Why lose weight??

Today I wanna talk about all the reasons why we wanna lose weight, the obvious ones, and the not so obvious ones, the ones everyone is afraid to say because it's embarrassing or because we don't want to seem shallow. The truth es that there are countless reasons why people decide to lose weight and get into shape, and it should be ok to talk about all of them. So often we get caught up in the embarrassment or the shame of our thoughts and ideas and then we are left wondering if we are the only ones feeling that way, are we alone? Are we crazy? Is it appropriate?

First off, so many people are afraid to just say...I wanna look hot again. We get older, we have jobs, and husbands, and kids, and busy lives and somehow that makes it unacceptable to say "I wanna look at myself and feel good about what I see, I wanna feel like my husband is envied for having me on his arm when we go out, I wanna wear a slinky little shirt and skinny jeans the next time we go out, or a little black dress...and feel comfortable and sexy!" Maybe we wanna lose weight because when our men tell us we are beautiful and sexy, we want to believe them, we want to know it's true! Maybe we might want to be able to shop in the regular women's department rather than the plus size (let's face it, it can be REALLY hard to find stylish clothes for a plus size woman). Maybe we want to be able to get into a bath tub without it overflowing, and just to have our entire bodies under the water! I don't take baths for that very reason! Grrr. I'm not saying I want to look amazing in a bikini because that may never happen even once I lose the weight (Hello 4 pregnancies and TONS of stretchmarks!) but it would be awesome to go to the pool with the kids, or swimming at the lake and not feel like a beached whale! I mean my bathing suit has a little skirt on it...cute for little girls, not so much on a 25 year old! I can't find a pair of jeans that is tight enough to make my butt look the way I want it to without having a roll hanging over the top, if I wanna lose the roll, I have to get jeans that are loose, but then the look of the butt suffers....so frustrating! Don't even get me started on how uncomfortable it can get to eat at a restaurant or in front of large groups of people, since I'm the fat chick I feel like everyone is watching me eat, hoping I won't take another bite and gain 5 more pounds, and a buffet? No thank you! I  can't describe the intense feeling of shame if you dare go back for a second plate! Some people are just extremely uncomfortable around people who are overweight, but you know what some of us overweight people are uncomfortable around those who aren't. We fear the judging, we fear the whispers, we definitely fear those comments that are not so quiet because some people are just plain mean. I have more then once been the victim of someone mooing at me while at the store, or people blatantly telling me how fat and disgusting I am. If any of you reading this have done such things, please let me just say....it's not nice, you could seriously be hurting someone deeply, oh and news flash!!! We don't need to be told!!! We already know we are overweight, and believe it or not we are MUCH MUCH harder on ourselves than you ever could be, and on top of that...butt out! My lovehandles and cellulite doesn't affect you in any way so leave me alone about it!  I stood in line at the carnival this year with my kids like most parents do, the difference is my anxiety level hit all time highs the closer I got because I was fearful I wouldn't fit into the belts and metal handles, you can't say no because these are the things we wanna do with our families and we have to give it a shot but all I could imagine was having to turn around and take the walk of shame in front of everyone, including my disappointed kids if the guy had told me I was to round to fit! Luckily that did not happen to me this year, although some were snug fits I was able to get on all the rides. I myself happen to drive a big SUV and I'm a little ashamed to admit that part of that is because I feel HUGE sitting in a little car, like I don't belong there. Let's face it there are those of us that would REALLY love for our chests to be the part of our body that sticks out...not our chubby tummies! Just this weekend I was staying at a vacation house away from my hometown and so I got the chance to use a gym, which was really exciting because I wanted to be able to keep up on my workouts and plus I am thinking about getting a gym membership here in town to get a little more variety in my workouts. I had my husband with me who is an amazing supporter, but my insecurities flared up when there were other people in the gym. All that I could picture in my head was me sweating and huffing and puffing, thighs, belly, and arms jiggling......and all those people watching it! The snide remarks and people staring could have almost sent me into panic mode! I did however go in and workout and all those people were very nice, but it doesn't change the fact that I would much rather go in at a normal weight with a toned body and not even have to worry about it! There are a million little things that I encounter daily that wouldn't be an issue if I didn't have a weight issue. It's the little day to day things that I think really get to us and can be a huge source of insecurity, they can lower our self esteem, rid us of our confidence, and make us feel bad in general. I'm just here to say IT'S OK TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!! Similar circumstances, and struggles bring people together, and if there is more than one of us feeling this way...why do it alone?????

All those things being said I do wanna talk about other reasons that we wanna lose weight, but are less afraid to talk about. Being a healthier person. I have been reading a TON of material on weight loss and have learned some disturbing thoughts. It just so happens that even though you might feel alone, if someone telling you your not isn't enough here are some cold hard statistics!

36% of America is overweight!!!!!! Doctors are estimating that by the year 2050 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with diabetes! ( not everyone with diabetes is overweight, but being overweight is a major contributor to the disease) And heart disease is the leading  cause of death among women, another thing that weight is a major factor in. To top it all off there is now a new category of overweight people. If your familiar with a BMI chart then you know that based on height and build we all have a number, and those numbers fall into different categories. There is the overweight, then obese, then morbidly obese, and now what they call super morbidly obese...which means you weigh 560 pounds or more, and guess what? There are 2 million Americans in that category! People all over are affected, people everywhere are struggling with weight, no not EVERYONE but  more than you think! Carrying extra weight can affect almost all parts of your body, inside and out and this includes mobility and many of these things can be deadly, so of course we all want to live longer and healthier lives and that's a valid reason to want to lose weight!

I need to be around 50 or 60 or 70 years from now because I don't know what my husband would do without me...like most men he can be a little lost when I'm not around, and I want to be able to spend a long and happy lifetime with him enjoying our lives and our kids together till we are old and grey.

I want to end this by saying that all this other stuff aside really and truly my number one reason for wanting to lose weight is my family. My 4 beautiful children. Yes this includes living longer, because I don't just want to be around when they get older, to see them play sports and go to prom and graduate high school and college and get married and have kids, I need to be around when they get older to see these things. There is nothing more important to me than being there for them for as long as I humanly can be. I also want to be a better mom now, I need to be able to chase them around the park for hours climbing ladders, swinging, and playing on the slides, and I need to be able to do these things without feeling miserable and minutes from death because I can barely breathe and my heart is beating so fast! And both of those things aside, I need to set an example for them. I need to set an example on healthy eating and active lifestyles, getting up and moving around and making healthy food choices, I have to make sure that they know these things so they don't have to struggle the way I do, and suffer the cruelty of the world when it comes to being overweight, and all the while I need to teach them how to keep their self esteem intact in today's world.

That being said here some pictures of my biggest motivating aspects in my life...they are definitely worth it!