Weight loss for health, or for appearence?

  Okay, so I hear the same thing over and over again, "you should lose weight for health, not to fit into a certain size, or for looks!"   And honestly, as long as you are losing weight in a healthy manner, why does it matter what you are doing it for?  

  I could see how that saying might be relevent when talking to an anorexic or bulemic, but I myself, though overweight, am relatively healthy.  I enjoy hiking and swimming without getting out of breath.  Even when I'm not dieting I drink water instead of soda, and don't eat much sugar, and I've never had health problems due to my weight.  The main reason I am losing weight is simply because I want to look good and fit into clothes that look good.

  Why is that a problem?

It's not a problem, I have went after weight loss because of my size, not my health. I think that most people who say they lost weight because of health are deceiving theirselves. I think people think it's wrong to lose weight for apperance reasons, then if that's the case, people who don't  care about their weight who eat junk food are in the same boat.

Well, for me it's like this - if you lose weight just for looks and not health, I kind of assume I'd do it the fastest, easiest way possible without considering how it might affect me now or in the future.  Diet pills, crash dieting, etc.  If you are being health conscious, you would come to a site like this and learn to eat wholesome food without wreaking havoc on your body to get a quick fix.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to look good!  It just depends on how you plan to get there and at what cost.  Why the heck not be kind to your body and give it nourishment and respect it rather than just treating it like a hanger for clothes?

It's not bad to lose weight for appearance's sake, as long as your goals are still healthy. As long as you are working to look good and feel good while being healthy, that's fine. It's the people who decide that they need to be a certain size, weight, or skinnier than Paris Hilton, regardless of what they do to get there, they are the ones who get reminded that this should be about health.

Original Post by pufflet:

Well, for me it's like this - if you lose weight just for looks and not health, I kind of assume I'd do it the fastest, easiest way possible without considering how it might affect me now or in the future.  Diet pills, crash dieting, etc.  If you are being health conscious, you would come to a site like this and learn to eat wholesome food without wreaking havoc on your body to get a quick fix.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to look good!  It just depends on how you plan to get there and at what cost.  Why the heck not be kind to your body and give it nourishment and respect it rather than just treating it like a hanger for clothes?

  While I am not dieting specifically for health reason, I've found that doing so in a healthy manner tends to take the pounds of quickest, and keep them off once they're gone.   Also, I want to be comfortable when I get to my goal.  I don't want to feel weak or sickly, and I certainly want to continue eating things I enjoy.  I could never be anorexic, I enjoy baking, cooking and eating the things I make too much. =)

I'm one who started losing weight specifically because my health was going downhill - high blood pressure, right on the cusp of developing pre-diabetes and pretty bad cholesterol too.  I couldn't keep my head stuck in the sand any more.

I've been maintaining for a couple of years now and all of those problems have gone away and I feel great.  It's just a nifty side benefit that I look darn good too.

I'm taking weight off for both reasons, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.  I'm doing it in a healthy way, and am enjoying myself and my food choices.  I still go out and eat things that I want to eat, though I also eat a lot healthier now.  It's a nice balance.

As long as you're going about it in a healthy and appropriate manner, which it sounds like you are, than there's nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight for the sake of appearences.

I did it for my health.

I did it for my self-esteem. Now that I've lost so much weight, I can see that I was far less healthy than I thought I was.

Original Post by rgurleyjr1:

It's not a problem, I have went after weight loss because of my size, not my health. I think that most people who say they lost weight because of health are deceiving theirselves. I think people think it's wrong to lose weight for apperance reasons, then if that's the case, people who don't  care about their weight who eat junk food are in the same boat.

 

I dont think i was decieving myself when i decided to lose weight for my health.  My initial reason to lose weight was because i was getting sick all the time, was winded just walking up stairs, was exhausted constantly, and so on.  And it all started when i gained 50 lbs in about a year, and obviously unhealthy move which put me from healthy to just in the obese category. 

After about 40 lbs and moving back into the high end of the healthy category i felt in much better health.  I chose to lose the last 10 lbs for appearance after a lot of thinking, and because i wanted to fit in all my old clothes and not have to buy new ones.  Appearance wasnt a concern at first though.  I just really wanted to feel healthy again.

Well if you think about it, even losing weight for looks alone boils down to health.

We want to look good so others will find us attractive - or so we feel attractive, which is primarily based on societal ideas of what's attractive, so pretty much the same thing. Socity's idea of what's attractive can be traced to health; a stong anf fit body, clear skin, disease-free, etc.

So even if you think it's just for looks...really it's for your health too!

I decided to lose weight to continue being as healthy as I have been my entire life when I move from middle age to old age.  Although all my health parameters were good (low cholesterol, low blood pressure, able to be active, never get sick, good skin) my joints were starting to feel my excess weight.  That said, I love the compliments (halfway to goal!) and certainly enjoy looking better.

My take, as others have said, that as long as the process is healthy, and the goal is reasonable, the motives don't matter.

It's sort of weird saying why I decided to lose weight.  I decided to lose weight when I was 13 years old (and 9 pounds lighter than I am now), and here I am, 19 years later, still trying to lose weight.   But I suppose this year I aggressively went about making it happen instead of feeling sorry for myself that I couldn't manage to lose weight.  I think the straw that broke the camel's back was that I just didn't feel comfortable in my own skin anymore.  Part of it was definitely for appearance, but when I realized I was just a couple pounds shy of becoming obese, there was the niggling fear that if I didn't do something now, I was just going to get heavier and heavier as I got older, and one day my health would suffer for it.  I couldn't let that happen.

So, 20 pounds down, and probably healthier for it, but definitely feeling more comfortable.  I can't wear a bikini yet, but I don't think people see me as fat anymore, and I look good in regular clothing.  Now, if I can just get past this bloody plateau so I can get down to a healthy BMI for the first time since I lost weight when I had mono in college.

Yeah.. It doesn't what reason you are doing it for because you having a better lifestyle. I'm doing it because I want to look better. There isn't anything wrong with that. Plus, I know it's going to be better for me in the end because BOTH of my parents have high blood pressure. Losing weight now can, hopefully, help me not have high BP when I get older.

I exercise for both health & to feel good about my appearance. I don't think this is an EITHER/OR question... it's an AND question! Which probably doesn't even make it a question at all! ha ha.

Vanity Reasons + Health Reasons = Happy Person! ha ha.

I totally understand where you are coming from...

well..

Idk...But when you say so,people will be thinking you are superficial...Fine!..I am ( people will hate me for this--but ) kind of like..well..superficial ..

But doesn't everyone want to look good? doesn't everyone want to look their best..

Doesn't everyone want to look sexy and attractive?

So what is the problem?

I wanna look good..why is it bad wanting to look good..

Someone elighten me..

There is nothing wrong with wanting to look better-who wouldnt?

Personally I see losing weight for my health not only means reducing my body fat, but also eating more nutritional foods-looking after yourself 'inside' as well as 'out'.

I am not saying that people who are losing weight to look better are not making better food choices generally, but if you want to improve your overall health you need to eat better, of course. If youre doing it for your health its not just whats happening on the outside that counts.

You can eat 1500 calories of junk or 1500 calories of good wholesome food-its still the same calories, but one is much better for you.

Yea, I'm definitely a both-reason person, but lets face it.  Everyone judges your book by your cover to an extent, and the mirror doesn't necessarily show you how your inner health is doing.

I figure if I'm going to "look" healthy, I might as well take the extra steps/time and truly "be" healthy.

Original Post by dkenworthy:

I decided to lose weight to continue being as healthy as I have been my entire life when I move from middle age to old age. 

I second this. Thinking about your health as a long term investment changes the importance of cc'ing and weight loss. Today it may not be easy to feel or appreciate the health effects as much as the beauty effects.  One day the investment will show, when you have friends who have aches and pains that you don't, or have to take medications that you don't. Our average life expectancy is going up, and I really don't want to have my last 20 years of life spent fighting some condition or another.

I have this quote permanently stickied on my desktop:

Healthy weight

The gold standard: BMI between 19 and 25.
Good enough: Aim to lose 5 to 7% of your current body weight.


That's equivalent to 8 to 11 pounds if you're 5-foot-4 and 165 pounds. Although, according to a BMI scale, you're still in the overweight category, a National Institutes of Health study found that weight loss in this range can reduce your risk of diabetes by 58%. "Numerous other studies show that it's also enough to lower blood pressure and cholesterol as well as risk of heart disease," says David Arterburn, MD, MPH, an obesity researcher at the Group Health Center for Health Studies at the University of Washington.


Boost the benefit: Exercise and eat MUFAs. More commonly known as monounsaturated fatty acids, these healthy dietary fats, found in olive oil, nuts, and avocado, can help you shed some of the most dangerous body fat -- the disease-promoting kind around your middle. And dieters who also exercise lose up to 57% more belly fat than those who aren't"

If you do it for health reasons, then you won't be disappointed if you don't "look" as good as you had wished you did. I think that as most people get older, get married, and have children they stop being concerned so much with how they look and are more concerned with how they are going to have enough energy to get through the day.

Original Post by dkiesser:

If you do it for health reasons, then you won't be disappointed if you don't "look" as good as you had wished you did. I think that as most people get older, get married, and have children they stop being concerned so much with how they look and are more concerned with how they are going to have enough energy to get through the day.

 Amen!