Losing weight to look hot at my wedding (and other bad ideas)

I once read in a fitness magazine that it’s not a good idea to set a weight-loss goal for an “event” of some kind (wedding, reunion, vacation…).  A single night apparently isn’t enough of a reason to implement serious life changes, and once the event is over, it would stand to reason that your motivation to change will be over as well.

I don't believe everything I read in fitness mags, but I do tend to agree that if an event of some kind is your only motivation to lose weight, you're probably not going to follow through with serious life changes. If you have 10 lbs to lose, maybe. But I've always had a lot more than that to lose, and my reasons need to be a lot bigger than a bridesmaids dress in order to motivate me off of the couch. 

This little nugget of advice from Self or Shape or whatever has stuck with me for a lot of years. As a result, I’ve always tried to at least pretend that my reason for wanting to lose weight is deeper than wowing a boy I had a crush on in high school, or sticking it in the face of someone who insulted me about my size 10 years ago.

I’m definitely not in a fight to lose 100 pounds because I need to fit into a dress. However. I will admit that there is something extremely motivational about a short-term event to work toward; a mini-goal to break up the monotony of the endless striving toward health and wellness. I figure that the motivation of an upcoming event can’t hurt as long as it’s happening within the bounds of my real goal—getting healthy for life.

So, obviously, something is coming up that I'm excited about, and motivated by in the short term, that has that old article rolling around in my brain. I'm going to see my man friend in 11 weeks, and I'm super excited to lose some more weight and be 20 lbs or so smaller than the last time I saw him!

Yes, I'm in a long distance relationship. I didn’t plan on falling for someone who lives 1,500 miles from me, but I did (cute story for another time), so until he can get a job near me and make the big move, we have to settle for seeing each other every three months or so. (I know, booo.)

Knowing that I will see my sweetie soon has definitely added a little excitement—and short-term goal—to this looooong process of dropping 100 lbs. At the very least, it’s created some adrenaline which could very well be that extra prompt I need to say no to those fries, or engage in a little exercise this week.

So... what do you think about losing weight solely for an event? Good idea? Harmful? Thoughts, please!