This raises a very good question. I have not read the replies inbetween before replying, so apologies if i have missed something.
But yes, we do lose weight for ourselves, but it is for other people as well. How much do we go out into social events, being the fat one, covered up in long shirts and baggy clothes, then seeing a photo of how we look against the slim good looking person? Of course it is not only for ourselves! It IS for others as well - be it husbands, wives, friends, strangers, just public perception. This whole mumbu jumbu about "do it for yourself" is bloody nonsense if you ask me. It is for ourselves in that we want to shop in the slim section of the store, that we want to look good on camera, that we no longer wish to cover up in baggy clothes - but why is that? IT is so we look better and feel better about ourselves, because like it or not, that is what society dictates.
Me personally - right now I am being fuelled by an insane attraction to a man i cannot have. There is a mutual attraction there, nothing will ever come of it, we both know that, but thinking of him fuels me to keep going during those moments when a box of chocs and a greasy burger seem appealing. I WANT him to look at me with LUST to be quite honest (as shallow as that sounds). I want him to see me as a slim attractive person, rather than the morbidly obese woman he has known for 14 years. For now, right now in this time in my life, it is working for me. It is doing me good, I am losing the weight, i feel fantastic, and i look forward to buying a new wardrobe.
So is it for me or for him? Right now I would say both, and i am actually mentally using him to my own selfish benefit as it is doing my mind wonders, and my weight and body. Sod the rest of it, who cares? Losing weight can only be GOOD for health and other reasons, if it is for someone else to keep you going through the hard times, then so what? Because at the end of the day it is ultimately for you, as you live in the body, nobody else does.