy depressed when I people watch. My dad has a habit of pointing out people my height and my goal weight. It makes me feel bad about me

Actually, I get motivated when I see people fatter than I am, particularly if they're using one of those motorized carts.

Yesterday on the way home from work, I rode through a park a couple of blocks out of my way just for the fun of it, and saw a woman probably half my age, fatter than me now, and smoking a cigarette to boot.  It was rather disgusting, particularly as she had two small children with her.

I was almost always the fattest kid in my class, unless the fattest kid in my grade was in my room that year.  Now I often see children as fat as I was, and many even fatter.  I really don't see how they move at all, and I have no doubt that many will die young.

i feel as though i have little or no motivation at the moment :l

Jessicakait, you're at a lovely slender weight already (BMI 21ish). Please don't strive for an impossible, imaginary "ideal". Even celebrities don't look like celebrities, when you take away the airbrushing. Check out this website (look under "portfolio") and you'll see what I mean. Trust me, everybody else on the street is looking at YOU, right now (young and slim), and wishing they looked like that. Please don't waste those precious years wishing YOU looked like someone else! Love yourself as you are, work on your confidence, and you will come to see... you are fantastic just as you are.

And listen to funkymonkee's post... she knows what she is talking about, she has been there.

Original Post by rnjt:

Original Post by smartjock256:

Aww, I was kinda hoping for a response along the lines of:

"Nah, I just wanna punch 'em"

too funny!

but i wouldn't say skinnier. skinnier isn't always better. if it was someone fit & had lots of energy then yes, that would be contagious.

 

yep:)

i do look at thin people and it does motivate me. i am 34 and quite a reasonable gal, so i am not woried it would turn into some teenage-ish obsession with ultra thin people. also when i see women running the streets of my neighbourhood, and looking fit and ful of energy, that is a big motivator (they look good-not all made up, model good, but healthy women good) and i plan to take up running once i am a bit lighter, so it is a goal-ish thing (i walk a lot these days, and will start running once i am about 8 - 10 kilos lighter than now i guess, as now it would be too much a strain on my joints)

 

Thank you trustwomen, it was lovely to read your post :)

Then take it to heart, darling. 

When I was a very fit teenager, I looked at slim, longlegged girls, thought I was fat, and dieted. Eventually I realized that I had a different body type, medium height with breasts and hips. I can look fit at my body type, but I'm never going to look like someone with a different basic shape.

I do get inspired by looking at people who are fit, especially people who are older and very fit.

 

nope, doesn't work.  it makes my binge!

It doesn't always motivate me to do better, but it always reminds me that I wish I looked more like them...  I have 5 magazine cutout pictures of women with CURVES and nice stomachs!  No 6 packs! Just attractive mid sections.    I put them up as motivation and they worked for awhile... but I think I need to change them up again.   My list of measurements will go up next to them this time!  I need changes in motivation... *sigh*  I wish mind over matter was all I needed!